Customer Reviews

Live At Yoshi's

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

PERFECTION, simply one of the best jazz guitar CDs ever put out. Being a jazz/blues guitarist myself, I know that statement says alot. The depth of each individual musician on this record is absolutely incredible. Pat is truly a master at his craft. This CD has high energy jazz guitar, with blues, ballads and an all around excellent mix. The recording quality is wonderful. Having Joey DeFrancesco on-board is just another reason to buy this album. Joey is in my opinion the best Hammond B-3 player in the world. He will be appearing on an upcoming record with me and I am truly excited and honored to be afforded the opportunity to play with this extraordinary musician. His flair on this record is tasteful...awesome dynamics and you must listen carefully to his bass lines. Absolutely killer. Bill Hart, well it just does not get much better. Bill has so many fresh percussive ideas, the combination of the three of these masters could demand twice or three times the price of this CD. I can actually say I have listened to this CD more than 50 times. Each time I listen, I get more attached to the music. The CD was arranged in such a manner that tension is built and then at the end is released for a very satisfying listen. In the tune "All Blues", Pat truly puts "The Nature Of Guitar" formula's to use. ALL GUITARISTS at ALL levels much have this album! I give it my highest rating.

Rick Wurzbacher

This is the single best guitar-organ-drum trio album recorded in 30 years. The levels of invention, intensity, and collective empathy are absolutely astonishing -- I *guarantee* you that if you ever dug the Wes Montgomery/Melvin Rhyne stuff, this record will blow your toupee plain off. It's one of the only such trio albums that takes the form to its limits by burning so fiercely, and yet is always swinging and soulful. It is a tremendously important album. Every guitar player should hear it -- if only to hear what Pat does at the very end of "All Blues"!

I cannot believe that after 40 years of listening to jazz, I have only just discovered this superb musician. This music swings consistently, has wonderful melodic lines and is one of the most played CDs in my collection.

If you love jazz this must be in your collection.

I had the fortunate experience to see Pat Martino, Joey DeFranscesco, and Billy Hart at the Iridium Jazz club (Manhattan) in May 2001. I have seen a lot of great live jazz performances over the years, but this was absolutely my favorite so far. Their performance was absolutely life-changing. Now I can play this CD and capture the same energy I felt that evening. This CD is completely inspiring - a must for everyone. On a completely different note, I would love to know if anyone else discovered the error in the copyright information(see "Blue in Green" under the song title listing).

First, let me start out by saying that the interplay between the musicians here is fantastic, as has been noted in other reviews.

A previous reviewer compared Martino's performance here to Wes Montgomery. The one difference I find between the two is that Wes had deeper pockets. By that, I mean that you can listen to one of his records and feel like everything is new. He had such a rich internal library of material from which to draw that everything he played sounded fresh. Martino doesn't quite have that here. If I listen to all the cuts on the record in a row, I get the feeling that he is repeating a lot of material. Yes, his improvisational method allows him to take the same riff and use it in many different contexts, but it doesn't make up for the same-ness of it all.

In addition, I don't really like Martino's phrasing here. Some guitarists (Wes, Grant, and Joe Pass come to mind) derive an incredible impact from the placement of every individual note. For me, Martino's phrasing is too uniform throughout the record. He approaches every tune in much the same way. A reviewer here mentioned the cadenza at the end of "All Blues" as an example of Martino's great playing. Yeah, it's harmonically intricate and technically complex, but it just isn't beautiful to me. It doesn't quite match the character of the tune. The same goes for Martino's playing on ballads - it just doesn't seem quite right to me. Sometimes I find myself wishing he would slow down, leave some space, and give every note a chance to speak.

This is by far, one of the best jazz cd's i've heard in a very long time. I would recommend this CD to anyone. The only downfall, there is only eight songs. I could use a lot more of this.

Anyone who needs an introduction as to why the
guitar-organ-drums trio is one of the more
popular combinations in jazz should'nt go
any further than this great live album. From
the easy-going tempo of 'All Blues' to
the fire of 'El Hombre' and the tenderness
of 'Welcome to a Prayer', this album is a
dutiful rendition of what it must've been like
to be there. Growing up on the 'Incredible'
Jimmy Smith, as much as it pains me to state
this, Joey DiFrancesco has surpassed him: his

playing is simply outta this world! Billy
Hart keeps it all together.

I play a lot, and listen to a lot of jazz, and this is my favorite, and I think the best recording ever. Joey D is my favorite organ player, and Pat is my favorite guitar player, and this is the perfect album. I only wish I had been able to see this trio while it was on tour.

YOU MUST BUY THIS

linc
www.learnjazzguitar.net

Martino live shows pats agility acompanied by Organ ."Oleo" is a classic recorded by many jazz artists ,and is the first song on this CD this is a good example of pats approach to substituting different tonalities , much of the soloing is in Bb7, where lydian b7 IV of Melodic Minor, and Mixolydian the V of major, work well . Blue in green, the Miles tune, shows Pats ability to build from slow melodic playing ,to faster speed and tension. Blue in Green is simple but effective .Which can be said about many Miles Davis compositions .
Pat was doing fast horn speed lines on guitar back in the 60's , and has a wealth of theory applications he is sharing with the world on his website .
Pat's sound is unmistakable , clear as a bell , kind of round in the bass register attributed to heavy gauge strings. I don't think pat has ever used a distortion pre amp , though he does use a solid body guitar .
Some exault pat for playing with dexterity ,admire his ability to play through changes . Some wonder what he would sound like if he played slower :>)Pat has been a driving force who has shown every one how it can be done .
If you listen to the more contemperary GTR players like Gambale and Henderson you start to knotice PAt's stripped down linear approach has a certain strenghth and appeal , and his music and technique are really a happy medium between Mainstream and warp speed fusion

Personally, I think Wes Montgomery and Pat Martino are both fabulous. To compare them is silly and irrelevant. They are both stupendous musicians. Both have great time, great ideas etc. What's really annoying is idiots like Stef, (see review below). I can't even remember the exact wording of his stupid review, but I seem to recall him typing something like Pat Martino will never fill Wes Montogmery's shoes, and sorry Pat you don't compare (whatever) They both deserve credit for being great players.