Jul 22, 2026 12:37 PM
In Memoriam: Rodney Holmes, 1966–2026
Drummer Rodney Holmes, a powerful presence behind the kit who emerged as an in-demand player on the New York scene…
The Pat Metheny Unity Group will release The Unity Sessions, one of two new albums from the guitarist on Nonesuch Records, on May 6 (Photo: Courtesy of the artist)
(Photo: )Coming off a banner year that included a stint as artist-in-residence for the Detroit Jazz Festival, guitarist Pat Metheny will release two new albums that place him in the dual roles of leader and sideman. Nonesuch Records will release The Unity Sessions and Cuong Vu Meets Pat Metheny on May 6.
Both albums feature collaborators and colleagues with whom the 61-year-old Grammy-winning guitarist has worked for years. The Unity Sessions is taken from a filmed performance with the Pat Metheny Unity Group (drummer Antonio Sanchez, saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Ben Williams, multi-instrumentalist Giulio Carmassi) that was recently released on DVD. The set comprises 13 songs by Metheny, including one he co-wrote with Ornette Coleman, and a well-known standard by Ray Noble.
The group’s first record, Kin (←→) (Nonesuch), was voted Jazz Album of the Year in the 2014 DownBeat Readers Poll.
On Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny, the guitarist joins a trio led by longtime Pat Metheny Group trumpeter Cuong Vu. (Other members of the trio include Stomu Takeishi on bass and Ted Poor on drums.) The album consists of five tunes written by Vu plus one by Metheny and one by Andrew D’Angelo.
Pre-orders of The Unity Sessions and Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny are available now at iTunes and nonesuch.com, each with an instant download of a track from its album (“This Belongs to You” and “Let’s Get Back,” respectively).
Metheny was voted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame in 2013. To read a 1992 Classic Interview with Metheny and bassist Charlie Haden, click here.
—Brian Zimmerman
A drummer’s drummer, Rodney Holmes gigged with everyone from Joe Zawinul and Carlos Santana to Steve Kimock and the Brecker Brothers.
Jul 22, 2026 12:37 PM
Drummer Rodney Holmes, a powerful presence behind the kit who emerged as an in-demand player on the New York scene…
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