Post Description

Originally released in 2002 in Europe and Japan, Upojenie (Ecstasy) is a collaboration between Pat Metheny and superstar Polish vocalist Anna Maria Jopek. It came into being after Jopek approached the guitarist at a jazz festival in Warsaw in 2001. Her original idea was to perform some of her own work, some of Metheny's, and some Polish folk songs (exactly what happened). The collaboration was recorded over four months in Poland; it is something wholly other than the sum of its parts might suggest. Co-produced by composer Marcin Kydrynski (Jopek's husband) and Metheny, with Jopek and Pawel Bzim Zarecki, this set marries together the guitarist's signature meld of jazz, pop, and American forms with electronics, early folk melodies, classical melodies, and arrangements with exotic instrumentation and Jopek's otherworldly but gentle voice. For Metheny fans, this is a unique opportunity on two fronts: to hear new versions of his own tunes with different arrangements, titles, and lyrics, as well as the opportunity to be introduced to an immense talent. Now that the set has been released stateside, it becomes an opportunity for fans of contemporary jazz and sophisticated adult pop as .