Podcast 147: A Burton and Metheney Reunion

The hot jazz reunion tour of the summer will undoubtedly be a revisited edition of the classic Gary Burton Quartet. Their tour, and new live CD features three original members of the important group, certified jazz legends Burton, Pat Metheny and Steve Swallow, along with one new member, and perhaps one of the most prominent drummers of his generation, Antonio Sanchez.  The 11-song album Quartet Live was recorded at Yoshi's Jazz Club in Oakland and was released on May 26, 2009. Burton has always had a strong proclivity for working with guitarists. His 1967 album Duster was arguably the first jazz fusion album, powered by a young Larry Coryell on guitar. That group included bassist Steve Swallow and Roy Haynes on drums. Bob Moses replaced Haynes from the follow-up Lofty Fake Anagram, and the original quartet's final studio album, A Genuine Tong Funeral (featuring the compositions of Carla Bley) completed 16 months of epic recording. After the release of a quartet live album, Coryell would go on to work with Herbie Mann, and then establish a seminal jazz-rock band, the Eleventh House. Burton went in different directions, making duet and trio albums with Chick Corea, Ralph Towner, Keith Jarrett, Paul Bley and Swallow. Burton returned to the quartet setting with the new quartet of 1973, composed of guitarist Mick Goodrick, bassist Abraham Laboriel and drummer Harry Blazerc. However, Burton soon tapped one of his Berklee students,  19-year old guitarist Pat Metheny to work with, and then replace, Goodrick. This would be the start of a 35-year musical friendship between the vibist and guitarist that continues today. Podcast 147 traces the history of the Burton-Metheney collaboration with selections from several of their releases, including: "The Colours of Chloe" from Ring, featuring bassist Eberhard Weber along with Swallow. "Vox Humana" from Dreams So Real. An album of Carla Bley compostions. "B and G (Midwestern Night's Dream)" from Passengers. Future PMG drummer Danny Gottlieb joined the Burton group for this song. "B and G (Midwestern Night's Dream)" from Quartet Live! A different reading of a Metheney composition. "Question and Answer" from Quartet Live! One of my favorite Metheney compositions, originally heard on his collaboration with Roy Haynes and Dave Holland.