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Out this week:
Recorded at the 118 Club in Louisville, Kentucky, 1969. The cover photo was taken at the Key Club in Newark, NJ, in or about that year. Looks like Pat is playing his stuffed Johnny Smith.
"From Pat Martino's private collection, here is a mid-1960s live gig featuring the B-3 artistry of Gene Ludwig and drummer Randy Gelispie. Rarely, if ever, have these artists played with more inner fire, more unbridled virtuosity and pure unadulterated joy as they did here, captured in the full bloom of their musical youth. Pat Marino's burning swing and impovisational wizardry takes on added zip with Gene Ludwig manning the B-3. With the colorful, propulsive drummer Randy Gelispie driving things along, this is one gig which surely deserves a "legendary" epithet."
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I've ordered the physical CD but have just listened to the iTunes clips. This trio was on fire!
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02-24-2014 10:16 PM
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there's been a post of them doing 'Who Can I Turn To" on Youtube for a few yrs, nice to have the whole session released.
now if someone could just turn up his 1st session as a leader, recorded for Vanguard...
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Wow!! what a great session, I love live recordings.
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love it. His playing was so special in those days. Tone, touch and feel. I like it so much better than his new stuff.
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An interesting tidbit (to me at least) is that in the '70s when I was studying with him, he didn't have an archtop. He had a double neck ovation 6/12 and an L5s. I was playing a '75 Gibson Johnny Smith and he really loved it and we traded. He traded me his Texas Instrument/synth equipped Koontz - used on the starbright album - to me for my johnny smith.
The catch was that the koontz was in texas being repaired and I had to call Sam Koontz and have him ship me the guitar . Well, Sam was pissed and refused to ship the guitar back to either of us so after a month or two, Pat finally gave me the guitar back....
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Me too. Early on in his career Martino's playing was more relaxed, he played a little more behind the beat. His newer stuff he tends to be right up against the beat and sounds a stiffer to me. Martino detractors should have a listen to his early stuff and they might find they like him more.
Originally Posted by jzucker
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That seems a little much on Sam Koontz's part, I guess not everyone is empathetic to the plight of G.A.S. that we even the great's (Pat Martino) suffer from time to time.
There is a tenderness to his early playing that I love, especially when he lets the blues shine through I think he sounded great. I went to a concert of his about 2 years ago and while I enjoyed the hell out of myself you definitely have to listen to it a bit differently than you would his earlier work.
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i agree teok. Back in the early days, Martino didn't sound all that different from George Benson in terms of tone and feel. They both interestingly evolved in different directions...
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my guess is that Sam had given the guitar to Pat and was taken aback when he was trading it to me, lol... Originally Posted by Ric Lee
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A bit of a disgruntled luthier-spouse shining through?
I have certainly heard of it before in the recounting of iconic luthiers and the iconic players they have served and their subsequent "relationships". I've Just never heard a first hand involved parties account! haha
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Unfortunately, I traded that guitar (Gibson Johnny Smith) for a Mesa SOB amp which i later sold for $700 Originally Posted by Ric Lee
A bit of a disgruntled luthier-spouse shining through?
I have certainly heard of it before in the recounting of iconic luthiers and the iconic players they have served and their subsequent "relationships". I've Just never heard a first hand involved parties account! haha
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Ah such is the cost of a good lesson!
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Pat's solos are like the friggin' history of jazz guitar on that recording!
Man, is there anything better for a guitar player than a good organ trio?
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Yes I also prefer Pat's playing during this period. It seems to me that he defines the chords a little more.
And he is swinging hard and just behind.
Man there is some serious distortion going on. I love it!
I just bought it on iTunes….so if you can't get it anywhere else.
It's not on Spotify……wise move IMO.
I was looking at that photo and thinking "wow what a great photo from the olden days" and then I looked at the date and realised that it was the same year the Beatles were breaking up and recording either Abbey Road or Let It Be. Now that photo seems a lot more "modern"
Interesting when you put the the dates in context like that.Last edited by Philco; 02-25-2014 at 07:46 PM.
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Awesome, a must have for me!
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So was he only 24 or 25 at the time of this recording?
I think this is the best recording of Pat there is.
He was on fire!
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Yep, behind the beat and taking chances! Great jazz
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Just bought it from the Google play store. Clips sound great, will listen to the rest tonight.
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nothing against his signature Benedetto and Gibson models, but he sounds so much better on full size/depth guitars he used back then like his JS, L-5 and Koontz
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I'm sort of speechless about the playing on that take - it's as good as it gets.
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This is already up there with El Hombre as one of my favourite Pat Martino albums. Burning from start to finish!
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This is a cookin recording for sure! Really enjoying it. I also like the rawness of it. Pat still plays many of the same licks he did in this recording. I do tonally prefer his earlier works. But in my head I attribute that more towards his amp selection. Didn't he use fender tube amps in these early days? I could be mistaken. Either way it's a more colorful tone than the very flat AI Clarus he's been using for a while.
Last edited by monkmiles; 03-01-2014 at 09:06 AM.
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I only downloaded 2 tracks off iTunes but I'm going to have to get my full ticket to the gun show I think!
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Got it, and it's making my daily commute with me on the iPod. Great stuff. Thanks for the heads-up, David B!
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Thanks, David. I downloaded this from Amazon on Tues. night after seeing your post. I've had the audio taken from YouTube of "Who Can I Turn To" on my iPod for quite a while.
"El Hombre" has always been one of my benchmarks for great playing and, tonally, it's easily my favorite of Martino's releases. It has been pretty well documented both photographically and in print that Martino was using a JS Gibson and a Twin on "El Hombre."
This morning I decided to reread an interview with Pat Martino that Wolf Marshall did for "Vintage Guitar" back in 2004.
He indicated that after "El Hombre" (1967) he switched to an L-5 CES because he was having too many feedback problems with the JS. Albums like "Strings" (1967) and "Baiyina" (1968) were the L-5. When I saw the recording date (1969) and listened to the new release it made me wonder if it's an L-5. Clearly, in the photo he's playing a Johnny Smith, although obviously the photo could predate the actual recording. We're really lucky to have another recording from Pat Martino from that time period.
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