Recovering from a devastating aneurysm, Pat Martino was moved to pick up the guitar again after hearing pianist Jim Ridl, and that deep connection is thrown into high relief on this standout track from Nexus, a newly released duo recording from HighNote Records.
“The Phineas Trane,” like so much of a live setwhich dates back to 2002 at Philadelphia’s Tin Angel, is all about rapport — the way that two smart players react to one another. They do so here in an atmosphere as fizzy and filled with reminiscent intellect as it is spacious and razor sharp. Pat Martino brings old sounds back to the surface, and he makes them brand new again.
As much as that has to do with Martino’s brilliance, Jim Ridl plays a key role, too. After a more recent period of appearing in the earthier, far more rangy setting of an organ trio, the shift back to Ridl’s ivory pointillism is striking. Pat Martino seems to (somehow) race faster still toward his thoughts, playing again with both breath-taking grace and (somehow) even more hair-splitting power.
These two have been working together now for some 10 years. That gives them an easy confidence as Nexus moves through pressure-filled moments of expectation surrounding legendary tracks like Sonny Rollins’ “Oleo” and Pat Martino’s well-worn transcription “Country Road.” The duo, however, is perhaps never more scintillating than on “The Phineas Trane,” a song that leaves you absolutely breathless.
Martino barely takes time to comp here, returning to a focused voice fans will recognize from his Prestige-era recordings, a time when the guitarist charged through his recordings like a horn player — with a hard-eyed, non-linear vision. After all of the health problems Martino endured, and his long road back, that kind of narrative closure is no small thing.
Jim Ridl, and maybe Martino knew that this might be so on that long-ago evening of discovery elsewhere in Philly, is able draw out things of deep importance, deep eloquence, and deep history from his playing partner. In this way, “The Phineas Trane,” though brand new, reminds us all over again of everything we’ve always loved about Pat Martino.
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