Las Cintas Recuperadas II: Pat Martino / El Hombre (1967)

Pat Martino

Su padre, coleccionista de discos y cantante le inculcó el amor por la música y cuando tuvo ocasión le regalo su primera guitarra y con ella dio las primeras clases de música. Ya con quince años realizo algunos pinitos en formaciones de rhythm and blues y a continuación tuvo la fortuna de entra a tocar en el grupo del saxofonista, Sonny Stitt, en el que estaban además, Lloyd Price. En 1966 firma un contrato de seis meses de duración con John Handy y al año siguiente grabó su primer álbum a su nombre para el sello Prestige y al que tituló: "El Hombre". Tocaron en ese magnifico álbum de presentación, el organista, Trudy Pitts; el flautista Danny Turner; el baterista Mitch Finey y Vance Anderson en la percusión.

De Prestige, Pat Martino se pasó al sello "Original Classics" donde en los siguientes cuatro años grabó otros tantos álbumes generalmente de una gran calidad. Influenciado por el maestro Wes Montgomery, Martino posee una técnica excepcional y un gran sentido del swing. En 1972 firma por el sello Muse, un destino que ya casi no abandonaría y en el que grabó entre 1972 y 1996 la mayoría de sus discos.

When the anesthesia wore off, Pat Martino looked up hazily at his parents and his doctors. and tried to piece together any memory of his life.
One of the greatest guitarists in jazz. Martino had suffered a severe brain aneurysm and underwent surgery after being told that his condition could be terminal. After his operations he could remember almost nothing. He barely recognized his parents. and had no memory of his guitar or his career. He remembers feeling as if he had been "dropped cold, empty, neutral, cleansed...naked."

In the following months. Martino made a remarkable recovery. Through intensive study of his own historic recordings, and with the help of computer technology, Pat managed to reverse his memory loss and return to form on his instrument. His past recordings eventually became "an old friend, a spiritual experience which remained beautiful and honest." This recovery fits in perfectly with Pat's illustrious personal history. Since playing his first notes while still in his pre-teenage years, Martino has been recognized as one of the most exciting and virtuosic guitarists in jazz. With a distinctive, fat sound and gut-wrenching performances, he represents the best not just in jazz, but in music. He embodies thoughtful energy and soul.

Born Pat Azzara in Philadelphia in 1944, ha 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 Grooveyard 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 in1987 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. Martino, at fifty, 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."

Biography courtesy of DL Media

A Brief Resume

Pat began playing professionally in 1961. He has performed with a wide variety of artists including Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, Richard Groove Holmes, John Handy, Bobby Hutcherson, Chick Corea, Jack McDuff, Don Patterson, Stanley Clark, Eric Kloss, Trudy Pitts, Willis Jackson, Lloyd Price, Woody Herman, Chuck Israels, Charles Earland, Barry Miles and Joe Pesci. Since 1967, Pat has been touring as a leader.

He has been a Recording Artist for Vanguard, Prestige, Warner Brothers, Muse, Columbia, King, Paddlewheel, Evidence, Sony, 32 Jazz, High Note, Milestone, Polydor, Concord, Fantasy, House of Blues, Mythos, Mainstream, Cobblestone, Atlantic and, most currently, Blue Note Records.

Pat has given Guitar and Music Therapy Seminars, Clinics and Master Classes throughout the world, at locations including North Texas State University, G.I.T., Berklee College (Boston and Perugia, Italy), Duquesne University, Teatro Rasi (Ravenna, Italy), LeCentre Culturel (D’Athis Mons, France), University of Washington School of Music, Skidmore College, Musicians Institute, National Guitar Workshop, New York University, Pennsylvania University, Stanford University, The University of Missouri, Roosevelt University (Chicago), Patti Summers Jazz Club (Seattle), Music Tech College (St. Paul), The New School (New York City), Southern Illinois University, The Conservatory of Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Cork Festival (Cork, Ireland), Washington University (St. Louis, MO), Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Musictech College (St. Paul, MN), Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at NYU (New York, NY), Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts (Hartford, CT), and the University of Maryland.

Pat is currently on the adjunct faculty at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA.

Since the mid 1990s, Pat has received the following awards:
1995 Mellon Jazz Festival / Dedicated in Honor
1996 Philadelphia Alliance "Walk of Fame Award"
1997 National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences "Songs from the Heart Award"
2002 Grammy nominations for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, "Live at Yoshi's", and Best Jazz Instrumental Solo on 'All Blues'
2002 National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences "2nd Annual Heroes Award"
2003 Grammy nominations for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, "Think Tank", and best Jazz Instrumental Solo on 'Africa'.
2004 Guitar Player of the Year, Downbeat Magazine's 2004 Reader's Poll

Pat Martino: el guitarrista reinventado
Fernando Cerecedo Pastor

«Cuando los efectos de la anestesia habían pasado, Pat Martino miró confuso a sus padres y doctores, e intentó ensamblar cualquier recuerdo de su vida. Uno de los más grandes guitarristas de Jazz, Martino, había sufrido un grave aneurisma cerebral fue sometido a una operación tras informarle de que su situación podría ser terminal.

Después de las operaciones, él no podría recordar casi nada. Apenas reconoció a sus padres, y no tenía nada en su memoria sobre su guitarra y su carrera. En los meses siguientes, Martino consiguió una recuperación notable. Con el estudio intensivo de sus propias grabaciones históricas, y con ayuda de la informática, Pat trabajó para recuperar su memoria perdida y volver a formarse en su instrumento».

Pat MartinoLa biografía de Pat Martino (Filadelfia, 1944) está marcada por el suceso arriba relatado, y no deja de ser un buen punto de partida para un interesante debate sobre la creatividad innata de cada individuo, que al fin y a la postre, es la que hace destacar a unos pocos escogidos entre todos los buenos músicos que abundan por todas partes, ese “algo más” que marca diferencias y que irremediablemente buscamos en los nuevos talentos que se asoman al panorama musical.

Un músico con la trayectoria de Pat Martino se presentaba por primera vez en nuestro país en un concierto organizado por el Aula de Cultura de la Universidad de Cantabria. Había pues muchísimo interés en acudir a este concierto, y escuchar en vivo ese estilo tan particular del que hemos disfrutado en sus grabaciones. Precisamente esta gira europea está centrada en la presentación de su último disco “The Pat Martino Remember : A Tribute To Wes Montgomery”, un homenaje a una de sus grandes influencias.

Comenzó el concierto con uno de los clásicos de Wes, “Four on Six”, y a lo largo de hora y media, otras composiciones suyas o clásicos de su repertorio fueron desgranados uno a uno: “Blue in Green”, “Road Song”, el coltraniano “Impressions”, “Full House”… hasta llegar al final del concierto con “Oleo”, el tema de Sonny Rollins habitual en el repertorio de ambos guitarristas. Una larga ovación obligó a los músicos a salir de nuevo al escenario para interpretar un tema más, un “Sunny” ya clásico en el cierre de conciertos por parte de Martino.

Pat Martino no defraudó a lo largo del concierto, y fue fiel a su estilo Hard-Bop tan característico, con sus largas líneas de improvisación y sus clichés interpretativos habituales. En un tributo al gran Wes Montgomery, no podían faltar el uso de octavas como un recurso más, si bien en el caso de Wes se trataba de SU sello característico.

Rick GermansonLo que sí me dejó un tanto confundido fue la banda acompañante: Rick Germanson (Piano), Gregory Ryan (Contrabajo), Scott Allan Robinson (Batería) no me parecieron los mejores compañeros de viaje. El caso de Rick Germanson especialmente preocupante por lo distante de su discurso interpretativo del estilo propuesto por el líder, que hacía discurrir el concierto por dos caminos diferentes dependiendo de quien estuviera soleando en cada momento. El sonido de la sala tampoco estuvo a la altura, y la diferencia de planos sonoros entre los distintos instrumentos no ayudaba al equilibrio global de la actuación.

Uno al final se va con un sabor agridulce de este tipo de conciertos: has visto a uno de tus músicos preferidos, pero te da la sensación de que podría haber sido mucho mejor. Esperemos que el bueno de Pat se deje ver más a partir de ahora por nuestro país, y así poder volver disfrutar de su música.

1.Waltz for Geri (Martino) 6:21
2.Once I Loved (DeMoraes, Gilbert, Jobim) 5:42
3.El Hombre (Martino) 5:57
4.Cisco (Martino) 4:29
5.One for Rose (Martino) 4:54

6.A Blues for Mickey-O (Martino) 8:02
7.Just Friends (Klenner, Lewis) 5:48

Pat Martino: guitar
Trudy Pitts: organ
Danny Turner: flute
Mitch Fine: drums
Abdu Johnson: congas
Vance Anderson: bongos