Jazz Articles about Pat Martino

About Pat Martino

New York Beat

Pat Martino at The Jazz Standard

by Nick Catalano
August 8, 2017

Pat Martino Jazz Standard New York, NY August 3, 2017With his usual understated performance posturing, Pat Martino mounted the stage on opening night at The Jazz Standard and proceeded to captivate the packed house with his signature mixture of hard swing and lyrical balladry. Alongside his familiar bandmates organist Pat Bianchi and drummer Carmen Intorre Martino segued from tune to tune in the opening set with nary a word to the audience. Such has been ...

Live Review

Pat Martino Quintet at Chris’ Jazz Café

by Victor L. Schermer
November 29, 2016

Pat Martino Quintet Chris' Jazz Cafe Philadelphia, PA November 25, 2016 Guitar legend Pat Martino periodically supplements his working trio--consisting of himself, organist Pat Bianchi, and drummer Carmen Intorre--with a horn section of Alex Norris on trumpet and Adam Niewood on tenor saxophone. This post-Thanksgiving set at Chris' Jazz Café demonstrated that this quintet has evolved into a tight, coordinated unit where Martino shines but the ensemble effect is “undeniable," which also happens to be ...

Album Review

Pat Martino: Nexus

Read "Nexus" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer

by Victor L. Schermer
June 1, 2016

This CD is not only a fine addition to the Pat Martino catalogue, it is also of historical importance with respect to his personal and musical development. Recorded at the well-known eclectic nightclub the Tin Angel in Philadelphia in the mid-nineties (the exact date is not given and probably unknown), it is a duet set (or selections from multiple sets) featuring Martino with pianist Jim Ridl, a giant creative force in his own right, who for about ten years worked ...

Live Review

The Pat Martino Quintet at Chris’ Jazz Café

by Victor L. Schermer
March 30, 2016

The Pat Martino Quintet Chris' Jazz Cafe Philadelphia, PA March 26, 2016 Legendary guitarist Pat Martino has traversed several musical landscapes in a career spanning more than five decades. He went from being a mind-blowing newcomer in the Harlem and soul blues jazz scene in the sixties to a major contributor to hard bop and fusion music in the seventies. Then, in 1980, brain surgery for an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) left him with profound ...

Live Review

Pat Martino Trio at Mount Vernon Country Club

by Douglas Groothuis
March 7, 2016

Pat Martino Trio Mount Vernon Country Club Golden, Colorado February 18, 2016 Musical greatness and human fragility mixed uneasily on February 18, 2016, when Pat Martino and his trio worked their magic at the Mount Vernon Country Club high in Golden, Colorado. The performance was grand, but the conditions were unwelcoming. A strange drama unfolded. Martino, a jazz guitar virtuoso, has been a driving force in jazz since the middle ...

New York Beat

Pat Martino at The Jazz Standard

by Nick Catalano
February 9, 2016

On Thursday February 4 paradigmatic guitarist Pat Martino led his trio into The Jazz Standard for another seminal Big Apple performance. Gotham has been very lucky in recent years as Martino has rarely missed an opportunity to perform here and has headlined at most of the leading clubs. Quintessential hard swing has long been a Martino trademark and his signature phrasing along with his uncanny picking style immediately roared across the bandstand as the group opened with ...

What is Jazz?

The Existential Intimacies of Jazz: Pat Martino Live

by Douglas Groothuis
September 15, 2015

Jazz, at its best, inducts its own into aesthetic alliances, some long-lasting, others fleeting, but all meaningful. Meaning is a matter of mortals finding something of value, something worthwhile. When two or more agree on meaning--especially in matters of music--the fellow-feeling may run deep and true. Pat Martino, jazz guitarist extraordinaire, along with a good friend helped this happen to me in the summer of 2012 in Chicago at The Jazz Showcase. This event is sweetly and securely lodged into ...