Gary Burton Quintet With E. Weber Passengers

Gary Burton’s Passengers has it all: its frontman’s incomparable mallets, Dan Gottlieb keeping the beat, the unmistakable bass of Eberhard Weber paired with the equally unique stylings of Steve Swallow, the fluid fingers of guitarist Pat Metheny (who would soon go on to front his own super group with Weber and Gottlieb), and the all-important bow of ECM’s attentive production. Not enough to whet your appetite? All the more reason to buy it.

Jazz tribute albums are a dime a dozen. Often comprising familiar, oft-recorded material, many seem indistinct. Not so Hommage à Eberhard Weber, recorded live in January of 2015 on the occasion of the bassist/composer's 75th birthday. It features a host of collaborators and friends with the SWR Big Band under the direction of Helge Sunde. With the exception of Pat Metheny's suite-like composition "Hommage," everything was written by Weber, who is esteemed for his technique and custom-built instruments and as one of the architects of "the ECM sound." He has been unable to play since suffering a debilitating stroke in 2007. Thanks to technology, he is virtually present on two of these performances…

In addition to his longtime bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Martin Richards, vibraphonist Gary Burton features a couple of young players on this date who he would classify as "whiz kids": pianist Makoto Ozone and the Coltrane-inspired tenorman Tommy Smith. The repertoire (all obscurities) and post-bop solos have more fire than one would normally expect on a Gary Burton record, and there are plenty of colorful moments on this subtle but adventurous set, Burton's final date for ECM after 14 years.

On its sophomore offering for Mack Avenue Records, the New Gary Burton Quartet reveals the musical maturity that naturally occurs when a disparate but extremely gifted group of players locks in as a band. Vibraphonist Burton, guitarist Julian Lage, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Antonio Sanchez made their debut with 2012's Common Ground, a date steeped in fine originals from all the players, as well as a few covers. That blend is no different here, though the emphasis changes a bit. For starters, Burton, who is notoriously reticent as a composer, actually contributes two pieces to this set. The first is a revisit of "Remembering Tano," a tango written for the late Astor Piazzolla (featuring gorgeous arco work from Colley), and the lithe swing that makes up the backbone of "Jane Fonda Called Again"…

For his first album for the Concord jazz imprint, vibraphonist Gary Burton goes back: back to some of the most enduring compositions in the jazz lexicon, constructing the program on Departure completely from jazz standards, except for "Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs" (the theme from the television show Frasier). Along with guitarist John Scofield, drummer Peter Erskine, pianist Fred Hersch, and bassist John Patitucci, Burton also returns here to the quicksilver, porcelain sound of the George Shearing quintet, Burton's first job after graduating from the Berklee College of Music. For the uninitiated, Departure is a worthwhile introduction to Burton's style on vibes, with his strong sense of swing swaddled in a sound that's most often elegant yet sometimes surprisingly funky.

Not only does this LP feature a "new quartet," but it marks the beginning of Gary Burton's longtime association with ECM. In general, Burton's ECM dates were more introverted and laid-back than his more diverse Atlantic releases, but they always had their moments of interest. On this set, the vibraphonist, guitarist Mick (then known as Michael) Goodrick, bassist Abraham Laboriel, and drummer Harry Blazer perform numbers by Chick Corea ("Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly"), Keith Jarrett ("Coral"), Gordon Beck, Carla Bley, and Mike Gibbs, in addition to Burton's "Brownout." Intriguing if not essential music.