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)

Ralph Towner & Gary Burton - Matchbook (1975)

I wish I could remember where I got the recommendation for this CD so that I could thank them or give them proper credit because this thing is fantastic.* One of the most quiet, relaxing CDs I've come across in the past few years. The music here could almost be termed "folk-jazz-classical fusion" without being New Agey. The duo performs works that are peaceful but always hold one's interest. Towner's acoustic guitars play perfectly off Burton's vibes on these nine tracks. A line from a feature on Burton in the November 20, 1975 issue of DownBeat magazine simply describes the album as "a friendly exchange of ideas with guitarist Ralph Towner, an instrumentalist whose style bears many surprising similarities to Gary’s" and that's a great analogy - more like a conversation between the two.

Recorded in Germany on July 26 & 27, 1974, when Towner was 34 years of age and Burton was 31.

Also the first ECM CD I've ever purchased that was packaged in a bi-fold cardboard slip cover instead of a proper jewel case. This 2019 reissue is part of the ECM Touchstones releases.

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "a pure delight"
• Walrus!: "This is fine modern, improvisational chamber music."
• DownBeat (★★★★★): "coerce[s] so much rapt, meditational attention from the listener that one has no choice but to be strongly affected."
• High Fidelity: "This is an album for making love, for making peace."
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #35
• Record World Jazz: #34

Tracks: It's all beautiful so don't skip anything. My top picks today are Icarus, Aurora, the serene album opener Drifting Petals, along with the two covers: Some Other Time from the musical On The Town and Charles Mingus's Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. The latter of those two concludes the album and leaves you wanting more.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Gary Burton Quintet - Whiz Kids (1987)
Ralph Towner - Solo Concert (1980)

*I believe it was from some random, online list of jazz albums that also included Paul Desmond's 1962 album Desmond Blue, but I've long since forgotten which website. Of course, Desmond Blue will appear in this space at a later date.

Gary Burton Quintet - Whiz Kids (1987)

This album, Burton's last as a leader on the ECM label, finds Burton and long-time collaborator Steve Swallow raiding the halls of Boston's Berklee School of Music to find the latest "Whiz Kids" and offer them some career opportunities. In this case, pianist Makoto Ozone (25 at the time of recording) and saxophonist Tommy Smith (19). Burton was on the faculty of Berklee from 1971-2004 and was no stranger to seeing other jazz artists come to the campus to snag the latest young talent. Down in Texas, we saw the same thing at the University of North Texas, with people like Maynard Ferguson grabbing lead trumpet players from the famous One O'Clock Lab Band. But I digress...

The music here is very accessible for an ECM release (which sounds like a putdown, but I certainly don't mean it that way). The saxophone and vibraphone fight a bit at times - I find myself wishing there was more of the latter and less of the former - but overall the writing and soloing are quite good. Very smooth and enjoyable, this CD has gotten quite a bit of late night play at the house over the past year or so.

Reviews/ratings:

• CashBox: "Tender yet tough, dazzling yet thoughtful, and smooth the entire way down."
• Stereo Review: "to say the least, a lilting set"
• Billboard: "Tunes are very much in Burton's trademark sound, with a fine band"
• Downbeat: ★★★½
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★½

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• CashBox: #31
• Radio & Records Jazz Radio National Airplay: #1

Tracks: The gentle album opener, The Last Clown, perfectly sets the tone for the album. I was already familiar with the upbeat second track, Yellow Fever, from Makoto's 1986 album, After, but the version offered here is enjoyable on its own merits. There's also a lilting jazz waltz (Soulful Bill), a Latin-flavored tune on which Burton switches to marimba (La Divetta), a samba (Cool Train), and a cover of Chick Corea's The Loop. Ozone's playing style greatly favors Corea's so that's a wise choice.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but hearing jazz vibraphone sure brings back some of the more family-friendly fantasies I had as an undergrad around the time this album was released. More specifically, my far-fetched desire to study jazz vibes instead of the classical trumpet I actually (half-heartedly) 'studied' while pursuing my music degree. Sadly, most institutions of higher education are more focused on rigid, prescribed courses of study than student self-discovery. [... two paragraph rant about higher ed. deleted...]