The New Gary Burton Quartet
Guided Tour
Mack Avenue ***
Turning 70 earlier this year and showing no signs of slowing down, Gary Burton’s latest quartet album Guided Tour nonetheless does take a while to get going, and the first four tracks are as you’d expect tasteful, but not particularly gripping. But on the sumptuous version of Johnny Mercer and Michel Legrand’s ‘Once Upon A Summertime’ everything comes together, and from this point on vibes great Burton, with guitarist Julian Lage, bassist Scott Colley and Pat Metheny drummer Antonio Sanchez who return from 2011’s Common Ground and who all contribute songs, move to a new level. The album then acquires an energy it hitherto had lacked in the earlier tracks. Burton has deliberately written in a Bill Evans idiom on the waltz ‘Jane Fonda Called Again’ and, on another of his tunes, ‘Remembering Tano’, pays homage to Astor Piazzolla. It’s clearly the better of the tunes in terms of an internal song narrative matched to improvisational direction. A highly accomplished album as you’d expect but one that takes patience for all its pleasures to unfold.
Gary Burton above left, Julian Lage, Antonio Sanchez and Scott Colley. Released on Monday. The quartet play Ronnie Scott’s on 13-14 May www.ronniescotts.co.uk