Earlier I was listening to Alternative Guitar Summit’s – Honoring Pat Martino, Volume 2 on HighNote Records. So glad I found it. Dogged perseverance in the pursuit of the lost chord is as good a motivation as any, huh.
A seasoned cast of guitarists gather in a fresh salute to one of modern jazz guitar’s defining figures. That’s the idea.
Philly icon Martino, who died in November 2021 aged 77, is heard through his tunes rather than imitation of his sound. Individuality of interpretation is all in jazz after all, although prithee may I suggest that nothing jars like a stylstic mismatch that I suppose could have happened. With a project like this you gotta have some empathy for the essence of the sound. And clearly all involved find the necessary core ingredients (granular scalar detail harmonically, agility, a scary savant like ability to modulate at dizzying reaction speeds, an earthy jazz-rock sense & more) in abundance.
Released earlier this month, the album is built around Martino compositions and closely associated material, and it draws a clear line back to key records in his catalogue.
The set works as a compact overview of milestones in PM’s discography as well as a collective tribute.
Much of the music grew out of sessions in 2021, when a planned live celebration had to be abandoned and re‑imagined in the studio.
That switch gives the performances a slightly enclosed, concentrated feel, yet they still carry the sense of shared purpose the “summit” tag suggests.
Producer Joel Harrison, a top guitarist himself – check out his wonderful bejazzed George Harrison homage from 2005, convenes a line‑up including Kurt Rosenwinkel, Cecil Alexander, Dave Stryker and Paul Bollenback, among others, and each guitarist brings out different sides of Martino’s writing – the harmonic poise, the drive in the lines, the clarity of the tunes – without losing their own voice in the process.
The album moves through Mission Accomplished‘s ‘Villa Hermosa’, ‘Lean Years’, ‘Remembrance’, ‘A Blues for Mickey O’, ‘City Lights’, ‘El Hombre’, ‘Song Bird’ and ‘A Portrait of Diana’, before circling back to ‘Lean Years (Slight Return)’ and on to ‘Welcome to a Prayer’ before the bonus.
As the second instalment under the AGS banner, Honoring Pat Martino, Volume 2 picks up where the first volume left off but widens the lens, showing how his tunes continue to attract and challenge leading players.
Tracks I enjoyed on the first AGS volume issued in 2022 included some stirring work – an interpretation of JJ Johnson’s ‘Lament’ – by the Diana Krall guitarist Russell Malone, who died in 2024.
Issued on a straightahead loving jazz label and stocked with recognisable names, it serves both as an accessible route into Martino’s work and as a timely snapshot of how his legacy is being carried forward on the guitar today.
