Grammy winner Jeff Lorber produced the groove-jazz track from “Burning Room Only.”
It’s been over a year since the passing of jazz guitar great Pat Martino, but his influence and impact continue to be felt today in artists like jazz fusion guitarist Ron Bosse. On Bosse’s critically hailed new album, “Burning Room Only,” the Boston-based fretman pays tribute to Martino’s distinctive groove-jazz style as he exhibited on the seminal “El Hombre” collection. Bosse teamed with Grammy-winning keyboardist Jeff Lorber to recreate the unique guitar and organ trio sound that were hallmarks of Martino on “Aerodynamic,” a track from “Burning Room Only” that was produced by Lorber and composed by the duo.
Bosse was mesmerized the first time he heard Martino’s “How Insensitive” during the summer of his freshman year at Berklee College of Music.
“I had never heard a jazz guitarist play like that. I was absolutely floored. It was fluid, it was effortless, and it was melodic in a linear way, similar to the beautiful inventions of J.S. Bach. The technique was staggering, and it was as if he (Martino) were effortlessly dancing throughout the song. Beyond it all, the tone of the guitar was both beautiful and haunting at the same time,” recalled Bosse.
After that first exposure, Bosse diligently delved into Martino’s recordings, learning how to play every solo. There were a pair of tunes on “El Hombre” that stood out to the young student. Although a lot of Martino’s records were straight-ahead jazz swing cuts, “Cisco” and “Blues for “Mickey-O” were different in that they were groove oriented.
“These two songs sat in my subconscious for years and ultimately led me to my album, ‘Burning Room Only.’ I always wanted to record an album similar to those tunes of Pat's, but in a modern, electric rhythm section setting. I wanted the tracks to swing while retaining the beautiful traditional clean jazz guitar tone,” said Bosse who is accompanied on the hard charging “Aerodynamic” by Lorber, bassist Ben Shepherd, drummer Gary Novak, and horn player and arranger David Mann.
Like Bosse, Lorber is a huge fan of his fellow Philadelphian, Martino. Bosse felt that when writing “Aerodynamic" with Lorber, it was almost as if they were channeling Martino. Lorber wrote the main body of music and Bosse added some melodic figures to the end of each of the sections.
"‘Aerodynamic’ has this modern-day organ trio vibe that I absolutely love, and the way the harmony is laid out is very similar to the style of song that was right in Pat's wheelhouse. I think my solo on this song is a great example of my approach to improvising, which is very linear in nature, similar to Martino’s approach,” said Bosse before explaining the song title.
“The definition of aerodynamic is the way an object moves through the air. Pat's playing danced through the air in a way that was both seamless and beautiful with a sense of swing that was incomparable.”
Bosse met and spent the day with Martino after inviting him to teach a masterclass at the Bosse School of Music, a premier pre-college-level program for contemporary music near Boston that Bosse founded in 2004.
“It was surreal. I pulled up to the front of the hotel and there's Pat standing there with his guitar slung around his shoulder. We weren't in the car for more than five minutes when he launched into an epic discussion about the nature of the guitar and how it is played and taught. Pat was an extremely deep thinker and a true intellect,” Bosse shared.
After the masterclass, Bosse invited Martino to perform with his band at "A Guitar Tribute to John Coltrane,” a concert salute that he was producing.
“I was thrilled when he said yes and to call him personally when I was ready to do it. Unfortunately, by the time I was finally ready to do the show, Pat had become incredibly ill and had to stop playing the final few years of his life. I wish we could have played that concert together, but ‘Aerodynamic’ is my tribute to him. It’s a thank you for the incredible inspiration he bestowed upon me.”
Get a taste of “Aerodynamic” in this video: https://bit.ly/3Y9uj8z.
“Burning Room Only” is out now on Deep Cat Records. For more information, please visit www.ronbosse.com.
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