Pat Martino - Here and Now!: The Autobiography of Pat Martino

Copyright 2011 by Pat Martino

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, without written permission, except by a newspaper or magazine reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review.

Published in 2011 by Backbeat Books

An Imprint of Hal Leonard Corporation

7777 West Bluemound Road

Milwaukee, WI 53213

Trade Book Division Editorial Offices

33 Plymouth St., Montclair, NJ 07042

Text illustrations and insert photographs are from the authors collection.

, Pat Martino Master Class: Sacred Geometry, Simplifying the Fretboard with Pat Martino by Jude Gold, used by permission of Guitar Player magazine.

Book design by Mayapriya Long

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Martino, Pat.

Here and now! : the autobiography of Pat Martino / with Bill Milkowski.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-61713-027-4 (alk. paper)

1. Martino, Pat. 2. GuitaristsUnited StatesBiography. 3. Jazz musiciansUnited StatesBiography. I. Milkowski, Bill, 1954- II. Title.

ML417.M36A3 2011

787.87'165092dc23

[B]

2011033311

www.backbeatbooks.com

To
Carmen Azzara, Genoveffa Orlando, and Ayako Asahi
Special thanks to Anthony Creamer

Who looks outside, dreams.

Who looks inside, awakes.

Carl Jung

Contents

Emergency surgery following a near-fatal brain aneurysm triggers a total transformation and offers a new perspective on life itself.

Pats introduction to guitar as a child growing up in South Philadelphia and his memories of father Carmen Mickey Azzara.

Tales of traveling in a Greyhound bus as a member of the Lloyd Price big band, with some reminiscing by saxophonist Red Holloway.

Gigging as a teenager with mentors Willis Gator Tail Jackson and organist Jack McDuff at Smalls Paradise in Harlem, with comments by George Benson.

A string of sideman sessions with Willis Jackson, Jack McDuff, Don Patterson, and John Handy leads to a contract with Prestige Records.

A psychedelic paean to the Koran takes Pat about as far away from Harlem and Hammond B-3 organ scene as one can imagine.

Swinging unabashedly and pushing the envelope with colleagues Ron Thomas, Tyrone Brown, and Sherman Ferguson.

An auspicious Warner Bros. debut is followed by a fusion classic, with comments by Gil Goldstein, Kenwood Dennard, and Delmar Brown.

Manifestations of AVM (arteriovenous malformation) cause uncontrollable seizures and a complete physical and mental meltdown, leading to life-saving brain surgery.

After being off the scene while recovering memory at his parents house in South Philadelphia, Pat decides to make a career comeback.

Pat is signed to the prestigious jazz label and gradually returns to his former glory with a string of acclaimed recordings.

Pat finds his soulmate in Tokyo and discovers healthy alternatives that cause a dramatic improvement in the quality of his life.

After a lifetime of persevering through tragedies, calamities, and debacles, Pat arrives at a zenlike place with regard to life itself.

by Victor L. Schermer

Ive often asked myself, What am I? Im not a guitar player; Im not a musician. Because I dont really seem to find that of any interest in the long run. Im more interested in what this whole phenomenon of life is really all about. All of the events that took place throughout my life that came from AVM (arteriovenous malformation) and all of its side effects, amplified this mystical dream world where I resided. I lived within quite an illusion during that time I was dealing with AVM, and the intake of drugs only added to that deceptive state. But these are not the things I am. In fact, the words I am are enough for me. Theyre the words of God. And that to me is the essence of definition. The greatest truth comes right back down to the central part of what a person truly islife itself. And when you reach such a conclusion, its so spiritual that it overcomes as well as transcends any of the crafts, like guitar playing. Maybe thats what art eventually leads us to discover, however long it takes.

As far as the music, its performance, being a bandleader all of that is second nature. That has to be second nature so that Im not subject to a distortion of any of the daily facets of living, such as a greater understanding of other people, living just as valid an experience that may have nothing to do with music.

I think that no matter what has taken place, Ive always longed for something that remained in common with all things, that I could enjoy no matter what the situation was, so at least the end result had some type of realistic continuity that moved toward enlightenment.

Thats my intentionto gain more insight into what I am and why I am. Not to be something Im not, but to take advantage of all the things that the use of this bodily vehicle will allow and to respect, admire, and cherish realistic opportunities under any circumstance. Similar to the old saying Everythings gonna be all right, the love of life in such a state is truly a cure for suffering.

Ive known people who fear death, because theyre totally consumed by the encasement that they believe themselves to be. Theyre not consciously alive within their vehicle as of yet. That, to me, is truly the issue. As far as biography, profession, accomplishment these things are very elusive. And when we really come down to the true nature of what these things represent and how they are valued, they fail to meet up to whats really taking place within when always in the moment, at the nexus, the core of the moment, the point that meets all points, the neutralization of endless elusive dichotomies occurs. Not in a dream, hoping that it comes true somewhere in the future. And not in something that no longer existsthe past.

It was recently conveyed to me by a great yogi, B. K. S. Iyengar:

The seer is pure consciousness and witnesses nature without being reliant on it. Nature and intelligence exist solely to serve the seers sole purposeemancipation. The union of the seer with the seen is for the seer to discover its own true nature. Right knowledge destroys ignorance and breaks the link binding the seer to the seen. All of this you know. I look forward to you and your music.

This is the bottom line of my existence, being in the HERE AND NOW, the place where perceptive decisions are made.

Pat Martino

This is a story of triumph over incredible adversity. That Pat Martino is still here is astonishing in itself. The man has had so many brushes with death that he stopped counting, a long time ago. That he overcame the debilitating effects of a brain aneurysm and life-saving surgery back in 1980 and ultimately returned to his former glory as one of the greatest jazz guitarists on the planet is nothing short of miraculous. That Pat continues to play, at age sixty-six, with such unparalleled drive and staggering facility, such an unquenchable sense of swing and such heart, is both exhilarating and inspiring to me and hordes of other guitar aficionados all over the world. On a nightly basis, with remarkable regularity, he continues to channel a lifetime of experiencesthe bitter and sad along with the joyous and ecstaticthrough this tool, this toy, this guitar.

Having always been impressed by Pats impeccable technique and blazing chops on the instrument, I have come, with the wisdom of advanced age, perhaps, to appreciate his exquisite ballad playing on a much deeper level. Suddenly, his darkly alluring expression on forlorn, melancholic pieces such as Thelonious Monks Round Midnight, Bill Evanss Blue in Green, or Horace Silvers Peace register with greater meaning for me. But he can still burn with the best of them, as he demonstrated recently at Birdland in New York City by surprisingly pulling out John Coltranes Impressions, which also happened to be the opening track from his classic 1974 album