MoonDial (2024), by Pat Metheny

Over the course of his nearly six-decade career, venerable and veteran superstar jazz guitarist Pat Metheny has released a whopping total of four solo acoustic albums, with MoonDial being his latest to date. Not only is it perhaps the best of these ambitious and intimate outliers, but it definitely ranks as one of his best overall works, even rivaling his usual electric output.

While I’m definitely a fan of Metheny’s flights of fancy on his searing and soaring guitar synthesizer leads, his unique performances here on a custom-made nylon-string baritone guitar are simply irresistible, infectious, and exquisite.

 

The album features a delightful and delectable mix of originals and covers, the latter of which include dreamy renditions of Paul McCartney’s iconic “Here, There and Everywhere” and Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s classic standard, “Somewhere.”

 

MoonDial is so endearing and captivating that I listened to it every evening for five months straight before writing this review. It’s that good.

 

--Raj Manoharan

Dream Box (2023), by Pat Metheny

Even without a full band of collaborative musicians and their instruments to embellish and expand upon his sound, Pat Metheny manages to captivate and enthrall, as demonstrated by this album of pensive and poignant electric guitar instrumentals.

Standout tracks include the classic jazz tune, “Never Was Love,” which has an infectious rhythmic groove thanks to Metheny’s buoyant solo over his energetic backing chords, and the Brazilian-flavored “Morning of the Carnival,” from the Black Orpheus soundtrack.

 

I am especially familiar with the latter because Police guitarist Andy Summers played it as part of his suite of selections from the film during his early 2020s one-man multimedia tour.

 

The song has its own recognizable compositional structure, but both guitarists definitely put their signature stamps on the tune. Metheny’s version is uniquely and unmistakably his.

 

Speaking of Summers, I’ve seen a photo online, perhaps on Metheny’s website, of Summers and Metheny playing acoustic guitars together in a house or hotel sometime in the early 1980s.

 

That photo and both Summers’ and Metheny’s individual takes on “Morning of the Carnival” compel me to suggest that the two should record at least one album of guitar duets, either electric or acoustic or both.

 

That would be a guitar lover’s dream.

 

Summers isn’t getting any younger. Make it happen, Pat!

 

--Raj Manoharan

Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV) (2021), by Pat Metheny

Venerable jazz guitarist Pat Metheny tests out his Side-Eye concept – in which he spotlights younger up-and-coming musicians – in a live setting, covering some familiar classics as well as newer repertoire and creating something both structured and in the moment.

The newer kids on the block here are James Francies on keyboards and synthesizers and Marcus Gilmore on drums and percussion. They keep their leader on his toes while he pushes them to rise to the occasion, resulting in a range of sounds that run the gamut from vintage jazz to progressive, state-of-the-art fusion.

 

Regardless of whether he’s playing with seasoned peers or fresh faces, Metheny always manages to hone in on his artistry and vision with precise focus, defined by his signature sound and his nimble and sublime leads.

 

A rare excursion into blues rock guitar and the much-welcome return of his blazing guitar synthesizer make this session an eclectic and worthy addition to Pat Metheny’s decades-long discography.

 

--Raj Manoharan

BEATrio (2025), by Bela Fleck, Edmar Castaneda, Antonio Sanchez

2026 GRAMMY AWARD NOMINEE FOR BEST CONTEMPORARY INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM

I’m not a fan of the banjo, and I’m even less of a fan of the harp, but these completely disparate instruments are two of the three unlikely ingredients – including drums and percussion – that make up this thoroughly engrossing and immersive album that sounds nothing like typical, traditional banjo or harp music.

The trio consists of banjo player extraordinaire Bela Fleck, harpist Edmar Castaneda, and drummer/percussionist Antonio Sanchez.

 

Fleck, of course, is an internationally renowned multiple Grammy Award nominee and winner and the leader of the jazz/world/new age fusion super group Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Fleck is to the banjo what Andy Summers and Pat Metheny are to the guitar.

 

The harp sounds like a harp, but Castaneda plays it like I’ve never heard it played before, unleashing a dynamic range of tones and a lot of bouncy and snappy rhythms.

 

And longtime Pat Metheny collaborator Sanchez brings it all together with kinetic drums and percussion that keep everything moving.

 

I’m not sure if BEATrio is just the name of the album, the name of the group, or both, but one thing I know for certain is that this is one of the tightest, most energetic, and most exhilarating fusion bands on record.

 

--Raj Manoharan

Standards from film (2022), by Mike Moreno

While I’m not enough of a connoisseur of classic film to get the audio clip references as well as be familiar with the songs themselves, what I do know is that acclaimed and accomplished jazz guitarist Mike Moreno has definitely tapped into a vibe that is classic and vintage and classy and elegant. The result is one of his strongest sets yet.

 

Moreno’s earlier releases in the late 2000s and 2010s already demonstrated his technical proficiency on the fret board, and this album continues to evidence a steady hand and assured confidence in his playing and phrasing, presenting him as the venerable jazz guitar master that he most certainly is now. He is definitely on the level of guitar greats such as Andy Summers and Pat Metheny.

 

Moreno is supported by an equally talented group of amazing and wondrous musicians. Sullivan Fortner conjures rapturous swirls on piano, Matt Brewer anchors deep grooves and rhythms on bass, and Obed Calvaire keeps the beat palpable with floating drums and percussion. They absolutely contribute both individually and collectively to the overall atmosphere of this session. This is one of Moreno’s best bands on record.

 

The art of jazz guitar is alive and well in the highly capable hands of Mike Moreno.

 

--Raj Manoharan

Lotus Dream (2025), by Shambhu

Shambhu’s tenth album finds the guitarist doing what he does best – soothing listeners’ souls with gentle and peaceful acoustic guitar compositions that center them in their inner selves and take them to another level of sensory enlightenment.

However, Shambhu goes a bit further than usual, bringing a lot of piano as well as electric guitar into the mix, along with bass and synthesizers.

 

The result is an album that goes into Andy Summers, Pat Metheny, and Eric Johnson territory, all the while retaining Shambhu’s unique sensibilities.

 

Shambhu plays all the instruments on the album, with the exception of “Resilience,” which features electric and Nashville guitars by jazz guitarist Leo Steinriede.

 

The combination of acoustic and electric guitars and keyboards and synthesizers truly results in a sonic utopia of dreamy luminescence and transcendent bliss.

 

This is one of the best albums of its kind.

 

--Raj Manoharan

Happy Birthday, Andy Summers!

On New Year's Eve, Wednesday, December 31, 2025, Andy Summers – my favorite guitarist and musician of all time – will turn 83 years old.

I first became acquainted with the music of Summers in 1983 at the age of 10 in a Catholic elementary school classroom when I heard a hypnotic and futuristic-sounding pop/rock song emanating from the radio of Candy, my substitute teacher. When I asked what the song was and who recorded it, I was promptly informed that it was “Spirits in the Material World” by The Police. I was instantly hooked, so much so that that Christmas, my parents got me a vinyl copy of Synchronicity, The Police’s fifth and final studio album and one of the biggest hits of the year. The Police have since remained my favorite rock band of all time.

Summers was the guitarist for the mega-popular group, who were active in the late 1970s and early 1980s and reunited for a 30th anniversary tour in 2007 and 2008. Being a good decade older than his bandmates Sting and Stewart Copeland, Summers began his professional recording career in the early 1960s, playing for Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band (which later became the psychedelic but short-lived Dantalian’s Chariot), Eric Burdon’s New Animals, and Soft Machine. After formally studying guitar at California State University, Northridge, from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, Summers returned to England and plied his trade as a session guitarist for Joan Armatrading, Neil Sedaka, Kevin Coyne, and Deep Purple’s Jon Lord before achieving monumental success and international stardom with The Police.

After the dissolution of The Police in the early 1980s, Summers scored some Hollywood films (Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Weekend at Bernie’s) and recorded one rock vocal album before establishing himself as an acclaimed and accomplished contemporary instrumental guitarist across a variety of styles, including jazz, fusion, new age, and world music.

I was privileged to interview Summers by telephone in Fall 2000 for the January 2001 issue of DirecTV: The Guide. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that Summers posted a notice of the interview in the news section of his Web site. Later, I met Summers in person during his book tour in Fall 2006, just a few months before The Police reunited for a 30th anniversary reunion tour, which I was fortunate to attend twice, first at Giants Stadium in August 2007 and then at PNC Bank Arts Center in August 2008.

I highly recommend the following Andy Summers solo albums: XYZ, Mysterious Barricades, The Golden Wire, Charming Snakes, World Gone Strange, Synaesthesia, Earth + Sky, Harmonics of the Night, and Vertiginous Canyons.

--Raj Manoharan