Pat Metheny Unity Group, fresh off a months-long European spring tour, kicks off a US summer tour featuring music from its debut album, Kin (←→). The tour begins at the Mondavi Center in Davis, CA, Tuesday, followed by stops throughout the state and region before heading to the Midwest and East Coast. The band is joined for most of the dates by special guest Bruce Hornsby with Sonny Emory for the Campfire Tour 2014. The Unity Group heads to Asia this fall.

The Pat Metheny Unity Group—Chris Potter, Antonio Sanchez, Ben Williams, and Giulio Carmassi—concluded the North American leg of its world tour, performing music from the debut album, Kin (←→), and much more at New York's Town Hall on Friday. "Metheny is one of the most industrious creative engines in jazz, and his relentless breadth has become a calling card, if not a selling point, among his fans," says the New York Times. "New York was his final stop on a grueling North American tour, which meant that the structure and pace of the production had been nailed down tight." The Group begins a months-long European tour at the end of April. 

Kin (←→), the debut album from Pat Metheny Unity Group—Chris Potter, Antonio Sanchez, Ben Williams, and Giulio Carmassi—has premiered in the top spot on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. "There’s a sprightliness and a captivating agility present throughout this album, even in its more reflective and graceful moments," says MusicOMH in a four-star review. "This suggests a new ensemble taking complete joy in the art of making creative music and taking new risks."

Kin (←→), the first album from Pat Metheny Unity Group—Chris Potter, Antonio Sanchez, Ben Williams, and Giulio Carmassi—is out now on Nonesuch Records. The album was released in the UK yesterday to critical acclaim, earning four-star reviews across the board from Jazzwise, Mojo, Evening Standard, Q, BBC Music, Financial Times, Record Collector, and Hi-Fi News. "Like the best of Metheny's oeuvre," says Mojo, "it takes guitar-led improvisation to new aesthetic levels," with his "eloquent guitar etching a kaleidoscope of sonic hues."

Pat Metheny Unity Group, featuring woodwind player Chris Potter, longtime collaborator Antonio Sanchez on drums, Ben Williams on bass, and multi-instrumentalist Giulio Carmassi, kicks off a world tour at Jackson Academy Performing Arts Center in Jackson, Mississippi, tonight; its debut album, Kin (←→), is out this week. The tour continues in North America for the next two months, followed by a two-month European tour in the spring. 

New York's Azart Gallery presents its inaugural show, "The Many Faces of Kin (←→)," an exhibition that celebrates the release of Pat Metheny’s newest recording on Nonesuch Records, due out next week, and offers a glimpse into the evolution and execution of the album cover art by its designers at Doyle Partners. The exhibition opens with a reception for the artists tonight and continues through February 15. 

The Pat Metheny Unity Group, featuring Chris Potter on sax and bass clarinet, Antonio Sanchez on drums, Ben Williams on bass, and multi-instrumentalist Giulio Carmassi, release their first record, Kin (←→), on February 4. You can watch a preview video about Kin (←→), set to various songs from the album, here, then pre-order the album in the Nonesuch Store for an exclusive print autographed by Metheny. The Pat Metheny Unity Group will tour North America beginning February 3, then tour Europe from April through June; tickets are on sale now.

Mehliana: Taming the Dragon, the debut album from the electric duo of Brad Mehldau and Mark Guiliana, due February 25 on Nonesuch Records, and Kin (←→), the debut album from the Pat Metheny Unity Group, due February 4, are featured on the latest episode of BBC Radio 2's Jamie Cullum show. The episode looks ahead to the music of 2014 and showcases "some of the most exciting tracks coming out in the next few months in the world of jazz," including "Hungry Ghost" from the Mehliana album and "Kqu" from Kin (←→).

Last year, for the first time since 1980, guitarist Pat Metheny recorded with a band that highlighted tenor saxophone. Unity Band, which went on to win Metheny his 20th Grammy Award, featured Chris Potter on sax and bass clarinet, longtime collaborator Antonio Sanchez on drums, and Ben Williams on bass. Now, Metheny has added another musician, multi-instrumentalist Giulio Carmassi, and christened the ensemble Pat Metheny Unity Group. The Group’s first record, Kin (←→), will be released by Nonesuch on February 4, 2014, and is available to pre-order with an exclusive print autographed by Metheny. The Pat Metheny Unity Group will tour North America starting February 3 and Europe in the spring.

Pat Metheny, who won his 20th Grammy Award earlier this year for his 2012 album Unity Band, has announced the expansion of that band, featuring Chris Potter, Antonio Sanchez, and Ben Williams, to include multi-instrumentalist Giulio Carmassi in the Pat Metheny Unity Group. The Unity Group will release a new album on Nonesuch Records in 2014 (details to come) and will launch a world tour in February in North America, followed by Europe in the spring. Fan ticket pre-sales begins today. "The Unity Band project was life-changing for me," writes Metheny. "With Giulio added to the core-four of us ... this is one of the strongest bands I have ever had. Just about anything will be possible."

Pat Metheny’s recording of John Zorn’s Tap: The Book of Angels, Vol. 20 from Zorn’s Masada Book Two was released yesterday on Nonesuch Records and Tzadik. The album was featured on NPR's All Things Considered last night. "Metheny takes what's on the page and goes to work conjuring," says NPR's Tom Moon. "The result is an ornate, stunningly vivid sound world that neither artist would have found on his own." Listen to the complete All Things Considered review here.

Pat Metheny’s recording of John Zorn’s Tap: The Book of Angels, Vol. 20 from Zorn’s Masada Book Two is out now, their first collaboration. The New York Times calls it "audacious ... an impressive feat of imagination, and a strikingly clear distillation of both artists’ distinctive languages." The Independent says it's "dazzlingly virtuosic and evocative." All About Jazz calls it "a suite of half a dozen cinematic pieces, some of truly epic proportions ... the work of an artist who is doing anything but resting on his considerable laurels and accomplishments."