The Way Up is the eleventh and final studio album by the Pat Metheny Group. It was released in 2005 and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 2006. It is the last album in the prolific three-decade collaboration of Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays.

Background

The album consists of one 68-minute-long piece, split into four tracks. The piece is through-composed, featuring complex shifts of dynamics and meter, and precise transitions between solo improvisation sections.

Swiss multi-instrumentalist Gregoire Maret is showcased on the harmonica and joined the Group for the album's world tour. The tour included a performance at the Montreal Jazz Festival, and an official concert recording of the Seoul, South Korea appearance was released on DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-Ray.

Track listing

Personnel

• Pat Metheny – acoustic guitars, electric guitars, guitar synthesizer, slide guitar, toy guitar, producer

• Lyle Mays – piano, keyboards, toy xylophone, producer

• Steve Rodby – acoustic bass, electric bass, cello, violin, producer

• Cuong Vu – trumpet, vocals, toy whistle

• Grégoire Maret – harmonica

• Antonio Sánchez – drums, toy xylophone

Additional musicians

• Richard Bona – percussion, vocals, toy guitar

• Dave Samuels – percussion

Awards

Grammy Awards

Charts

Certifications

References