(Modern Creative Jazz) Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - Beyond The Missouri Sky - 1997, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Review by Daniel Gioffre
Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny have been good friends since the 1970s, so it comes as a bit of a surprise that Beyond the Missouri Sky should be their first duet album together. Both musicians are from small towns in Missouri, which leads Metheny to speculate in the liner notes if this similarity of childhood ambience might have something to do with the two players' obvious love and affinity for each other. Whatever the answer, the result of this logical pairing is a rather somber and moody one. Metheny has a dark tone on his electric guitar, and on Beyond the Missouri Sky, where he plays acoustic, his sound is similarly deep and rounded. Metheny has called Haden one of the greatest improvisers of all time, and although this may be hyperbolic exaggeration from a longtime friend, Haden has at least earned the right to defend the claim. On Beyond the Missouri Sky, his playing is as sensitive and beautiful as always. Although one can understand the vibe that Haden and Metheny were going for, the preponderance of slow and mid-tempo material can wear on the listener. When they eschew the dirge-like tempos, as on the fantastic "The Precious Jewel," the results are just as atmospheric and are, in fact, even more evocative of the Midwestern landscapes that are featured so prominently in the album art. With Metheny setting up a strummy rhythm, Haden plays the stately melody with impeccable tone. This track, one of many, also showcases Metheny overdubbing different guitars to thicken out the sound of the performance. The results are similar, at least in spirit, to Bill Frisell's recordings in the latter half of the 1990s. Although many Metheny and Haden compositions that are featured on this record, it is their readings of older material that are most effective. The Jimmy Webb classic "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" is wonderfully nostalgic, as Metheny uses subtle guitar and synth washes to pad a beautiful duet performance, and the traditional "He's Gone Away" is the greatest lullaby that never was. Overall, Beyond the Missouri Sky is a fine record when the material is happening, but a bit of a chore when it is not. If Haden and Metheny had gone with the more Americana theme throughout, instead of interspersing that rootsy feel with post-bop, it would have been a much stronger record.

REM GENRE Jazz
REM DATE 1997
REM DISCID B310490D
REM COMMENT "ExactAudioCopy v0.95b4"
PERFORMER "Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny"
TITLE "Beyond The Missouri Sky"
FILE "01 - Waltz For Ruth.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "Waltz For Ruth"
    PERFORMER "Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "Our Spanish Love Song"
    PERFORMER "Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny"
    INDEX 00 04:27:52
FILE "02 - Our Spanish Love Song.wav" WAVE
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Message to a Friend"
    PERFORMER "Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny"
    INDEX 00 05:40:10
FILE "03 - Message to a Friend.wav" WAVE
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    TITLE "Two for the Road"
    PERFORMER "Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny"
    INDEX 00 06:11:43
FILE "04 - Two for the Road.wav" WAVE
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 05 AUDIO
    TITLE "First Song"
    PERFORMER "Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny"
    INDEX 00 05:14:57
FILE "05 - First Song.wav" WAVE
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 06 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress"
    PERFORMER "Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny"
    INDEX 00 06:35:63
FILE "06 - The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.wav" WAVE
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 07 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Precious Jewel"
    PERFORMER "Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny"
    INDEX 00 04:03:72
FILE "07 - The Precious Jewel.wav" WAVE
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "08 - He's Gone Away.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 08 AUDIO
    TITLE "He's Gone Away"
    PERFORMER "Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "09 - The Moon Song.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 09 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Moon Song"
    PERFORMER "Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 10 AUDIO
    TITLE "Tears of Rain"
    PERFORMER "Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny"
    INDEX 00 06:56:20
FILE "10 - Tears of Rain.wav" WAVE
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 11 AUDIO
    TITLE "Cinema Paradiso (Love Theme)"
    PERFORMER "Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny"
    INDEX 00 05:29:43
FILE "11 - Cinema Paradiso (Love Theme).wav" WAVE
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 12 AUDIO
    TITLE "Cinema Paradiso (Main Theme)"
    PERFORMER "Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny"
    INDEX 00 03:33:37
FILE "12 - Cinema Paradiso (Main Theme).wav" WAVE
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 13 AUDIO
    TITLE "Spiritual"
    PERFORMER "Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny"
    INDEX 00 04:23:72
FILE "13 - Spiritual.wav" WAVE
    INDEX 01 00:00:00

EAC extraction logfile from 17. September 2007, 7:54 for CD
Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny / Beyond The Missouri Sky
Used drive  : Optiarc DVD RW AD-5170A   Adapter: 1  ID: 0
Read mode   : Secure with NO C2, accurate stream, disable cache
Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Used output format : D:\tools\FLAC\flac.exe   (User Defined Encoder)
                     128 kBit/s
                     Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "artist=%a" -T "title=%t" -T "album=%g" -T "date=%y" -T "tracknumber=%n" -T "genre=%m" %s
Other options      :
    Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
    Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
    Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Track  1
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     Test CRC 594B287B
     Copy CRC 594B287B
     Copy OK
Track  2
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     Test CRC 020FA580
     Copy CRC 020FA580
     Copy OK
Track  3
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     Track quality 100.0 %
     Test CRC F0EA3111
     Copy CRC F0EA3111
     Copy OK
Track  4
     Filename D:\0\Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - Beyond The Missouri Sky (1997) [FLAC] {Verve}\04 - Two for the Road.wav
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     Peak level 99.8 %
     Track quality 100.0 %
     Test CRC D2A834FE
     Copy CRC D2A834FE
     Copy OK
Track  5
     Filename D:\0\Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - Beyond The Missouri Sky (1997) [FLAC] {Verve}\05 - First Song.wav
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     Test CRC 4526253F
     Copy CRC 4526253F
     Copy OK
Track  6
     Filename D:\0\Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - Beyond The Missouri Sky (1997) [FLAC] {Verve}\06 - The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.wav
     Pre-gap length  0:00:04.40
     Peak level 99.8 %
     Track quality 100.0 %
     Test CRC 69CF3242
     Copy CRC 69CF3242
     Copy OK
Track  7
     Filename D:\0\Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - Beyond The Missouri Sky (1997) [FLAC] {Verve}\07 - The Precious Jewel.wav
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     Peak level 99.8 %
     Track quality 100.0 %
     Test CRC D2F53336
     Copy CRC D2F53336
     Copy OK
Track  8
     Filename D:\0\Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - Beyond The Missouri Sky (1997) [FLAC] {Verve}\08 - He's Gone Away.wav
     Peak level 98.8 %
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     Test CRC 891B0290
     Copy CRC 891B0290
     Copy OK
Track  9
     Filename D:\0\Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - Beyond The Missouri Sky (1997) [FLAC] {Verve}\09 - The Moon Song.wav
     Peak level 99.8 %
     Track quality 100.0 %
     Test CRC 1ABE981B
     Copy CRC 1ABE981B
     Copy OK
Track 10
     Filename D:\0\Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - Beyond The Missouri Sky (1997) [FLAC] {Verve}\10 - Tears of Rain.wav
     Pre-gap length  0:00:02.49
     Peak level 99.8 %
     Track quality 100.0 %
     Test CRC F5B8FF44
     Copy CRC F5B8FF44
     Copy OK
Track 11
     Filename D:\0\Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - Beyond The Missouri Sky (1997) [FLAC] {Verve}\11 - Cinema Paradiso (Love Theme).wav
     Pre-gap length  0:00:02.86
     Peak level 99.8 %
     Track quality 100.0 %
     Test CRC EA0BF35F
     Copy CRC EA0BF35F
     Copy OK
Track 12
     Filename D:\0\Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - Beyond The Missouri Sky (1997) [FLAC] {Verve}\12 - Cinema Paradiso (Main Theme).wav
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     Test CRC 20717937
     Copy CRC 20717937
     Copy OK
Track 13
     Filename D:\0\Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - Beyond The Missouri Sky (1997) [FLAC] {Verve}\13 - Spiritual.wav
     Pre-gap length  0:00:03.10
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     Test CRC 4294C60D
     Copy CRC 4294C60D
     Copy OK
No errors occured
End of status report

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586528487 60328844 02 - Our Spanish Love Song.wav
687076244 65863100 03 - Message to a Friend.wav
2026595766 56029388 04 - Two for the Road.wav
577751998 70602380 05 - First Song.wav
4219848127 43300364 06 - The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.wav
2864499801 40219244 07 - The Precious Jewel.wav
4289486004 45511244 08 - He's Gone Away.wav
3081295968 73869308 09 - The Moon Song.wav
3154770294 58642460 10 - Tears of Rain.wav
832672232 38208284 11 - Cinema Paradiso (Love Theme).wav
3451815692 47110604 12 - Cinema Paradiso (Main Theme).wav
868565211 88341164 13 - Spiritual.wav
auCDtect: CD records authenticity detector, version 0.8.2
Copyright (c) 2004 Oleg Berngardt. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2004 Alexander Djourik. All rights reserved.
------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [01 - Waltz For Ruth.wav]
------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 87%
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Processing file: [02 - Our Spanish Love Song.wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
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Processing file: [03 - Message to a Friend.wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
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Processing file: [04 - Two for the Road.wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 62%
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Processing file: [05 - First Song.wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 92%
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Processing file: [06 - The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 87%
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Processing file: [07 - The Precious Jewel.wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 99%
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Processing file: [08 - He's Gone Away.wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
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Processing file: [09 - The Moon Song.wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
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Processing file: [10 - Tears of Rain.wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
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Processing file: [11 - Cinema Paradiso (Love Theme).wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 99%
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Processing file: [12 - Cinema Paradiso (Main Theme).wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 99%
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Processing file: [13 - Spiritual.wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 86%
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Final Conclusion:
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These tracks looks like CDDA with probability 100%
[/img]