Ferney Lopez

Tracklist: 01 – Life of Ryles (0:00) 02 – Ivy (6:06) 03 – Wendy (11:45) 04 – Games (20:24) 05 – Sola’s Gone (25:50) 06 – Bossamba (33:54)

Blue Jay Sessions Mike Metheny began his career as a classical trumpeter, gradually switching to jazz. His debut recording finds him sticking to the mellow-toned flügelhorn. This LP is an excellent showcase for Metheny, who performs one original, his brother Pat's "Ivy," a couple of obscurities, and tunes by Paul Desmond ("Wendy") and Nat Adderley ("Games"). The latter piece adds altoist Jim Odgren to the band, but otherwise the tunes mostly showcase Metheny, who is accompanied by guitarist Bill Frisell (mostly sounding pretty restrained), keyboardist Dick Odgren, bassist Rufus Reid, and drummer John Riley. A fairly lyrical date that features Metheny displaying an attractive tone and some nice melodic ideas.

Review by Scott Yanow from https://www.allmusic.com/