Starbright/Joyous Lake

Pat Martino

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6
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Starbright/Joyous Lake Review

by Thom Jurek

Before jazz guitarist and composer Pat Martino's surgery after a brain aneurysm, which took away his memory and ability to play for seven years, he made a kind of left turn. Martino had been making trio and quartet recordings for most of the '70s that featured his reflective or quietly swinging originals and standards. In 1976 he made Starbright, on which he played synthesizer and percussion in addition to guitars. He also employed some of the hottest jazz fusion players, like synthesists Warren Bernhardt and Michael Mainieri, electric and acoustic keyboardist Gil Goldstein, drummer Michael Carvin, and bassist Will Lee, with Marty Quinn on tablas, Joe Donofrio on violin, and Al Regni on flute. The result was a startling yet warm and, in retrospect, wonderful recording of originals and covers, the most notable of which were two radically interpreted Wayne Shorter compositions, "Nefertiti," and "Fall." Later that year, Martino went further afield with Joyous Lake, employing Delmar Brown on all manner of keyboards (electronic only, a Fender Rhodes being the most conventional), electric bassist Mark Leonard, and drummer and percussionist Kenwood Dennard. All the compositions were by Martino or his bandmates. The latter album was too far out in the fusion field. Not funky enough, and too completely technical to be of much use to jazz fans who may have enjoyed the sparing experimentation of the former release but were not prepared for so studied and artificial an outing. Where Starbright showed another powerful and poetic dimension to Martino's personality, Joyous Lake subsumed it wholesale. The pair are available together on Collectables.

Track Listing

	Title/Composer	Performer	Time	Stream
1	Starbright Pat Martino	Pat Martino	03:40	Spotify Amazon
2	Eyes Joe Donofrio	Pat Martino	02:39	Spotify Amazon
3	Law Pat Martino	Pat Martino	03:38	Spotify Amazon
4	Fall Wayne Shorter	Pat Martino	02:07	Spotify Amazon
5	Deeda Pat Martino	Pat Martino	03:45	Spotify Amazon
6	Starbright Epilogue Pat Martino	Pat Martino	00:33	Spotify Amazon
7	Masquerada Pat Martino	Pat Martino	02:54	Spotify Amazon
8	Nefertiti Wayne Shorter	Pat Martino	02:53	Spotify Amazon
9	Blue Macaw Pat Martino	Pat Martino	02:59	Spotify Amazon
10	City Lights Gil Goldstein	Pat Martino	00:55	Spotify Amazon
11	Prelude Pat Martino	Pat Martino	06:27	Spotify Amazon
12	Epilogue Pat Martino	Pat Martino	01:01	Spotify Amazon
13	Line Games Pat Martino	Pat Martino	03:57	Spotify Amazon
14	Pyramidal Vision Delmar Brown	Pat Martino	07:43	Spotify Amazon
15	Mardi Gras Delmar Brown	Pat Martino	08:57	Spotify Amazon
16	M'Wandishi Kenwood Dennard	Pat Martino	05:32	Spotify Amazon
17	Song Bird Pat Martino	Pat Martino	07:57	Spotify Amazon
18	Joyous Lake Pat Martino	Pat Martino	07:31	Spotify Amazon

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Starbright/Joyous Lake Review

Track Listing

Pat Martino Discography Browser