1992 · Album
Secret Story
Released: 1992 · Grammy Award: Best Contemporary Jazz Album (1993) · Collaborators: Pinpeat Orchestra of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, London Orchestra (conductor Jeremy Lubbock), Choir of the Cambodian Royal Palace, Toots Thielemans, Lyle Mays
When Pat Metheny Went Looking for Stories
Secret Story is Metheny at his most restless, pulling in orchestras and world music without losing the thread.
Secret Story arrived in 1992 as something different from what Pat Metheny had been doing with his group. This is an ambitious record—maybe too ambitious for its own good, but it's worth hearing exactly because Metheny doesn't play it safe. He composed everything himself, and instead of relying on the tight interplay that made his group albums work, he built these pieces around orchestral arrangements by Jeremy Lubbock, a London-based conductor, and brought in the Pinpeat Orchestra from the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, plus the Choir of the Cambodian Royal Palace. The idea was to blend jazz with rock and world music into something that had no obvious precedent in his catalog.
What you actually get is uneven. Some tracks work beautifully—Toots Thielemans and his harmonica float through the arrangements with ease, and Lyle Mays on keyboards sounds at home in nearly every setting. But mixing a Cambodian royal orchestra with a London symphony and jazz guitar is risky. Sometimes the pieces feel cluttered, like Metheny is showing off his connections rather than serving the songs. Other moments click completely, and you hear why he bothered—a genuine conversation between different musical traditions instead of just their coexistence on the same recording.
Where does this sit in Metheny's work? It's not where most people start. The group albums are more immediate and rewarding. But Secret Story matters because it shows what happens when Metheny decides to be genuinely experimental instead of just technically perfect. It won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 1993, which tells you the industry noticed. It's also proof that ambition and success don't always equal greatness. Still, if you've heard everything else and want to see Metheny reach for something bigger, this is worth the time.
Who's playing
Charlie Hadendouble bass
Will Leebass
Steve Rodbybass
Lyle Mayspiano
Pat Methenysynthesizer
Steve Ferronedrums
Paul Werticodrums
Sammy Merendinodrums
Armando Marçalpercussion
Naná Vasconcelospercussion
Danny Gottliebcymbal
Gil Goldsteinaccordion
Where next?
More by Pat Metheny
All 26 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
