So, one of the great things about 40-plus years in “the biz” of radio, is that you get to see a lot of concerts. I mean, a lot of concerts, so many that after awhile they kind of blur together. For the longest time, I had a little coffee tin where I kept all the stubs, so I’d remember all the shows. Well, that little tin was sadly lost years ago from many moves, so just who I saw and when is now a matter of wistful memory.
Well, mostly. Even after hundreds of concerts, with every kind of music you could imagine, there are some you simply do not forget. So amazing the talent, so moving the music and the experience of time and place, you simply keep it with you — always. Such is the case with vibraphonist Gary Burton. I was lucky enough to see him perform with his longtime musical cohort the great pianist Makoto Ozone when they toured in the early 90s. Gary had said many times in interviews that he felt there was an affinity between piano and vibes, and with these two masters of their respective instruments, he was absolutely right.
As a preface, if you don’t know the name Gary Burton, you’ve probably heard him play. He’s a guest artist on literally hundreds of recordings. He taught himself to play the vibes, and pretty much created the four mallet technique, which allowed him to sound as if two or three people were playing. He’s been an educator of music, and taught countless students the ins and outs of the craft.
But I digress. This is supposed to be about a recording from 1973, years before I had the chance to see Burton play. But I had wanted to see him for decades, because of records like “The New Quartet." The four players here, with the exception of Burton, really were “new” on the music scene, but Burton knew what he was doing gathering together with these relatively unknown musicians. The quartet of Burton on vibes, guitarist Mick Goodrick, bassist Abraham Laboriel and drummer Harry Blazer sound as if they had been jamming together for years, with the music flowing seamlessly and effortlessly from on solo to the next, back to the main theme, with plenty of space for everyone to shine.
One of the many reasons I’ve always liked Gary Burton is that he makes jazz accessible to people who say “oh, I don’t like jazz," without making it sound like a Kenny G record (sorry, he really is dreadful). You can play this for them, and suddenly they’ll be in to it, enjoying the improvisations, swapping leads, key changes, all of it. Seriously, try it — I will bet you can’t find anyone who doesn’t like at least one, if not many more, of the eight tracks here. There are some bangers where the mallets (all four of them!) fly fast and furious, while other compositions are thoughtful serine jewels that pull you in to their calm space for a pleasant rest bit from the up tempo tunes.
Another interesting side about these eight songs is their authors. A diverse group, including Burton himself, Chick Corea, Carla Bley, Keith Jarrett, Gordon Beck, and Mike Gibbs. Despite this disparate gathering of writers, The New Quartet, makes each tune their own, at least to a varying level of success. I think the last two tracks by Mike Gibbs tend to be the weakest of the bunch, but they are still very very solid and certainly deserve to be on the record.
After 60 years in jazz, Gary Burton retired in 2017. In that time, he’s released a tremendous amount of music under his own name (at least 60 records), and can be heard on hundreds of songs as a featured player on records from performers ranging from B.B. King to K.D. Lang.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a Gary Burton record I didn’t like — he’s just that good. And “The New Quartet” sounds just as vibrant and solid as it did in 1973.
