Pat Martino

Only a select few had a copy of this recording. Now you can have what without a doubt is some of the most awe inspiring guitar playing ever recorded. The facility demonstrated by MARTINO is simply un-matched by anyone. The first time you hear the descending octave displacement riff at tempo and authority your heart will explode. At least mine did as it has for last 25 years listening to the greatest guitarist who has ever lived PAT MARTINO!

Pat Martino - We'll Be Together Again (1976) {Muse–32 Jazz 32071 rel 1998}
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© 1976, 1998 Muse Records / 32 Jazz | 32071
Jazz / Post Bop / Guitar / Electric Piano

When We'll Be Together Again was recorded in 1976, a 31-year-old Pat Martino was four years away from being operated on for the brain aneurysm that would wipe out his memory. The Philadelphia guitarist was also very much at the height of his creative powers – a fact that's hard to miss on this excellent session, which 32 Jazz reissued on CD in 1998. Forming an intimate duo with electric pianist Gil Goldstein, Martino is at his most introspective on sparse interpretations of the standards "You Don't Know What Love Is" and "Willow Weep for Me" as well as Henry Mancini's "Dreamsville," J.J. Johnson's "Lament," and Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns." Martino's lyricism was never more personal than it is on this album, which was first released by Muse and was out of print for many years.

Pat Martino - Exit (1976) {Master Sound Japan Mini LP SRCS 9413}
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© 1976, 1998 Muse Records / Sony Music Japan | Master Sound DSD | SRCS 9413
Jazz / Post Bop / Guitar

This LP gave listeners a good sampling of mid-1970s Pat Martino. The distinctive yet flexible guitarist teams up with Gil Goldstein (who sticks here to acoustic piano), the great bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Billy Hart. Martino plays more standards than usual (four out of six songs, including "Days of Wine and Roses" and "Blue Bossa"), and, of his two originals, "Three Base Hit" has the spirit and fire of bop. An excellent outing.

Gene Ludwig & Pat Martino Trio - Young Guns (1968-1969) {HighNote HCD 7258 rel 2014}
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© 1968-69, 2014 HighNote Records | HCD 7258
Jazz / Post Bop / Soul Jazz / Hammond B-3 organ / Guitar

The name Young Guns seems ironically amiss until one learns that this recording dates from 1968-69 when organist Gene Ludwig was thirty years old, guitarist Pat Martino twenty-three and drummer Randy Gelispie somewhere in that neighborhood, long before he became fondly known as "Uncle G." The organ trio was in its heyday then, and this one was caught on tape during an exciting live date at Club 118 in Louisville, KY. How many other such performances have been lost forever owing to the absence of a tape recorder or the failure to turn it on is anyone's guess. But this one, thank goodness, has been preserved for present-day ears to appreciate.

Pat Martino - Interchange (1994) {Muse MCD 5529}
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© 1994 Muse Records | MCD 5529
Jazz / Post Bop / Guitar

Pat Martino excited the jazz community with his exciting reentry into the scene in 1987 with his live recording, The Return. He surprised more than a few by demonstrating such impressive taste and technique, almost as if he had never lost the ability to play the guitar due to a severe brain aneurysm. Perhaps almost as surprising was his disappearance once again from the public eye (due to his parents' illnesses), until he reemerged with this recording in 1994. Here, Martino is teamed with pianist James Ridl, whom he happened upon in a Philadelphia club. Martino was so impressed and inspired that he invited the pianist to form a musical partnership.

This CD is not only a fine addition to the Pat Martino catalogue, it is also of historical importance with respect to his personal and musical development. Recorded at the well-known eclectic nightclub the Tin Angel in Philadelphia in the mid-nineties (the exact date is not given and probably unknown), it is a duet set (or selections from multiple sets) featuring Martino with pianist Jim Ridl, a giant creative force in his own right, who for about ten years worked with Martino as a duet and in the latter's groups.

Pat Martino - El Hombre (1967) {Prestige OJCCD-195-2 rel 1990}
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© 1967, 1990 Prestige Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-195-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Soul Jazz / Guitar

The first album that guitarist Pat Martino ever cut as a leader – and an excellent mix of styles that links his soul jazz roots with his later, trippier recordings! The group here is a sextet, and it features organist Trudy Pitts (who was Martino's boss at the time), plus flute, drums, and percussion – all stretching out with a really unique sort of sound! The tracks have a bit of an Eastern feel to them, especially when Martino stretches out on his solos – but they also have a nice solid groove that keeps them right in the pocket rhythmically.

Willis Jackson - Soul Night Live! (1964) {Prestige PRCD-24273-2 rel 2002} (with Pat Martino)
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© 1964, 2002 Prestige / Fantasy | PRCD-24273-2
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Jazz Blues / Hard Bop / Saxophone

The term "soul" was tossed around quite a bit in the '60s and '70s. It usually had an African-American connotation – as in soul brother, soul sister, soul food, soul music (a specific style of R&B), or James Brown, the Godfather of Soul. But the term isn't always used in reference to black culture; soulful means expressive, and in that sense, country greats Ernest Tubb and Patsy Cline were seriously soulful. However you define the word soul, Willis "Gator" Jackson was the epitome of it. The tenor titan played with a tremendous amount of feeling, and in the '60s, Prestige wasn't shy about using the word soul in connection with his work.