For the first time since his 1980 release 80/81, Pat Metheny has recorded with a band that features tenor saxophone. Unity Band, due out June 12, introduces a new Metheny ensemble with Chris Potter on sax and bass clarinet, longtime collaborator Antonio Sanchez on drums, and the up-and-coming Ben Williams on bass. The album features nine new Metheny compositions. The Pat Metheny Unity Band will tour the US this summer and fall, with stops in 39 cities. Pre-orders of Unity Band are available now in the Nonesuch Store with a signed print and an instant download of the opening track, “New Year.”

Congratulations to Pat Metheny, who has won the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album for his 2011 Nonesuch release, What's It All About. This year's win marks Metheny's 19th Grammy Award. Watch his performance of The Beatles' "And I Love Her" here. Congratulations also go to Judith Sherman, who won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Classical, for work including two Nonesuch albums: John Adams's Son of Chamber Symphony and Steve Reich's WTC 9/11.

Congratulations to all the Nonesuch artists who were nominated for the 54th Annual Grammy Awards: Ry Cooder and Emmylou Harris for Best Americana Album, Pat Metheny for Best New Age Album, Chris Thile & Michael Daves for Best Bluegrass Album, and World Circuit / Nonesuch Records artists AfroCubism for Best World Music Album. You can hear music from all the nominated albums on the new Nonesuch Radio channel "2011 Grammy Nominees."

The acclaimed 1999 album Jim Hall & Pat Metheny, reissued for the first time on Nonesuch Records, is out now. Pat Metheny's duo collaboration with Jim Hall, whom he has called the "father of modern guitar playing," features 17 tracks: original tunes from each guitarist, several improvisations captured in the studio, plus six tunes recorded live in concert, including Gershwin's "Summertime." "The excellence of the playing is the heart of the matter," says the Philadelphia Inquirer of the album. "It's a privilege to listen in." The Los Angeles Times calls it "extraordinary."

The results of the 76th annual DownBeat Readers Poll have been announced, and topping the list for Jazz Album of the Year is Brad Mehldau's solo CD/DVD Live in Marciac. Mehldau was also named the year's Best Pianist. Joining him among DownBeat readers' favorites are two Nonesuch artists with whom Mehldau has collaborated: Pat Metheny, named Best Guitarist, and Joshua Redman, named Best Tenor Saxophone. “There is no recording more befitting the title of Jazz Album of the Year than Brad Mehldau’s Live in Marciac," says DownBeat. "He is setting a new standard.”

Pat Metheny, fresh off his US tour with bassist Larry Grenadier, launches a 30-city European tour this weekend with Grenadier and fellow Pat Metheny Trio member Bill Stewart, on drums. This is the first time in nearly a dozen years that the Trio behind the albums Pat Metheny Trio 99>00 and Trio Live will have toured Europe. MPR, reviewing Metheny's new solo album, What's It All About, says: "Metheny has redefined how jazz is played on the guitar." The forthcoming reissue of his 1999 duo album with Jim Hall, announced in yesterday's Nonesuch Journal, is available to pre-order.

The acclaimed 1999 album Jim Hall & Pat Metheny will be reissued for the first time on Nonesuch Records on November 8 and is available to pre-order now. Metheny's duo collaboration with Hall, whom he has called the "father of modern guitar playing," features 17 tracks: original tunes from each guitarist, several improvisations captured in the studio, plus six tunes recorded live in concert, including Gershwin's "Summertime." "The excellence of the playing is the heart of the matter," says the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It's a privilege to listen in." The Los Angeles Times calls it "extraordinary."

Pat Metheny brings his 20-city US tour with bassist Larry Grenadier to a close with a special week-long engagement at the Blue Note in New York City. Metheny and Grenadier launch a European tour with drummer Bill Stewart next week and reunite as a duo for a week's run at the Blue Note in Tokyo in January. All About Jazz calls Metheny's latest solo album, What's It All About, "an essential record ... [H]e has made a record that can lure the listener into emotional spaces that enchant, seduce and delight."

Pat Metheny's US tour with bassist Larry Grenadier continues this weekend with sold-out shows in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Ann Arbor. The Kansas City Star, reviewing last night's show, raves: "The idyllic concept of angels plucking on harps in heaven is overdue for an overhaul. One possible update is the image of Pat Metheny bent over a guitar ... Metheny creates extraordinarily celestial sounds, with last night's show "exceptionally rapturous even by his standards." Metheny discusses his new album, What's It All About, on today's episode of PRI's Here & Now.

Pat Metheny launches a month-long, 20-city tour of the United States this weekend, joined by bassist Larry Grenadier. The concerts will take place in intimate settings throughout the US and include songs from Metheny's new solo album, What's It All About, along with new material and favorites from throughout his rich catalog. The tour closes with a special week's engagement at the Blue Note in New York City. Following the US tour, Metheny, Grenadier, and drummer Bill Stewart launch a European tour.

Pat Metheny will be the guest on this week's episode of BBC Radio 2's Jamie Cullum show tonight. In this hour-long special, Metheny talks with Cullum about his career and its impact on the role of guitar in jazz. Metheny's new album, What's It All About, earns a perfect five stars in BBC Music magazine, which says: "Laymen and players alike will love this personal solo album from their personable hero."

Pat Metheny's new album, What's It All About, receives four-and-a-half stars from Audiophile Audition. "What makes his latest CD special is that he makes familiar popular songs that most listeners will recognize come alive," raves Audiophile Audition. "[T]he acoustics here are stunning ... This CD has Grammy written all over it." The BBC says Metheny's guitar "provides a sumptuous setting" for the songs on the album. The Lexington Herald Leader says it makes for "some glorious new summer music."