Gary Burton - Like Minds (1998)

On the back insert of this album's 2003 SACD release, the work is described as

A top 5 [Billboard Jazz chart] and Grammy Award-winning recording, vibraphonist Gary Burton's Like Minds is not only "one of Burton's best albums" [CMJ Music Report], it was also, significantly, the first recorded encounter between envelope-pushing artists Pat Metheny and Chick Corea. Add legendary drummer Roy Haynes and stalwart bassist Dave Holland to the mix, and it's no wonder that this dream line-up yielded a recording that instantly became - and continues to remain - an essential, modern jazz classic.

No lies detected. The title is certainly apt and if you like other music from these artists, you'll enjoy this album. Makes me think I should own more Chick Corea releases.

Burton - vibraphone
Chick Corea - piano
Pat Metheny - guitar
Roy Haynes - drums
Dave Holland - bass

Winner of the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group.

Liner notes by Burton. Press release as seen in Billboard magazine.

Reviews/ratings:

• DownBeat (★★★½): "success as an event"
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz, 5th ed. (★★★½): "heartily recommended"
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #5

Tracks:

1. Question And Answer - originally the title track for Metheny's 1990 album, which also featured Holland and Haynes.
2. Elucidation - Metheny original, written for this project.
3. Windows - written and recorded by Corea in the mid-1960s, the piece has become one of his standards.
4. Futures - Corea original, written for this project
5. Like Minds - Burton original, written for this project
6. Country Roads - written and recorded by Burton in the late 1960s
7. Tears Of Rain - written by Metheny for his award-winning 1997 album with bassist Charlie Haden, Beyond The Missouri Sky (Short Stories).
8. Soon - a George Gershwin standard, first heard in the 1930 revision of the musical Strike Up the Band.
9. For A Thousand Years - Metheny original
10. Straight Up And Down - written and recorded by Corea in the late 1960s

In the album's liner notes, Burton states that "Six of the ten songs are first takes and two more are second takes." Impressive! Plus the playing is impeccable throughout - a "supergroup" that lives up to that title. I prefer the Metheny compositions, but that's probably because I've heard more of his music than that written by the others.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Whiz Kids (1987)
Matchbook (1975)