Pat Martino's Footprints (Fragments by Gary Giddins)
“First off, the music on this record, an extraordinary testimony to communication, was conceived by Pat Martino as a personal tribute to, a ‘visit’ with, the memory of Wes Montgomery. I suppose that anybody hip enough to even think of buying this record knows all about Wes and there is, therefore, no reason even to note that he was the most dynamic figure on jazz guitar since Charlie Christian”.
“Despite a twenty years disparity in age, the two guitarists [Wes Montgomery and Pat Martino] had developed a strong musical bond in the same town they used to play. Work. Jam, learn, teach, experiment, dig each other.”
“Influence is a problem all artists have to contend with a various degrees. In trying to create your own art, you become self-conscious about you’ve picked up from your predecessors. Sometimes you become paranoia fencing off what you think is influence or, worse, imitation, in order to create something that is new, original, yours. I know a writer whose admiration for Faulkner is matched only by this fear of reading him because every time he does he finds the Faulkner influence creeping into this work. For Pat, learning is a continuous part of the process of music but so is remaining true to oneself.”
“A new and important talent had announced himself [Pat Martino], and he clearly wasn’t about to make the same record over and over again. An interest in the Koran and the tone colors of Eastern music led to experiments n marrying jazz to the modalities of Indian instruments and the incorporation of poly-rhythms. He continues to grow. He describes the apex to which his art is striving as Globalism; a unity of all music, a bridge between the various possibilities of music that disregards and defies labels retains a singular individuality nonetheless.”
“‘Rotational division principles’, is another phrase Pat uses to describes where he is going. Music, he believes, should be able to go into any and all directions with the only major control being the taste and sensibility of the musician. Globalistic art would, like a prism, be open to all the multifarious possibilities and, God knows, the possibilities of music, even at this late date, haven’t begun to be exhausted. It should be a music able to go in any direction, both divisional in aspect and rotational in aspect, allowing the various members of a band maximum individual freedom while still disregarding chaos and non-music. Communication is everything.”
“Obviously, in a music that is so clearly contingent on group interaction, it is essential to work with empathetic and able artists.”
“Pat Martino is a consummate master of jazz guitar as this LP - his most consistently rewarding one in my opinion - proves unrefutably. He is, unfortunately, one of the few young artists around whose every record reveals new aspects, new growth. One hopes the his audience will grow proportionately”.
Gary Giddins, 1975.
“Despite a twenty years disparity in age, the two guitarists [Wes Montgomery and Pat Martino] had developed a strong musical bond in the same town they used to play. Work. Jam, learn, teach, experiment, dig each other.”
“Influence is a problem all artists have to contend with a various degrees. In trying to create your own art, you become self-conscious about you’ve picked up from your predecessors. Sometimes you become paranoia fencing off what you think is influence or, worse, imitation, in order to create something that is new, original, yours. I know a writer whose admiration for Faulkner is matched only by this fear of reading him because every time he does he finds the Faulkner influence creeping into this work. For Pat, learning is a continuous part of the process of music but so is remaining true to oneself.”
“A new and important talent had announced himself [Pat Martino], and he clearly wasn’t about to make the same record over and over again. An interest in the Koran and the tone colors of Eastern music led to experiments n marrying jazz to the modalities of Indian instruments and the incorporation of poly-rhythms. He continues to grow. He describes the apex to which his art is striving as Globalism; a unity of all music, a bridge between the various possibilities of music that disregards and defies labels retains a singular individuality nonetheless.”
“‘Rotational division principles’, is another phrase Pat uses to describes where he is going. Music, he believes, should be able to go into any and all directions with the only major control being the taste and sensibility of the musician. Globalistic art would, like a prism, be open to all the multifarious possibilities and, God knows, the possibilities of music, even at this late date, haven’t begun to be exhausted. It should be a music able to go in any direction, both divisional in aspect and rotational in aspect, allowing the various members of a band maximum individual freedom while still disregarding chaos and non-music. Communication is everything.”
“Obviously, in a music that is so clearly contingent on group interaction, it is essential to work with empathetic and able artists.”
“Pat Martino is a consummate master of jazz guitar as this LP - his most consistently rewarding one in my opinion - proves unrefutably. He is, unfortunately, one of the few young artists around whose every record reveals new aspects, new growth. One hopes the his audience will grow proportionately”.
Gary Giddins, 1975.