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Pat Martino: A Celebration of His Life and Legacy @ Jazz at the Point Festival

Courtesy Frank Scott
35+ Musicians
Jazz@thePoint Festival
Gateway Playhouse
Somers Point, NJ
November 3-5, 2022
NOTE: A complete listing of the Celebration events and musicians provided by the South Jersey Jazz Society can be found here.
One of the best puns in jazz history appeared in the title of Shaun Brady's preview of this 3-day set of concerts and other festivities. Martino's song and album title, Joyous Lake (Warner Brothers, 1977) became "Joyous Wake" (Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov 3, 2022). Martino, who had an impish sense of humor, would be laughing heartily. And joyous it was: three evenings of all-out performances, mostly of Martino's compositions and recordings, with ensembles drawn from a host of musicians, mostly guitarists, most of whom knew Martino personally and were heavily influenced by him. As in the traditional Irish wake and the New Orleans funerals that presaged jazz, the mourning process was achieved by joyfully celebrating Martino's remarkable contribution to the art of the guitar, jazz, and the lives of many whose souls were touched by him.
Martino left this life at age 77 on November 1, 2021. For logistical reasons, including the COVID pandemic, this tribute had to be postponed for a year. Martino's hometown of Philadelphia hasn't yet paid homage to him. But Joe Donofrio, his beloved manager for the last twenty-plus years of his life, convinced the South Jersey Jazz Society to sponsor the event for their Somers Point Jazz Festival at the Gateway Playhouse, a theater that doubles as a concert hall.
Martino's "rock star" status drew musicians and fans from around the country to this somewhat remote town. Even experienced via live stream on the internet, the energy generated could have rivaled a rock concert by, for example, the great

Santana
band / ensemble / orchestra
Kenwood Dennard
drums
Eric Alexander
saxophone, tenorb.1968

Jim Ridl
piano
Michael Pedicin
saxophone, tenorb.1947

Tony Monaco
organ, Hammond B3b.1959

Byron Landham
drumsb.1969

Paul Bollenback
guitarb.1959

Sheryl Bailey
guitarb.1966

Dave Stryker
guitarb.1957

Mark Whitfield
guitarb.1966

Jonathan Kreisberg
guitarb.1972

Joel Harrison
guitar, electricb.1957

Rodney Jones
guitarb.1956

Charlie Apicella
guitarb.1987
David O'Rourke
guitarb.1960

Jimmy Bruno
guitarb.1953

John Mulhern
guitar
Pat Bianchi
organ, Hammond B3b.1975

Alex Norris
trumpet
Adam Niewood
saxophoneb.1977
Backstage, there were warm reunions, embraces, and shared memories by musicians reunited after many years. As we know, Martino's playing was especially driven and intense, and his energy was relived in this incredible mix. Such nuclear power was concentrated into a Los Alamos-like atom bomb by the event impresario Joe Donofrio and his associates from the South Jersey Jazz Society, who created three action-packed evenings and a Sunday brunch with not a moment to spare. Emcee

Sample Sets
Just to give a taste of the musical sets that were performed, we'll look at two shining examples: the Friday evening set with the
Jim Ridl
pianoThe Jim Ridl Quartet and Guests
Ridl assembled a quartet consisting of himself,
Steve Varner
bass
Byron Landham
drumsb.1969

Benny Golson
saxophone, tenor1929 - 2024

Michael Pedicin
saxophone, tenorb.1947
That completed the set, and the musicians, except for Ridl, took their bows and left the stage to Ridl and guitarist Joel Harrison, who did a beautiful rendition of "Country Road," from the Martino/Ridl duet album, Nexus (HighNote, 2015) that was recorded in the mid-1990s at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia. During his recovery from the aneurysm surgery, a depressed Martino heard Ridl at a club and it inspired him to start working again. He and Ridl then got the duet thing going for eight years. It's possible that "Country Road," which is in a style very different from other Martino compositions, was inspired by Ridl using his North Dakota roots for thematic material. Later on, however, Bill Milkowski noted that Martino wrote it specifically for Chet Atkins.
Members of the Pat Martino Trio/Quintet and Company
On Saturday evening, the audience was treated to two sets in which organist Pat Bianchi and drummer Carmen Intorre, Jr. provided the rhythm section. First, with guitarist Paul Bollenbeck sitting in for Martino, trumpeter Alex Norris, and special guest saxophonist Nicole Glover rounded off the quintet that Martino had used on numerous occasions (Glover in place of Adam Niewood). They performed several tracks from Martino's last album, Formidable (HighNote, 2017). They started off with "El Hombre," the title tune from an early album when Martino was into Soul and organ-based jazz.
Trudy Pitts
organ, Hammond B31932 - 2010
A rendition of Dave Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet Way" featured Norris on flugelhorn, and trading off with Glover, who inserted a touch of Willis "Gatortail" Jackson, Jr., the soul-blues saxophonist who led the first group Martino toured with and which got him noticed in Harlem and elsewhere. Martino loved ballads from the very start, and Charles Mingus' "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love" was superbly rendered by Paul Bollenback.
Finally, Mark Whitfield joined Bollenback in the fast-paced "On the Stairs," from Martino's fusion and acid rock days in the 1970s. The album Consciousness (Muse, 1975) featured Martino at his peak, and here the guitarists took turns trying to outdo him, which of course is impossible, yet each showed how they went beyond him each with his own kind of virtuosity.
After the Intermission with its video testimonials, Bianchi and Intorre fielded some of the top guitarists influenced by Martino. Barry Greene, Dave Stryker, Mark Whitfield, Jonathan Kreisberg, and Rodney Jones took turns leveraging the master with their own styles. Fortunately, they did not try to imitate him. Rather they played in their own idioms, and yet the Martino influence was undeniable. It was amazing to see how Martino affected all their playing, just as Bach affected all subsequent composers. The overall impression from these guitarists is that Martino was so far ahead of the curve that it was mandatory to learn from him. They ended the set with an outrageous six-guitar version of "Sunny," which had become a signature song for Martino.
Martino's admirers loved and admired the intensity, depth, and inner beauty of both his personality and guitar artistry, and this three-night feast of music and reunions served to remind us of the enormous impact he had on so many musicians.
Tags
Live Review
Pat Martino
Victor L. Schermer
DL Media
United States
New Jersey
Atlantic City
Santana
Kenwood Dennard
Eric Alexander
Jim Ridl, saxophonist {{m: Michael Pedicin
tony monaco
Byron Landham
Paul Bollenback
Sheryl Bailey
Barry Greene
Dave Stryker
Mark Whitfield
Jonathan Kreisberg
Joel Harrison
Rodney Jones
Russell Malone
Charlie Apicella
David O'Rourke
Jimmy Bruno
John Mulhern
Pat Bianchi
Carmen Intorre, Jr.
Alex Norris
Nicole Glover
Adam Niewood
Bill Milkowski
Jim Ridl
Steve Varner
benny golson
Michael Pedicin
Trudy Pitts
Howard Paul
Chico Pinheiro
Jeff "Tain" Watts
Bob Sterling
Michael Kraft
Geno White
Rick Germanson
Craig Thomas
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