What George said was so good, I made a transcription: George Benson quote on hearing Pat Martino for the first time. "You know, I was feeling pretty good about myself when I was 19 years old and I came to New York and everybody was raving about me as a player. They were saying “Yeah, I heard about you. You’re that new guitar player that’s playing with Jack McDuff. Yeah, I sure can’t wait to hear you play; they say you’re a bad cat!” And then I was feeling good and I was out on the town thinking I had conquered New York and I walked into Small’s Paradise and saw this young kid on the guitar, thinking ‘Oh, wow, what is he gonna do, I should get up there and show him how to play the guitar’. And all of a sudden they came to a break in the music and this guitar leaped out of nowhere, playing some of the most incredible lines I had ever heard. It had everything in it, great tone, great articulation, and the whole crowd in there, it was a black audience, they went crazy. And I said to myself, if this is a sample of what New York is like, I’m getting out of here!"
Anyone who follows jazz music knows what a giant George Benson is - not just of jazz guitar and jazz music, but of popular music too - but we now also know what a classy human being he is! A fine gentleman and wonderful human being. A credit to the human race.
This story makes me smile every time I listen to it. George Benson and Pat Martino - two great human beings who happen to be masters of music and the guitar.
I love both George Benson and Pat Martino. This is great to see a Jazz master like Benson give props to Martino. I wish they both would collaborate for at least one album. Maybe we could get a petition going to make that happen
That's great to hear someone like Benson give props. I saw Pat Martino play at the Village Vanguard in the 70s. and some where else, I can't remember...blew me away both times.
I love to hear stories like Georges, Russel Malone had the same type of story and I'm sure all guitar players at one time thought they were pretty good until they heard someone else that was better but that's life, it's good sometimes to be humble.
That's a famous story. It's cool to finally see this clip. Pat told a story when I saw him live at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall that was inspiring. He checked out an entire Wes Montgomery gig in Harlem. When it was over and the club was closing, there were five guys hanging around: Wes, Pat, George Benson, Grant Green, and Les Paul. If a bomb went off that night, jazz guitar in the 60's would have been pretty much over!
@ Modes9: Yeah, I've heard that story, too. One measure of an artist's influence is how well he pulls in other players - other musicians - to see and hear him. Once Wes Montgomery broke onto the scene in the late 1950s (Thanks to Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, who "discovered him" playing a gig in Indianapolis), word traveled fast to go and see the phenomenal new cat on guitar. Not just jazz cats, but popular musicians, too. The Stones dropped in to see him, B.B. King, folks like that. Wes sort of made Pat and George Benson his proteges given how young they were. Grant Green and Les Paul being more-established, older vets on the scene. But that's one measure of Wes' greatness - look at who was in the audience! I know two people who saw Wes in person back in the mid-1960s, and both guys - normally very hard to impress, been around, very good players themselves - talked about how Wes' playing just floored them. The one guy said he bought a scotch-and-soda at the bar before the show and then forgot to drink it over the next few hours as Wes moved from one amazing feat of musicianship to another.
I'm no music scholar just a regular guy the happens to love jazz and had the chance to listen to both live. Front row listening to Pat Martino I was in total awe... He is so fast and his dexterity is incredible... Two great players
Benson is just a humble, humble guy, whose talents and skill easily transcend what limited ego he may happen to have yet never shows. A true class act.
@namtil I agree with you 1000% George Benson has the humbleness of the greatests. How amazing is that in these times of more looks and attitude than real talent.
Love this video.. My favorite guitarist talking about my second favorite guitarist... "if this is a taste of what New York is like I'm getting out of here!" lol still laughing!!
Styles and Riffs and how high they climbed those cliffs of musical knowledge is what counts and they both counted and will be among the greatest Guitarist of all time indeed....Jazzlaro
Pat Martino is INCREDIBLE. So is GB. At one point in the 1960s it was hard to tell them apart but, for me, Pat has transcended the instrument more than anyone else. There's a deep spiritual connection going on when Pat plays. Metheny is a wonderful player but , don't get me wrong here, he sounds 'schooled", like he is thinking too much about his notes. Pat is in the moment when he plays..he doesn't use his brain but it comes from the heart & soul. But then Pat & GB come from unique era.
Not just Benson, I once read an interview with Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead and when they asked him who influenced him he said ONE name... Pat Martino...
Yes, I've read this awesome story before/the brilliant George Benson was greeted in NYC with a performance by the equally amazing talents of one Pat Martino. You can't make this stuff up !!!##$
I've read so many Benson interviews over the past 40 yrs and in many of them George always states that Pat Martino really caused him to play articulately.(apart from Wes obviously) They both sound very similar at times, especially when GB did his Eastern drone stuff that was his forte during the Kudu years. But Pat is unique. Very few have survived what he did. He's truly blessed and is the nicest person around.
Lol, GB is pretty freaking awesome too. I love that story though, there's a lot of great players out there and you never know when you're going to see someone and be completely blown away by their amazing playing.
i'm with you! ;-) never forget when i got "Live!" (i was 18) then, later, "Joyous Lake" (i was 22) of course, i have them all. a friend of mine, from home, was roommates with Delmar Brown at Berklee (that was in '74).
@ichisatori Yes, i agree. Personally i love every album Martino has ever done, even the ones that got standard reviews like "Starbright". There's a deep spiritual feel in every one of his albums and i'm sure he connects emotionally to a higher plane when playing. "The Return Of Pat Martino" is my all time fave. It was a landmark album for me.
One of my favorite youtubes...fun to come back to when I'm not watching tom waits or pat martino, or Raymond Scott stuff. les paul playedd his first recording in his garage to W.C. Fields...who pronounced to him..."My boy, you sound liken an octopus." W.C. was there to record himself on les' gear. I put the apostrophy where it goes?
For all the musical & technical sophistication Martino & Benson bring to the table, ultimately their success is due to an attribute just as often found in the most basic successful pop artist: Their unique personalities are projected in the music. Without that, all those chops might lead to nothing more than being legendary guitar teachers in a midwestern music store.
@jjjmm In most cases, luck’s #1, but especially in Benson’s case, his personality, his talent, on both guitar & vocals, & his looks, made me realize he’d be a huge success back when I’d see him in small clubs in the 60’s. He’d only sing one song back then, & it’d KILL. Benson filled a niche that no one else in his generation even thought to try.
i think almost every freshmen musician/instrumentalist know that feeling haha. one moment you think youre the real deal, then you come to the centre where all the real deals tryin to catch it and suddenly your ego is cracked^^. tehres always one who is better on your weak spots you tried to hide all the time^^.
Does anyone know what documentary this is from? I followed the As Seen On (found some great stuff), but no main source for this video. Would like to see the full context.
That's a bit of a reach. He's definitely my favorite player from the golden age, though. Maybe Joe Pass was the best "all-around", but Pat is my favorite soloist from the 60's.
Pass was a genius, of that there is no doubt, but personally, I have always found his style just a bit too cool, not fiery enough. His early recordings for Pacific Jazz hold up well for that reason, he was a more-propulsive, hotter player then.
What George said was so good, I made a transcription:
George Benson quote on hearing Pat Martino for the first time.
"You know, I was feeling pretty good about myself when I was 19 years old and I came to New York and everybody was raving about me as a player. They were saying “Yeah, I heard about you. You’re that new guitar player that’s playing with Jack McDuff. Yeah, I sure can’t wait to hear you play; they say you’re a bad cat!” And then I was feeling good and I was out on the town thinking I had conquered New York and I walked into Small’s Paradise and saw this young kid on the guitar, thinking ‘Oh, wow, what is he gonna do, I should get up there and show him how to play the guitar’. And all of a sudden they came to a break in the music and this guitar leaped out of nowhere, playing some of the most incredible lines I had ever heard. It had everything in it, great tone, great articulation, and the whole crowd in there, it was a black audience, they went crazy. And I said to myself, if this is a sample of what New York is like, I’m getting out of here!"
What a true gentleman George Benson is. Both he and Pat are a true inspiration to me both as musicians and men. We all love you both equally.
Benson you are the best!!! Thank you for your music....
Anyone who follows jazz music knows what a giant George Benson is - not just of jazz guitar and jazz music, but of popular music too - but we now also know what a classy human being he is! A fine gentleman and wonderful human being. A credit to the human race.
Hes my idol
😍Joe pass, benson, martino👌
Thats all i need in my life!
I knew George Benson was extraordinarily talented/skilled, now I know how likable, humble and FUNNY he can be too.
Benson is a pure class act, isn't he?
This just goes to show pissing contests mostly happen between fans of guitarists, not between the guitarists themselves
Musicians compete against each other too and if somebody told you they don't they're lying.
This is a huge compliment coming from the Goat himself. This basically sums up Pat Martino. “Your favorite players favorite player”.
This story makes me smile every time I listen to it. George Benson and Pat Martino - two great human beings who happen to be masters of music and the guitar.
R.I.P Pat Martino. My all time favorite.Love You Madly.
I love both George Benson and Pat Martino. This is great to see a Jazz master like Benson give props to Martino. I wish they both would collaborate for at least one album. Maybe we could get a petition going to make that happen
met pat a number of times as great a person as a player
His work with Freddie Hubbard is beautiful.
this is priceless. martino is really one of the very few guitarists that could challenge benson's skills in bebop guitar.
That's great to hear someone like Benson give props. I saw Pat Martino play at the Village Vanguard in the 70s. and some where else, I can't remember...blew me away both times.
I love to hear stories like Georges, Russel Malone had the same type of story and I'm sure all guitar players at one time thought they were pretty good until they heard someone else that was better but that's life, it's good sometimes to be humble.
Saw Pat at least 5 or 6 times live in Philly and it was incredible each time. Sat in on his guitar lessons as he was teaching a friend of mine.
That's a famous story. It's cool to finally see this clip. Pat told a story when I saw him live at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall that was inspiring. He checked out an entire Wes Montgomery gig in Harlem. When it was over and the club was closing, there were five guys hanging around: Wes, Pat, George Benson, Grant Green, and Les Paul. If a bomb went off that night, jazz guitar in the 60's would have been pretty much over!
@ Modes9: Yeah, I've heard that story, too. One measure of an artist's influence is how well he pulls in other players - other musicians - to see and hear him. Once Wes Montgomery broke onto the scene in the late 1950s (Thanks to Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, who "discovered him" playing a gig in Indianapolis), word traveled fast to go and see the phenomenal new cat on guitar. Not just jazz cats, but popular musicians, too. The Stones dropped in to see him, B.B. King, folks like that. Wes sort of made Pat and George Benson his proteges given how young they were. Grant Green and Les Paul being more-established, older vets on the scene. But that's one measure of Wes' greatness - look at who was in the audience! I know two people who saw Wes in person back in the mid-1960s, and both guys - normally very hard to impress, been around, very good players themselves - talked about how Wes' playing just floored them. The one guy said he bought a scotch-and-soda at the bar before the show and then forgot to drink it over the next few hours as Wes moved from one amazing feat of musicianship to another.
Jazz Showcase featuring the Pat Martino Trio tonight... I can hardly wait!
I'm no music scholar just a regular guy the happens to love jazz and had the chance to listen to both live. Front row listening to Pat Martino I was in total awe... He is so fast and his dexterity is incredible... Two great players
One Weekend with Mr. Benson just to hearing his Storys OMG i Love him Talking playing and singing he Is a legend
Benson is just a humble, humble guy, whose talents and skill easily transcend what limited ego he may happen to have yet never shows. A true class act.
Now THAT's high praise. Benson is a genius, too.
Martino et Benson... deux de mes guitaristes préférés.
I've seen George at numerous Martino shows in the audience !!!! Man
now that's praise !!!!!
"Playing some of the most incredible line I'd ever heard!... Had everything" ....
Pat is gifted..., like from GOD.
@namtil I agree with you 1000% George Benson has the humbleness of the greatests. How amazing is that in these times of more looks and attitude than real talent.
Love this video.. My favorite guitarist talking about my second favorite guitarist... "if this is a taste of what New York is like I'm getting out of here!" lol still laughing!!
Styles and Riffs and how high they climbed those cliffs of musical knowledge is what counts and they both counted and will be among the greatest Guitarist of all time indeed....Jazzlaro
How other guitarists react to Pat Martino: "I'm gettin' out of here"! This is still my favorite story on YT.
Same, this was hilarious, glad I came across it
GB is the humblest guitar player you could meet....and the greatest lining legend in the guitar world!
Pat Martino is INCREDIBLE. So is GB.
At one point in the 1960s it was hard to tell them apart but, for me, Pat has transcended the instrument more than anyone else.
There's a deep spiritual connection going on when Pat plays.
Metheny is a wonderful player but , don't get me wrong here, he sounds 'schooled", like he is thinking too much about his notes.
Pat is in the moment when he plays..he doesn't use his brain but it comes from the heart & soul. But then Pat & GB come from unique era.
One of my favorite things to look at on youtube..
The other?
Jonathan Winters talking about Christmas on johnny carson...
I don't see rivalry, I see humility and admiration...
well said. i love his character
That was great!
💐💐💐💐💐Pat Martino 💐💐💐💐💐 Rest in Peace 💐💐💐💐💐
Not just Benson, I once read an interview with Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead and when they asked him who influenced him he said ONE name...
Pat Martino...
imagine PAT MARTINO as a bebop trombonist !! I'd pay to hear that!
Look up Conrad Herwig. He comes close...
Yes, I've read this awesome story before/the brilliant George Benson was greeted in NYC with a performance by the equally amazing talents of one Pat Martino. You can't make this stuff up !!!##$
I've read so many Benson interviews over the past 40 yrs and in many of them George always states that Pat Martino really caused him to play articulately.(apart from Wes obviously)
They both sound very similar at times, especially when GB did his Eastern drone stuff that was his forte during the Kudu years.
But Pat is unique. Very few have survived what he did.
He's truly blessed and is the nicest person around.
Lol, GB is pretty freaking awesome too. I love that story though, there's a lot of great players out there and you never know when you're going to see someone and be completely blown away by their amazing playing.
i'm with you! ;-) never forget when i got "Live!" (i was 18) then, later, "Joyous Lake" (i was 22) of course, i have them all.
a friend of mine, from home, was roommates with Delmar Brown at Berklee (that was in '74).
RIP Pat…
@vecernicek2 ....indeed !!!!!!
@ichisatori
Yes, i agree.
Personally i love every album Martino has ever done, even the ones that got standard reviews like "Starbright".
There's a deep spiritual feel in every one of his albums and i'm sure he connects emotionally to a higher plane when playing.
"The Return Of Pat Martino" is my all time fave. It was a landmark album for me.
Rip Pat
i know one of Martino's students. he says hes not only a great guitar player but incredibly heavyduty. He's one of the deepest people on the planet.
I thought he was joking here. Then I heard the record Young Guns by the Pat Martino trío and I understood.
George is a jazz guitar hero of the highest order. A protégé of Wes
Montgomery.
they're both great but Martino is just...wow.
Pat Martino tells a story about hanging out with Wes, Benson and Les Paul after gigging in New York. Just imagine!!
all that benson said occured before martino's aneurisms and subsequent having to learn to play all over again.
That happened to Walter Trout as well.
If Benson says Maruno was good you know he was.
@vecernicek2 I hear it also, haha "Great articulation"
One of my favorite youtubes...fun to come back to when I'm not watching tom waits or pat martino, or Raymond Scott stuff.
les paul playedd his first recording in his garage to W.C. Fields...who pronounced to him..."My boy, you sound liken an octopus." W.C. was there to record himself on les' gear.
I put the apostrophy where it goes?
These guys are the Segovia's of Jazz Guitar..both have recorded some pretty(amazing) 'unaccompanied' chord solo tunes as well.
For all the musical & technical sophistication Martino & Benson bring to the table, ultimately their success is due to an attribute just as often found in the most basic successful pop artist: Their unique personalities are projected in the music. Without that, all those chops might lead to nothing more than being legendary guitar teachers in a midwestern music store.
Very true! It’s ultimately the individual who rises above other equally talented players.
@jjjmm In most cases, luck’s #1, but especially in Benson’s case, his personality, his talent, on both guitar & vocals, & his looks, made me realize he’d be a huge success back when I’d see him in small clubs in the 60’s. He’d only sing one song back then, & it’d KILL. Benson filled a niche that no one else in his generation even thought to try.
This is a scarily accurate take my man
i think almost every freshmen musician/instrumentalist know that feeling haha. one moment you think youre the real deal, then you come to the centre where all the real deals tryin to catch it and suddenly your ego is cracked^^. tehres always one who is better on your weak spots you tried to hide all the time^^.
@ichisatori agree.
nobody, NOBODY plays lines as well or as content rich as Pat.
@nomilktoday10 - I agree with you, my friend
LOL, did anybody else noticed that George almost sung the words 'great articulation' ?
0:51 Yup!
@CrusteanParliament Good question, sir. Perhaps it's Martino Unstrung.
Benson is top of the line....he is better at being humble though....
@ichisatori Lol!!!...well said...well said! ;)..Matheny is..(has always been) a bebop beast!Lol!
Does anyone know what documentary this is from? I followed the As Seen On (found some great stuff), but no main source for this video. Would like to see the full context.
Pretty much...
2 of.
That's a bit of a reach. He's definitely my favorite player from the golden age, though. Maybe Joe Pass was the best "all-around", but Pat is my favorite soloist from the 60's.
Pass was a genius, of that there is no doubt, but personally, I have always found his style just a bit too cool, not fiery enough. His early recordings for Pacific Jazz hold up well for that reason, he was a more-propulsive, hotter player then.
I was agreeing with you...
The name of this documentary please
Sanny Maier ua-cam.com/video/G_GaAvByI34/v-deo.html
@ichisatori Except for the other "Pat".....
What is this from?
Where is the whole movie
Sanny Maier look for Open Road.
heh, sorry one man's opinion. (Metheny does a damn good job.)
Pat Metheny isn't qualified to carry Martino - or Benson's for that matter - guitar case. Face facts.