Session Musician • Bassist • Educator

What is 'Second Circle'?

Posted on 5th January, 2021

This post will briefly explain what Second Circle is and its aims as an ensemble. Second Circle as a name, is a tip-of-the-hat to one of my favourite groups and one of my favourite compositions- First Circle by the Pat Metheny Group (ECM). The piece and same titled album was released in 1984 and won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance. It has since become a favourite of jazz fusion fans the world over and still stands up today as a progressive piece of music.

Here is the Pat Metheny Group playing the tune First Circle Live at Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, Canada July 3, 1989.

An ECM review had this to say about the album:

"Were you to map out a flow chart of listeners’ favorites here, the largest field would likely be taken up by the effervescent title cut. And while indeed this vocalese-laden train of stunning pianism from Lyle Mays and Metheny’s equally locomotive acoustic is a glorious masterstroke if there ever was one, one can hardly refuse the wide vistas of “Yolanda, You Learn” or the heartrending brushwork of “If I Could,” one of the most utterly beautiful statements Metheny has ever recorded." ECM Review

For me, First Circle epitomises everything I love about music: excitement and poignancy, dynamic gear shifts, a sense of narrative, captivating melody, strong groove and fascinating rhythms, and emotive and engaging improvisation. It seemed appropriate to name the ensemble after that. I can however, only wildly dream that one day Second Circle might have similar renown, but it is my more realistic hope that this new ensemble can serve to direct new fans to enjoy the eternal works from the giants of jazz fusion.

I have been a fan of jazz and fusion music ever since I began studying it many moons ago. At a similar time I was baptised into the world of folk music through a band I worked with at the time, Uiscedwr. Working with this band introduced me to Celtic folk music and what is commonly and, in my opinion wrongly, coined 'World Music'. We toured the UK and Europe playing folk and world music festivals, an experience that opened my ears to many styles and sounds from across the globe.

This experience is what I hope to express with Second Circle. Musical fusion, in a sense that anything can be put with anything else, but always with the upmost respect and love from whence it came. Mainly though, it is the music I hear. Music which comes from my many varied and sometimes bizarre musical experiences. My career has been a musical melting pot, and Second Circle I hope reflects this. May it encourage you (and continue to encourage me) to seek other music you may not have heard before.

As my PaR research around electric bass practice evolves, Second Circle will act as a conduit and expression of my work. As such, the ensemble is designed to be a collective. An ever evolving, growing and adaptable ensemble to suit the potential varying ideas and directions that might arise and to 'test' the ideas generated in a creative manner.

So far we have a few core musicians who have very generously given their time and energy(for which I an eternally grateful) to help record the first pieces and to get the band off the ground. Here are their links, I thoroughly recommend checking out their work on other projects:

Alongside these which I am lucky enough to have supporting the project, I hope and aim for the ensemble to collaborate in unique ways, not only musically but instrumentally. If you are interested in collaborating, please get in touch here.

Here are our two first releases!

Thanks for reading and for your interest. As always I am happy to hear from anyone with ideas, comments, questions or potential collaborators. Stay tuned for more exciting music coming from Second Circle!

Nick

Posted In: Reflections on Practice

Tagged: PaR, Pat Metheny, Second Circle


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