Search - Gary Burton, Eberhard Weber :: Passengers

DREAMY, OPTIMISTIC AND ARID COLLABORATION WITH METHENY SOARS

L. S. Slaughter | Chapel Hill, NC | 10/06/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Gary Burton's PASSENGERS is one of his best moments, and also one of Eberhard Weber and Pat Metheny's best LPs. Imagine a crystal sky in the Sonoran desert on a cool twilight in a smooth convertible. I repeat: anyone who enjoys Metheny or Weber will cherish this exceptional outing. "The Whopper" is one of those rare jazz cuts that works like a dose of Wellbutrin on a cloudy day, and many of these dreamlike, tight, circular excursions with Burton at the center sound like warm, post-lovemaking embraces. PASSENGERS likely defines the optimism and fun of the late 70s, without sounding dated in either a pop or jazz way. It is simply outstanding and timeless."

The best Metheny album that many Metheny fans haven't heard

Gavin Wilson | 04/22/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It says it's a Gary Burton CD on the packet, but in retrospect it's the part this album played in the early career of Pat Metheny which is more important.In the 1960s Gary Burton introduced one or two innovations to vibraharp-playing that solved a number of the problems confronting its practitioners. One of these involved using several hammers at once to achieve a remarkable chordal sound. He became interested in jazz-rock, working with up-and-coming guitarists like Larry Coryell and Pat Metheny. But he wasn't a prolific composer. None of the six compositions on this LP are his, but three come from Pat's pen.Pat recorded three albums with Gary Burton during the 74-77 period, and this is the one where it all comes together for him. (I used to own the earlier 'Ring' album on which Pat is second guitarist to Mick Goodrick, and it's nothing like as good.) This album fits very nicely with Pat's 'Watercolours' and 'Pat Metheny Group' CDs. Here, Burton's vibraharp plays much the same background role as Lyle Mays' keyboards, adding mood and colour.Pat plays pure electric jazz guitar here -- there is no synclavier, not even any acoustic guitar. Two bassists in a five-man group seems a bit of a luxury. All I can say in Burton's defence is that 1976 was the year of the bassist in jazz-rock: Return to Forever's Stanley Clarke released his 'Schooldays' solo LP, and Weather Report's Jaco Pastorius gave us his amazing eponymous debut album. Eberhard Weber, together with his unique instrument, was a very big name in European jazz at the time. True, he wasn't essential to the band, but he adds a certain something, and you wouldn't get the CD any cheaper if he weren't on it!"