First Circle (album)

First Circle
First Circle
Studio album by the Pat Metheny Group
Released	1984
Recorded	February 15–19, 1984
Studio	Power Station, New York City
Genre	Jazz fusion
Length	49:54
Label	ECM 1278
Producer	Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny chronology

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	^[3]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	^[2]

First Circle is the fourth studio album by the Pat Metheny Group recorded over four day in February 1984 and released on ECM later that year. Metheny is joined by Lyle Mays on keyboards, Steve Rodby on bass, Paul Wertico on drums, and Pedro Aznar on vocals, percussion, and guitar. First Circle won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance.

History

Two personnel changes occurred. Drummer Danny Gottlieb was replaced by Paul Wertico, and the Group was joined by multi-instrumentalist Pedro Aznar, who had already established himself with the band Serú Girán in his native Argentina.

On First Circle, the Group used instruments it hadn't recorded with before, including the sitar ("Yolanda, You Learn"), trumpet ("Forward March"), and agogo bells ("Tell It All"). The first song, "Forward March", with Lyle Mays on trumpet, uses dissonant, out-of-tune chords and shifting time signatures. On putting the song first, Metheny remarked that it "seemed like a good idea at the time."^[4]

This was the first Group album to feature a song with written lyrics, "Más Allá," by Aznar.

First Circle expanded the scope of the Group's music. In a podcast retrospective, Metheny remarked that the album brought the Group to a creative high that he had been seeking since its foundation. "With the record, First Circle, I finally felt like the Group was what I hoped it might be someday...there was this feeling of, 'Okay, we've done it. We can go anywhere now.'" He stated that First Circle, Still Life (Talking), and Letter from Home, among the Group's most popular albums, were part of a trilogy connected by their musical explorations and accessibly melodic personalities.

Along with "Phase Dance" and "Are You Going With Me?", the album's title track, "The First Circle", became one of the Group's most popular songs.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays except where noted

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Forward March"	Metheny	2:47
2.	"Yolanda, You Learn"		4:43
3.	"The First Circle"		9:10
4.	"If I Could"	Metheny	6:54

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Tell It All"		7:55
2.	"End of the Game"		7:57
3.	"Más Allá (Beyond)"	Metheny, Pedro Aznar	5:37
4.	"Praise"		4:19

Personnel

Pat Metheny – electric guitar, acoustic six-and twelve-string guitars, slide guitar, Synclavier guitar, Danelectro sitar guitar
Lyle Mays – piano, synthesizers, Oberheim, organ, agogô bells, trumpet
Steve Rodby – acoustic and electric bass, kick drum
Paul Wertico – drums, field drum, cymbals
Pedro Aznar – vocals, percussion, glockenspiel, acoustic, electric and twelve-string guitars, whistle

Technical personnel

Pat Metheny – producer
Jan Erik Kongshaug – recording and mixing
Rob Eaton – assistant engineer
Roger Seibel – mastering at SAE Mastering, Phoenix, USA
Barbara Wojirsch – design and cover design
William Clift – photography

Charts

Year	Chart	Position
1984	Billboard Jazz Albums	2
1984	Billboard Top 100	102

Awards

Grammy Awards

Year	Category
1985	Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance

References

^ Ginell, Richard S. (2011). "First Circle - Pat Metheny Group | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 139. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 994. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
^ Pat Metheny Songbook (ISBN 0-634-00796-3) page 441