1997 Grammy Award Winner for Best Jazz Instrumental Album!

 

Although Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny recorded together in many different contexts, 1997's Beyond The Missouri Sky (Short Stories) was their first duet recording. One of the most celebrated figures in jazz, Metheny's creativity, like Haden's, knows no boundaries and Beyond The Missouri Sky is the culmination of a 25-year friendship of two of America's premier musicians, crafting bejweled chamber duets. These "short stories" add up to a moving, beautiful anthology of American music.

 

"I have always admired Pat's musical vision, his melodies, chords and voicing are unique unto him. He is an innovator in the sound he gets, as he is in his composing and improvising. His musical presentation is always beyond category, and his sense of the sound in music that comes from the feeling of this country is uncanny. Of course, he is from Missouri, as am I, which surely has something to do with it. I call his sound contemporary impressionistic Americana," says Haden.

 

Adds Metheny: "Charlie has been a huge influence on me as a musician and as a person. He is simply one of the greatest improvising musicians ever, and his bass playing has set the standard for what is now several generations of musicians. It was an honor to be asked by Charlie to make this record. For me, personally, this is one of the most special recordings I've ever been a part of."

 

Musicians:

Charlie Haden, bass

Pat Metheny, acoustic guitars, all other instruments