Offramp

Offramp
Studio album by Pat Metheny Group
Publication (s)	1982
Label (s)	ECM records
Format (s)	CD
Genre (s)	fusion
Title (number)	7th
running time	42:22
occupation	Pat Metheny : guitar, guitar synthesizer , synclavier Lyle Mays : piano, synthesizer, synclavier Steve Rodby : Bass Dan Gottlieb : drums Naná Vasconcelos : percussion, singing, berimbau
production	Manfred Eicher
Studio (s)	The Power Station , New York City
chronology As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls (1981) Offramp Travels (1983)

Offramp is Pat Metheny's ninth studio album, released in 1982, the third as the Pat Metheny Group . In 1983 the album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance.

History of origin

Offramp was recorded in November 1981 by Jan Erik Kongshaug and then mixed in the Talent Studios in Oslo. It is the first studio recording that Metheny uses the Roland GR-300 guitar synthesizer. who helped him develop his "blueprint" for a commercially catchy sound aesthetic with layered guitar solos. As he remembers, he wrote the title track of the record "within ten minutes of a walk in the forest," also because "the Synclavier, which he had just acquired at the time, opened up another dimension for him."

Track list

All titles are by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays, unless otherwise noted.

1. Barcarole (Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Nana Vasconcelos) - 3:17
2. Are You Going With Me? - 8:47
3. Au Lait - 8:32
4. Eighteen (Metheny, Mays, Vasconcelos) - 5:08
5. Offramp - 5:59
6. James - 6:47
7. The Bat Part II - 3:50

reception

Professional reviews
source	rating
Allmusic

The album was rated very positively in Allmusic :

“While the previous album As Falls Wichita, so Falls Wichita Falls was determined by Pat Metheny's charisma , the less accessible but certainly worthwhile successor Offramp turns more towards the abstract. As intellectual as Metheny is on atmospheric pieces like “Are You Going with Me?” And “Au Lait”, his playing remains downright lyrical and melodic. He is clearly influenced by Jim Hall . ... Even when he increases the tempo for the difficult and edgy title song, he shies away from empty musical acrobatics. Throughout the CD, Metheny has a strong relationship with keyboardist Lyle Mays, who also avoids using his technique and instead opts for rich storytelling. "

- Alex Henderson :

The critics Richard Cook & Brian Morton rated the album in The Penguin Guide to Jazz less positively ; they only gave him 2½ stars (out of four); it is quite a "lovable sequence".

Web links

• Review of the album by Alex Henderson at Allmusic (English). Retrieved January 11, 2015.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ news.google: The Miami News
2. ↑ Discogs
3. ↑ joness.com: Roland G-303 Guitar Synthesizer Controller
4. ^ Metheny portrait , laut.de
5. ^ Allmusic: Review by Alex Henderson
6. ^ Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide of Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 , p. 1020.