Search - Pat Martino :: Think Tank

Another way to reinvent the tradition

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 10/12/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On first hearing, I scarcely knew what to make of this. Ostensibly, it's a post-bop workout, albeit one of the highest order. But there's something else going on here, something that seeks to acknowledge the tradition even as it advances it. That's seen most clearly in the make-up of the band, with dyed-in-the-wool post-bopper tenor sax player Joe Lovano playing cheek-by-jowl with more progressive players Christian McBride (bass) and Louis Nash (drums). The catalyst is Gonzalo Rubacalba at the piano chair, who has played in both traditional and more progressive settings. What we've got here, I believe, is a new way to reinvent the tradition. We've seen what Dave Douglas (Freak In), Nicholas Payton (Sonic Trance), Brad Mehldau (Largo), Roswell Rudd (Malicool) and Kurt Rosenwenkel (Heartcore) have done to the jazz ezzthetic. Now (as Monty Python used to say) for something completely different.Instead of bringing a bunch of alien elements (hip hop, dance, trance, techno, Eastern, electronics) into the music, as the above artists have done, Martino takes a somewhat more difficult (and, one is tempted to say, more creative) route to revitalizing the jazz tradition: keep the standard lineup (guitar, piano, sax, acoustic bass, drums) but imbue it with a radically different musical approach.Different how? Martino somehow has seamlessly melded traditional bebop and post-bop sensibilities with modern-jazz aesthetics. Similar to but certainly not identical with what Greg Osby did on St. Louis Shoes and Ted Nash did on Still Evolving, Think Tank expands jazz sensibilities even as it pays tribute to the tradition. Take the title cut, for instance. Structurally a blues number, it ventures into harmonic and rhythmic territory far beyond typical jazz tunes. Or how about "Dozen Down"? Here we have ostensibly a typical jazz burner, yet it is overlaid with a distinctly modern vibe, especially evoked by Louis Nash's incredibly creative approach to the drums, Rubalcaba's brilliant comping on piano, which could have only come out of his deeply delved Afro/Cuban/jazz awareness, and a stunning bass solo from McBride that manages to evoke the entire history of jazz bass even as it stakes out new territory. Certainly the best disc from Martino in ages, it may very well end up being his finest recording ever. Highest recommendation."

A Dream Team Album

R. E McBride | Flyover Country | 04/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I saw Martino with Jim Ridl in 2001, I was blown away. It was a religious experience, the first time I'd seen him live. Jim's amazing too, though so is Gonzalo Rubalcaba, the pianist on this album.



After, I went up to the bar to finish my bear and get a burger. It was a hotel bar so I got sticker shock when I saw what they charged for a burger. I decided I'd just finish my beer and go, and the next thing I know Pat sits down next to me and introduces himself (as if I could have been in the room and no known how he was).



We got to talking, and Pat Martino went from being a guitarist I loved to a human being I'm in awe of. The recovery from neurosurgery is fairly well publicized, but talking to him I got a sense of the quiet strength in him that is what let him retrain himself to his instrument. At the time, 'Live at Yoshi's' (also an excellent album) was his 'new' album, another one I'd have to give 5 stars to, though an organ trio affair, very different from 'Think Tank.'



I guess amnesia makes you a memory junkie because when I caught him with Joey DeFrancesco the next year, after the show, Pat recognized me, shook my hand, asked my how my daughters were doing. I was floored. Believing I'd been just a barfly who was marginally more interesting than cable TV in the hotel room is one thing, but for him to remember a fan from one of his numerous tour stops based on a single conversation, that's too much.



What does this have to do with the CD? Two things: the power of his mind and spirit transcend what he can do with the instrument. Pat's an artist with more thant he guitar, his life is a work of art (and he pursues other disciplines that he's less known for). But that inner life translates to his playing.



The second thing is in talking with him, I mentioned how much I enjoyed Joe Lovano. I told him how my vinyl copy of 'Strings!' had made a huge impact on me, and his play with Joe Farrell had really blown me away. I thought Lovano might have similar chemistry with Martino, and he laughed and said something along the lines of, 'you never know,' and then, 'Joe and I have talked about recording.'



I don't know if this was already in the works at the time, it wasn't recorded until 2003.



The main thing about 'Think Tank' (and Bela Fleck says it well in his liner notes) is that this isn't just a group of all-stars pushed into a room together. This plays like a band that's been working together long-term. The sort of organic feel and interplay I associate with Keith Jarrett's work with Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock.



Whether they're doing hard bop or ballads, these guys all use the most important instruments they have: their ears. The result is one of my favorite albums to come out in the past few years."

The title says it all...

David Rolon | Berkeley, CA | 07/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm not sure what disc the other reviewers were listening to, but ThinkTank is a seriously deep effort from one of our great American artists. The music transcends simple chops and interplay. This is some heavy stuff from a heavy band. Mr. Nash is absolutely impeccable and Gonzalo's solos are magical. I think the man is a genius. Pat's solos are his most mature and thoughtful to date. "Live at Yoshi's" was fun (I was there). ThinkTank is a supremely sophisticated mental workout. Bravo."