“Every Day (I Thank You)”
Pat Metheny, guitar | Charlie Haden, bass | Jack DeJohnette drums
Dewey Redman tenor saxophone | Michael Brecker tenor saxophone
From Pat Metheny 80/81 | recorded May 1980, Oslo | 2004 ECM :rarum IX

Somewhere around in here it occurred to me that I had made four or five records and was so concerned with developing a band and a way of thinking and playing that was attempting to offer alternative views to the implications of the larger jazz tradition that I had somewhat neglected to address in a recording environment the music that I had played the most and longest in its more conventional setting.

I had always loved the playing of both Charlie Haden and Dewey Redman and had gotten to know both of them from the days when I was playing with Gary Burton and they were playing with Keith Jarrett and the two bands would occasionally do gigs together around the States. I had recently met and played with the amazingly gifted Mike Brecker who seemed to be an underutilized musical force at that time, and I had known Jack Dejohnette for a few years by then and had always hoped to do something with him.

Jack and Charlie had never played together before this session, nor had Dewey and Mike, but part of the idea was to set up these new connections between people who were real favorites to me and to see if what I thought could happen between all of us might work.

This piece “Everyday (I Thank You)” was written for this session in a hotel room in Bremen, Germany late one night after a gig. Mike Brecker has often talked about how he felt this record was a turning point for him, that he discovered something on this date about the way he played that affected things that he did later. To me, this is one of his finest recordings and the way he played this piece was really special and beyond anything I had hoped for. Charlie and Jack proved to be a magic combination, later utilized as a rhythm section by lots of people. And this record began a recording association and a deepened friendship between Charlie and I that has proven to be one of the most important relationships in my life. And one the best parts of this date was how much fun we all had making it – it was probably the most pleasant experience of all of the recording sessions I had during the ECM days.
Pat Metheny’s notes for the 2004 ECM :rarum IX