Three Voices Finding Their Common Ground
Metheny and his sidemen engage in close communication and create memorable and unpredictable music.
When Rejoicing (1984) came out on ECM, it arrived without fanfare—a straightforward trio date that didn't announce itself as important. Scott Yanow of AllMusic recognized something immediate in it, writing that Metheny and his sidemen engaged in close communication and created memorable and unpredictable music. The Penguin Guide gave it a solid 3.5 stars. It was the kind of album that rewarded close listening rather than demanding it, which meant it built its reputation quietly over time among people who cared about what happens when three musicians trust each other completely.
What makes this work is the specific chemistry. Metheny brought his gift for melodic invention and his capacity to listen—he never overstates his role. Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins brought decades of playing together, a shared language forged in Ornette Coleman's bands in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They knew how to respond to unexpected moves without hesitation. The trio recorded this over two days in November 1983, and you can hear the ease in it. Nothing feels forced or predetermined. Metheny's guitar ranges from spare and conversational to more active, but it never crowds the space. Haden's bass work is melodic and spacious, and Higgins keeps time with a lightness that lets the music breathe.
This isn't Metheny's most celebrated work, and it wasn't meant to be. It's a collaboration where everyone involved understood that the goal was honest conversation, not virtuosity on display. For listeners coming to his music, it's worth hearing after you've settled into his more recognizable work—it shows a different side of his thinking, one that privileges restraint and responsiveness over his usual harmonic ambition.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by Charlie Haden
All 44 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
