When Gary Burton`s longtime pianist Makoto Ozone announced a year ago that he would be leaving the band to return to his native Japan, Burton decided it was time for an overhaul of his music-making.
”I go through this every so often,” said Burton, one of the handful of great jazz vibraphonists. ”I just get a bit restless every few years or so, and like to change things to keep things fresh for myself. . . . So I took the opportunity to recreate my music for the next few years.”
Ozone had joined Burton`s quintet six years ago, helping to usher in a more conservative jazz approach. ”Makoto was more of a traditionalist, so we played more standards and did more straight-ahead jazz during those years. It was never necessarily a conscious choice, but it reflected what he was best at contributing, and represented quite a change from the guitar-oriented sound that I was getting prior to his joining up.”
With Ozone`s departure being announced a few months in advance, Burton had time to strategize.
”I decided to reincorporate the guitar into my sound,” he said. ”It had been a trademark of mine during my early career, and I had introduced many well-known guitarists during those years (Larry Coryell, John Scofield, Pat Methany). I felt that the instrument itself had gone into some interesting new directions in recent years that I wanted to experiment with, so I told my guitar buddies that I was looking for someone, and ended up having some tapes sent to me at their recommendation.”
The search turned up 23-year-old Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel, whom Burton hails as ”one of my best discoveries. I knew the minute that I heard him play that this was going to be one of the next big guitar players.
”He began on the violin, but went over to classical guitar, touring all over the world as a classical guitarist. He then picked up an electric guitar, and has a unique approach to it because it`s so unusual for someone of his musical breadth to play the instrument; most guitarists come from a rock or country background and are self-taught. But of course, in addition to extraordinary musicianship, Wolfgang has tremendous facility and is a monster in terms of technique.”
Anticipating the guitar change, Burton recorded two albums last year that included guitarists John Scofield and Pat Methany, although the Methany album is not due until January.
”As a result, I had lots of new material suited to the guitar, so I did something radical that I had never done before: I replaced all the tunes for my quintet all at the same time. I felt enormously energized making such a huge change. Even though four of the five players were the same, the chemistry of the band changed. I now have returned to a greater accompanying role than when we played with piano, and horn (saxophone), guitar and vibes are all capable of playing lead melody, as well as pairing off in various sound combinations.
”I`ve always been real lucky in finding very talented players, and then their contributions almost show you what to do with the music, if they`re strong. Leading is easy or hard, depending on the people that you`re leading.”
Many find it more than a coincidence that all of the players in Burton`s current lineup-which makes its debut here through Sunday at the Jazz Showcase- consists entirely of recent Berklee graduates, the famous Boston music school where Burton is a dean.
”People just assume that I automatically only use Berklee people, but the truth is that I always look around, but as often as not, the main new young stars coming along end up going to Berklee. In Wolf`s case, he was already in Boston, but I went ahead and checked all the tapes anyway, just in case there was somebody really great from California. But Wolf turned out to be the ideal guy.
”As I`ve gotten older, my bands have gotten younger. Sometimes I look at that and think: `This is weird. What is this going to be like when I`m in my 50s, with all these guys in their 20s?` But as a leader, you have one of two tendencies; you`re either attracted to playing with people who are experienced and are a smooth, known commodity, or to young players who are less established stylistically, but full of energy, change and growth. I`m definitely attracted to that approach. Stan Getz, whom I started out with, has always used a lot of young players, and discovered a lot of key people, including me, Chick Corea and so on. I came upon this direction to some extent based on that role model.
”Although I still enjoy playing with older, more established players as well, there`s nothing more exciting than to discover a young musician with talent. It sends the message that there is continuity in this art, and that`s also reassurring. It reminds you of your own youth as a player, which is inspiring, and makes it a pleasure to go to work each night.”
