Strings! — Pat Martino (Prestige, 1967) Artwork

Deep in the Stacks: Your Daily Jazz LP Podcast

Every day, Danny from Kissa Kissa -- the Japanese-style jazz vinyl bar in Crown Heights, Brooklyn -- pulls one album from the stacks and tells you who made it, why it matters, and what to listen for. Three minutes, one record you need to hear. Calendar-driven picks tied to recording dates and artist birthdays, plus deep cuts from the Kissa Kissa collection.

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Deep in the Stacks: Your Daily Jazz LP Podcast

Strings! — Pat Martino (Prestige, 1967)

April 20, 2026 • Episode 10

0:00 | 4:01

Deep in the Stacks, Episode 10: A young guitarist with the precision of a veteran, backed by strings that never get in his way.

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

The Prestige catalog is full of guitar records from the late sixties, but most of them lean on organ trios and blues grooves. Strings is different. Pat Martino brought a piano quintet into the studio, Cedar Walton, Joe Farrell, Ben Tucker, Walter Perkins, and made a record that moves between full throttle bebop and slow, deliberate balladry without ever losing its center. He was twenty-three. This is Deep in the Stacks, today's album, Strings, by Pat Martino. Martino came out of the Philadelphia organ trio circuit, gigging professionally at 15, touring with Willis Jackson, Jack McDuff, and Don Patterson before most people his age had finished school. He studied under Dennis Sandol, the same teacher who had shaped John Coltrane's harmonic thinking, and moved to New York as a teenager, living for a time with Les Paul. All of that is in his playing, the rhythmic punch of the organ rooms, the harmonic reach of Sandol's system, and a clarity of articulation that was already his signature. Strings was recorded on October 2nd, 1967 in New York and released on the prestige label. The quintet featured Joe Farrell on tenor saxophone and flute, Cedar Walton on piano, Ben Tucker on bass, and Walter Perkins on drums, with Ray Appleton and Dave Levin adding percussion. Five tracks, four Martino originals and Gigi Grice's minority. On paper, that Grice tune is the centerpiece, an uptempo burner where Martino's lines cascade with startling speed and precision. But the originals tell you more about where he was heading. Strings itself has a lyrical quality, and lean years shows a compositional patience beyond his age. Farrell's flute work gives certain passages an airiness that contrasts with Martino's attack, while his tenor playing matches Martino's intensity note for note. Go to minority. Martino takes Gigi Grice's composition at a tempo that would trip up most players, but his articulation stays clean through every turn. Farrell matches his intensity on tenor and the rhythm section locks in behind them. It's a Martino original that reveals his melodic side. The phrasing is patient and warm, the kind of playing that makes you forget how fast his hands can move. Cedar Walton's comping underneath is perfectly spare. The balance on this record is the thing. Martino could outplay almost anyone in the room, but he was already learning when not to. Strings by Pat Martino. A 23 year old Philadelphia guitarist proving that speed means nothing without something to say. I'm Danny from Kissakissa in Brooklyn. Go put on a record. We'll see you tomorrow.