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Friday August 3rd, 2001
Pat Martino pioneers art of guitar
Long known as one of the greatest jazz guitarists, Pat Martino creates a distinctive sound that embodies thoughtful energy and soul on his electrifying new release Live at Yoshi's. With no gimmicks, special guests on revolving tracks, or overdubbed extras, Martino is at his expansive best, on this live recording remarkably supported by young titan Joey DeFrancesco on B-3 organ and Billy Hart on drums.
"All of the songs chosen for Live at Yoshi's, a celebrated Philadelphia jazz club, had been recorded before for different projects at different times throughout the years," Martino says. "I thought it would be interesting to record them together in a live performance all at once; moving them from set-time to real-time.
"'Oleo' was originally recorded in 1970 on my album Desperado. 'All Blues' (Miles Davis) was recorded with myself, Don Patterson and Billy James as sidemen on Eric Kloss's first album for Prestige in 1965 called Introducing Eric Kloss. 'Mac Tough' was recorded in 1998 for Blue Note Records on Stone Blue with Joyous Lake. 'Welcome to a Prayer' originally appeared on The Maker in 1995 on Evidence. 'El Hombre' was the title track from my first public recording on Prestige Records in 1967. 'Recollection,' 'Blue in Green' and 'Catch' were recorded by Muse Records in 1994 on an album called Interchange."
As a musician, philosopher, and visual artist, Martino has influenced jazz musicians throughout the world with pioneering spirit. That same spirit has inspired Gibson's Custom Art, & Historic division to create the Pat Martino Signature guitar. It features a AAA flamed maple top with f-holes, mahogany back and neck, ebony fingerboard, two '57 Classic humbucker pickups and the innovative straight-pull peghead enhancing intonation, feel and playability.
Born Pat Azzara in Philadelphia in 1944, he was first exposed to jazz through his father, Carmen "Mickey" Azzara, who sang in local clubs and briefly studied guitar with Eddie Lang. He took Pat to all the city's hot-spots to hear and meet Wes Montgomery and other musical giants. "I have always admired my father and have wanted to impress him. As a result, it forced me to get serious with my creative powers."
He began playing guitar when he was twelve years old. and left school in tenth grade to devote himself to music. During Visits to his music teacher Dennis Sandole, Pat often ran into another gifted student, John Coltrane, who would treat the youngster to hot chocolate as they talked about music.
Besides first-hand encounters with `Trane and Montgomery, whose album Groove Brothers had "an enormous influence" on Martino, he also cites Johnny Smith, a Stan Getz associate, as an early inspiration. "He seemed to me, as a child, to understand everything about music," Pat recalls.
Martino became actively involved with the , early rock scene in Philadelphia, alongside stars like Bobby Rydell, Chubby Checker and Bobby Darin. His first road gig was with jazz organist Charles Earland, a high school friend. His reputation soon spread among other jazz players, and he was recruited by bandleader Lloyd Price to play hits such as "Stagger Lee" on-stage with musicians like Slide Hampton and Red Holloway.
Martino moved to Harlem to immerse himself in the "soul jazz" played by Earland and others. Previously, he had "heard all of the white man's jazz. I never heard that other part of the culture," he remembers. The organ trio concept had a profound influence on Martino's rhythmic and harmonic approach. and he remained in the idiom as a sideman, gigging with Jack McDuff and Don Patterson. An icon before his eighteenth birthday, Pat was signed as a leader for Prestige Records when he was twenty. His seminal albums from this period include classics like Strings!, Desperado, El Hombre and Baiyina (The Clear Evidence), one of jazz's first successful ventures into psychedelia.
In 1976, Martino began experiencing the excruciating headaches which were eventually diagnosed as symptoms of his aneurysms. After his surgery and recovery, he resumed his career when he appeared in 1987 in New York, a gig that was released on a CD with an appropriate name, The Return. He then took another hiatus when both of his parents became ill, and he didn't record again until 1994, when he recorded Interchange and then The Maker.
Today, Martino lives in Philadelphia again and continues to grow as a musician. As the New York Times recently noted, "Mr.
Just a click away. .
Pat Martino
Live at Yoshi's
Pat Martino tour dates
Custom, Art & Historic division
Gibson Pat Martino Signature guitar
Gibson Custom Collection
Martino is back and he is plotting new musical directions, adding more layers to his myth." His experiments with guitar synthesizers, begun during his rehabilitation, are taking him in the direction of orchestral arrangements and they promise groundbreaking possibilities. Musicians flock to his door for lessons, and he offers not only the benefits of his musical knowledge, but also the philosophical insights of a man who has faced and overcome enormous obstacles. "The guitar is of no great importance to me," he muses. "The people it brings to me are what matter. They are what I'm extremely grateful for, because they are alive. The guitar is just an apparatus."
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