Passengers [Original recording reissued]

Gary Burton, Eberhard Weber | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 20, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Ecm Records
• ASIN: B000026FEL
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,167 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's GB's world and we're all just PASSENGERS, May 28, 2006

By 

Steven (DFW, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passengers (Audio CD)

I absolutely love GB's music, I think because he combines world class virtuosity on one of the most listenable of all musical instruments with perhaps the most intellectually and sensory stimulating of musical art forms - jazz. His career is a unique confluence of these ideals that demands respect if not admiration. 'Passengers' is an album worthy of those ideals, with a couple unique confluences of it's own worth mentioning.

First this is the only album I can think of that features two bassists playing simultaneously on each track in a small ensemble setting - Steve Swallow on electric bass and the incomparable Eberhardt Weber on his bizarre...well, let's just call it an acoustic bass and leave it at that. The unique and wonderful sound of Weber's instrument has him mostly playing the role of soloist throughout - uncommon for a bassist - while Swallow handles the traditional bass duties of bottom end and rhythm. But even in this short set Swallow is still given ample time to break loose with several solos of his own (Sea Journey, B&G, etc). If you've never heard Weber's bass sound it is quite a treat and this album is a great place to start.

Second, this marks the last collaboration of Metheny with GB as a band member before the union of Pat with Lyle Mays to form the Pat Metheny Group and the production of Watercolors at the same Oslo, Norway studio a few months later in the spring of 1977. It is very evident from this recording that Pat is ready, both as a composer and an instrumentalist, to front his own band and that first manifestation of PMG imported Weber and drummer Dan Gottlieb from this project.

The fabulous lyrical style of Metheny's composing is well documented on his three original contributions to Passengers - Nacada, The Whopper <no Burger Kings in Norway, I guess...> and B&G (Midwestern Night's Dream). B&G is an especially interesting piece that is anchored by an elegant and simple alternating chord progression between Bm7 and GM7 - thus the name B&G. Pat has admitted to struggling with names for his compositions over the years and has occasionally resorted to simply cataloging them with a reference to such thing as time signatures or rhythm patterns (see 45/8 and 5-5-7 respectively from 'Letter From Home'). Maybe Midwestern Nights Dream didn't quite do it for him. Who knows. Useless info.

Weber and Swallow contribute a single composition each - both quite strange - and the album starts off with Sea Journey, an energetic and fun 9-minute piece by Chick Corea that gives plenty of solo time to all. But woven throughout are the masterful and fluid tones of GB's vibes - never forceful but always fully in command - simple to follow but never simplistic. The only gripe I have about gems like this recorded in the 70's is that they are way too short. They recorded on vinyl in those days, you know, which had about half the play time of today's CD's and left you wanting much more after the measly 45 minutes had flown by. Such is the case here. I'm usually not a fan of alternate takes but I would enjoy hearing several versions of this material to fill the rest of the CD. Classic GB and pre-PMG Pat. Buy it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Vibes, June 2, 2008

By 

Olukayode Balogun (Leeds, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passengers (Audio CD)

Any album by vibes man Gary Burton is a treat but this one is especially so. It was recorded in Oslo, Norway, back in 1976 just before Pat Metheny quit the quartet to form his own band, the legendary Pat Metheny Group. The album features Burton on vibraharp, Metheny on electric guitar, Steve Swallow on "bass guitar" and Eberhard Weber on "bass" (one of them sounding slightly Jaco-esque, though I'm not sure which; probably the former) and Don Gottlieb (who followed Metheny to become one quarter of the early PMG) on drums.

Three of the songs are by Metheny and display the awesome writing abilities he would go on to make his own name with. My favourite is "B & G (Midwestern Nights Dream)", a winding, contemplative ballad, though the other two, "Nacada" & "The Whopper" are no less delightful. Chick Corea penned the opener, "Sea Journey"; "Yellow Fields" was written by Weber and Steve Swallow contributed the album closer, "Claude And Betty".

ECM über-producer Manfred Eicher was at the helm. Unsurprisingly perhaps, the sound isn't as smooth and sophisticated as the album on which Burton and Metheny collaborated on many years later, 1990's Reunion, (my favourite Burton album of them all), but it's no less musical and no less magical. I love every minute of it.

I say this one's a must for any fan of the vibes and definitely one to check out for any jazz fan.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Passengers...Worth Getting, March 13, 2011

By 

S. Smith (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Passengers (Audio CD)

"Passengers" is one of the best albums Gary Burton recorded in the 1970's as a leader. It is exciting, lyrical, and fun. The melodies stick with you long after the CD stops spinning.

The line-up consists of Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Steve Swallow, Dan Gottlieb, and Eberhard Weber. So, even though the band is billed as the "Gary Burton Quartet with Eberhard Weber," that title is a bit misleading for Weber plays on all tracks. This is an amazing band in great form. The performances are energetic and full of delightful nuances. The combination of Metheny, Weber, and Gottlieb make the perfect rhythm section to Burton's vibraharp. In fact, three months after recording this album, Pat Metheny recorded his second solo album, "Watercolors," with Weber, Gottlieb, and a young Lyle Mays.

The album begins with a stunning rendition of "Sea Journey," by Chick Corea. This is followed by three Pat Metheny compositions, including an extended version of "Midwestern Nights Dream," which Metheny recorded the previous year on his debut album, "Bright Size Life," (for which, incidentally, Gary Burton had written the liner notes). Weber's signature melody, "Yellow Fields," is next, followed by Swallow's "Claude and Betty" rounding out the set.

The cover photograph seems to imply a converging of sorts, as if the listener and the musicians were all passengers alike, intersecting for a brief moment to share with one another both the art and the unique perception of that art. In this way, we're not just going along for the ride; we're a part of it. Highly recommended.