JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
Rating: 
Gary Burton & Keith Jarrett is an odd fusion of country, pop, rock, jazz, and a wee bit of the avant guarde.
Really, Gary Burton was one of the pioneers of fusion. As far back as 1966, he was introducing elements of country music into jazz. Here, he’s mostly playing the attractive originals of Keith Jarrett, with the exception of Steve Swallow’s Como En Vietnam.
Speaking of which, this is one of the best of Keith Jarrett’s early records, along with Jarrett’s deathless classic, Facing You. Jarrett is on his best behavior here. There is none of his tuneless yowling, none of his pointless digressions. He is focused and the melodies just pour out of him. (Well, okay, there’s his crappy sax solo on Como En Vietnam, but let’s forget about that.) As a special bonus, there’s his surprise avant guarde freakout on the otherwise poppy Fortune Smiles.
Burton is his usual dependable self. Considering how adventurous Gary Burton was in advancing the cause of fusion and giving his bassist Steve Swallow full rein to create groundbreaking compositions that drew just as much from popular music as jazz, not to mention recording the then unknown composer Carla Bley’s A Genuine Tong Funeral, Burton was rather conservative as a player. He never really embraced the ideas of free jazz, preferring to play in a boppish style, always within the structure of the tunes. Burton is the consummate inside player, and he is no different here.
Sam Brown, who contributes the rock element, is typical of guitarists of those days who played in jazz. His solos are Simple Simon wankery, not even close to being as advanced as Jim Hendrix or Richie Blackmore, two of the pioneering rock guitarists of the period. It’s best to take Brown as part of the atmosphere or to just laugh him off. He’s kind of a joke, really.
Gary Burton & Keith Jarrett is probably most valuable as an example of a type of country-flavored fusion that briefly flourished and then became extinct, most likely because of the twin meteors of The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Miles Davis’ electric groups of the 70s. That, and the wonderful playing of Burton and Jarrett make Gary Burton & Keith Jarrett very worthwhile.
But that’s not all you get if you purchase this CD! Gary Burton & Keith Jarrett is bundled with Gary Burton’s Throb, which is at least as good.
Throb is dominated by bassist Steve Swallow’s wonderfully complex and idiosyncratic compositions, although the great composer/arranger Michael Gibbs contributes three tunes as well. Talk about an embarrassment of riches! The combination of Steve Swallow’s bass, Gary Burton’s vibes and Richard Greene’s violin gives the band a unique texture. Given the instrumentation, there is a lot of country music thrown into the mix. Jerry Hahn is the guitarist here and contributes the usual wankery common for the period, but Swallow makes good use of him in the arrangements.
It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I’d probably have to go for Steve Swallow’s hilarious Chickens, which is just what it sounds like.
To summarize, when you consider that you can get Gary Burton & Keith Jarrett and Throb together, for a budget price, picking up this two-fer is a no brainer.
Just got this dual record on CD today - interestingly enough, there is an odd jump from track 2 “Moonchild, In your quiet Place” to track 3 -”Como En Vietnam” - the first song ends abruptly like a bad copy from the master tape. Darned shame, I was really enjoying track 2 when it just cuts off suddenly …