THE WAY UP:  The Composition  (taken from Metheny's website)


It is important to note that in the annals of jazz groups 
attempting to address longer forms, there are many suites of 
loosely related songs bundled together to attempt to create 
a whole. This project (The Way Up) is something more. 
Metheny offers:

"There is a compositional integrity to the whole thing as a 
single piece. Each part of the structure is supported and 
developed over time and there are connections between things 
that are slowly revealed over the course of the whole piece."


One might think that with such an emphasis on the written 
material that the improvisational elements that have been 
such a focus of Metheny’s music may find themselves in a 
somewhat secondary position. Not so, says Metheny:

"One major area of intrigue to me throughout the entire group’s 
history has been to set up environments for ourselves to 
function in as improvisers that go beyond the traditional. This 
piece offers lots of room for very detailed kinds of improvising."


http://www.patmethenygroup.com/