''Desperado'' is a 1970

post-bop Post-bop is a genre of small-combo jazz that evolved in the early to mid 1960s in the United States. Pioneers of the genre, such as Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane and Jackie McLean, crafted syntheses of ...

jazz album by

Pat Martino Pat Martino (born Patrick Carmen Azzara; August 25, 1944 – November 1, 2021) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Biography Martino was born Patrick Carmen Azzara in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, to father Carmen "Mickey" ...

. “A key album in the shift in Pat Martino's sound at the end of the 60s -- with one foot in the

soul jazz Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including ten ...

camp in which he got his start, and the other in the freer, open-minded style he used a lot in the 70s!”

Reception

Jazz

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

described the album as “funky in spots, electric, and swinging when called for” and extols Martino's performance as “consistently inventive" The authors of the ''

Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' wrote: "''Desperado'' is a little-known stab at fusion: Martino plays electric 12-string against rumbling electric piano and bass, and the results are akin to a tighter, less violent Lifetime. 'Express' and 'Desperado' hit a particularly compelling movement." In an article for

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

, Ian Patterson wrote: "Martino's inventiveness... seems inexhaustible... Though Martino's soloing has the energy of rock, the language is unmistakably jazz, with a clear melodic logic. There is also a gentler side to his playing, as witnessed on the caressing ballad 'A Portrait of Diana.' 'Express' caps an excellent album on a thrilling note." “Even this difficult instrument doesn’t dampen his proficiency.”Desperado LP-7795 liner notes by Les Paul

Background

Recorded at the legendary

Rudy Van Gelder Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Theloni ...

studios, Mr. Martino chose a 12 string guitar to define his interpretations of his own compositions and " Oleo" by

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a ...

Track listing

#"Blackjack" (Martino) – 7:45 #"Dearborn Walk" (Martino)– 3:50 #" Oleo" (

) – 4:53 #"Desperado" (Martino, Green) – 7:55 #"A Portrait of Diana" (Martino) – 4:30 #”Express” (Martino) – 6:43

CD Reissue

Remastered versions of the album (one being from 1989) do not include any bonus tracks and are stereo versions of the original stereo recording.

Personnel

– 12-string electric guitar *

Eric Kloss Eric Kloss (born April 3, 1949) is an American jazz saxophonist. Music career Kloss was born blind in Greenville, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, and attended the Western Pennsylvania School for the Blind, which was run by his father. When he was 1 ...

–

soprano sax The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...

(track 1) *Eddie Green –

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

*Tyrone Brown –

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck The ...

Sherman Ferguson Sherman Eugene Ferguson (October 31, 1944 – January 22, 2006) was an American jazz drummer. For a time he was a member of the jazz trio Heard Ranier Ferguson. Background Ferguson once said that when people asked him what he did, he wouldn't ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, bells *

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...

–

note Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened version ...

s *

–

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

* Bob Porter –

supervision Supervision is an act or instance of directing, managing, or oversight. Etymology The English noun "supervision" derives from the two Latin words "super" (above) and "videre" (see, observe). Spelling The spelling is "Supervision" in Standard E ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desperado (Pat Martino Album) Pat Martino albums 1970 albums Prestige Records albums Albums produced by Bob Porter (record producer)