Artist:Pat Martino
Song:Impressions
Album:Timeless
When I wrote about jazz guitarist Pat Martino. it was from one of his Blue Note albums from the 90s. I first heard of Martino when he recorded for Muse Records in the 70s. So I wanted to recommend a comp from that period so you can check out those recordings. Of course Martino suffered a seizure in 1980. Brain surgery left him with amnesia and he had to learn to play guitar all over again. And against all odds, he was successful and recorded and toured until his 2018 retirement. At age 15, Martino moved to New York and started playing in clubs and recording with guys like tenor saxophonists Willis Jackson and Eric Kloss and organists like Brother Jack McDuff and Don Patterson. What those guys had in common was they all recorded for Prestige Records. Martino signed with Prestige in 1967. He recorded five albums for them. Then they were sold to Fantasy Records. Those recordings are now owned by Concord. Prestige GM Joe Fields started a new label Cobblestone in 1972 with producer Don Schlitten who had worked at Prestige. They were owned by Buddah Records. Martino recorded one album for Cobblestone. Things didn't work out at Buddah and Fields started a new label Muse Records. Martino also moved to Muse. And that's when I first heard of Martino. I probably found one of his albums in a used record store. Cratedigging was how I discovered new music in those days. Impressions is from Martino's 1975 album Consciousness. Impressions was written by John Coltrane and first appeared on his 1962 album Coltrane. It's now a jazz standard. Veteran producer Michael Cuscuna produced a lot of the Muse recordings. Musicians are Eddie Green on electric piano, Tyrone Brown on bass and Sherman Ferguson on drums. All were members of the jazz fusion band Catalyst who were also on Muse. Martino left Muse for Warner Bros. in 1976. After his recovery and he was ready to record again, Martino returned to Muse in 1987 and recorded for them until they were sold in 1995. The recordings are now owned by Savoy Jazz and they released this comp. Martino went on to record for Blue Note and HighNote. He retired in 2018 due to a respiratory disorder and died on Nov. 1, 2021. Here's Pat Martino with Pat Bianchi on organ and Carmen Intorre Jr. on drums performing Impressions at Moods Jazz Club in Zurich, Switzerland Apr. 2018.
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