I was listening to some music on line a few weeks ago and stumbled across the latest album by guitarist Pat Martino called "Formidable." Martino is one of those players I was aware of but had never checked out as there seemed more than enough of Frisell, Scofield, Metheny, Abercrombie and Towner to explore. The reviews of this record are very positive and it has struck me that he is someone who fans seem to be attract a loyal following. Playing the samples I have to say that the music really appeals to me even though none of the sidemen are familiar. The sound is totally familiar though! Listening to the record, it has the makings of a future classic.
Listening to this reminded me of the old Blue Note website where soul jazz records featuring the likes of Jimmy Smith and Baby Face Willette were treated with reverence and often valued far in excess of their importance to the development of jazz - not that this really matters. It is a type of jazz which now has it's own tradition which has endured for nearly 65 years. The whole oeuvre seems to be a movement within jazz where the music is valued on it's ability to groove more than anything else and the criteria of what constitutes success is often contrary to more outside of jazz. In this respect, I feel that it is very much like Gypsy jazz which is pretty anarchic these days yet still has adherents who seem to pursue ever more complicated feats of virtuosity upon which the music is judged.
Although it is frequently limited to a set combination of organ, drums, guitar , tenor and maybe a few other horns, it is one idiom in jazz which continues to give. The Martino disc sounds terrific to my ears and on a par to the kind of stuff recorded by Mike LeDonne which seems to get totally ignored on this site yet enjoys a far greater amount of respect in the States.
I grew up listening to Jimmy Smith and his combination with Stanley Turrentine is as much a defining sound of 60's jazz as Coltrane's classic quintet even of they are totally different and had very distinct commercial selling points. I have always been fond of Fred Jackson's "Hootin' & tootin'" which bombed when it was released by Blue Note but now seems unique in the way it refracted the ambiance of Coltrane in a very commercial Soul Jazz context. It is a record which totally by-passes any notion of being innovative and was indicative of the pop music of the time, on which most of the band members had also performed. The organist Earl Van Dyke was heavily involved with Motown. Ignored at the time, the record has garnered something of a cult following and it is a Blue Note record I never get fed up with hearing. It is unlike anything else recorded on that label.
Listening to this reminded me of the old Blue Note website where soul jazz records featuring the likes of Jimmy Smith and Baby Face Willette were treated with reverence and often valued far in excess of their importance to the development of jazz - not that this really matters. It is a type of jazz which now has it's own tradition which has endured for nearly 65 years. The whole oeuvre seems to be a movement within jazz where the music is valued on it's ability to groove more than anything else and the criteria of what constitutes success is often contrary to more outside of jazz. In this respect, I feel that it is very much like Gypsy jazz which is pretty anarchic these days yet still has adherents who seem to pursue ever more complicated feats of virtuosity upon which the music is judged.
Although it is frequently limited to a set combination of organ, drums, guitar , tenor and maybe a few other horns, it is one idiom in jazz which continues to give. The Martino disc sounds terrific to my ears and on a par to the kind of stuff recorded by Mike LeDonne which seems to get totally ignored on this site yet enjoys a far greater amount of respect in the States.
I grew up listening to Jimmy Smith and his combination with Stanley Turrentine is as much a defining sound of 60's jazz as Coltrane's classic quintet even of they are totally different and had very distinct commercial selling points. I have always been fond of Fred Jackson's "Hootin' & tootin'" which bombed when it was released by Blue Note but now seems unique in the way it refracted the ambiance of Coltrane in a very commercial Soul Jazz context. It is a record which totally by-passes any notion of being innovative and was indicative of the pop music of the time, on which most of the band members had also performed. The organist Earl Van Dyke was heavily involved with Motown. Ignored at the time, the record has garnered something of a cult following and it is a Blue Note record I never get fed up with hearing. It is unlike anything else recorded on that label.
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