Pat Martino's "Once I Loved" Solo

Listen: once.mp3

Pat Martino's Solo on:
"Once I Loved"(Jobim-Gilbert-de Moraes)

For me, it's a bit hard to believe that we are sitting here discussing a Pat Martino solo which was recorded now some 32 years ago, and, on his very first CD for Prestige Records as a leader, "EL HOMBRE." A CD which features Pat in what is essentially an organ trio context, a context within which he was so very comfortable and fluent after years spent with Jack McDuff, Richard "Groove" Holmes, and Don Patterson.

Here, he is teamed with organist Trudy Pitts. As I stated in the introduction to my book, "PAT MARTINO: The Early Years"(Warner Publications), this is the period of Pat's career which houses some of his best work. Work which makes it obvious why, at such a young age, he attracted legions of avid and loyal fans. I have also felt that to try and clearly understand his work and approach to improvising, it's best to listen to and examine his playing on standards. His solo on Antonio Carlos Jobim's classic bossa nova, "Once I Loved," offers us just such an opportunity.
      Another reason I am so fond of this period of Pat's recorded work is that his guitar sound was so beautiful then, as he was still using his Gibson L-5. This particular recording was engineered by Rudy Van Gelder who, not so ironically, had recorded Wes Montgomery performing this same song on the LP, "GOIN' OUT OF MY HEAD"(Verve) just two years earlier. Wes, however, played the tune in the key of 'F' whereas here, it is performed in 'C' by Martino. Yet, the language spoken by both is so very similar, and one can hear the profound influence of Wes Montgomery in so much of Pat's work, especially during this time. In these years, in my view, the work of both Pat Martino and his counterpart, George Benson, offers consistent and loving tribute to Wes. Few guitarists have done any better at this than these two giants of the instrument. Pat's 'Wes impression' done with a pick is remarkable because his attack is so precise and pointed, each note giving his playing a unique stamp. When you couple this with his very aggressive time feel, it's so very easy to understand his international appeal.
      As we have done in the past with all the shared transcriptions, let's first take a look at the song itself, and its form. "Once I Loved" falls into the [A][A'] category, but it's very different than most of its American song form counterparts. Here [A] is 16 bars as one might expect, but [A'] is 24 bars in length which is unusual. It's almost as though there's a little 8-bar [Tag] added to [A']. For the player trying to learn and understand the all important 'language of jazz,' "Once I Loved" is a great tune for study because it offers the improviser a string of various iim7-V7-I progressions. Pat's two-chorus solo starts off lyrically enough but, it is not long before he has launched into some of his most classic double-time lines, essentially beginning at bar 9. The attraction and pull towards learning and understanding the double-time lines is obvious because Pat's attack, phrasing, and the relentless nature of his time-feel are so very striking. But, please don't overlook the tremendous lyricism of his 8th-note single note lines which appear in letter [A] of Chorus [1], bars 1-8; 13-16 and continue through [A'] in bars 17-19; 29-33; and 37-40. You should also try and keep in mind that even with Pat's aggressive time feel, he does a deft job of 'laying back'(playing purposefully behind the time) on many of his none double-time phrases, and you can really hear this during the octave chorus, Chorus [2].
      Like so many great jazz players, Martino has his own approach to the 'jazz language' and its 'modal chromaticism,' as I like to call it. There are certain 'classic' Martino-isms presented in his very Dorian mode oriented approach to iim7 chords and you can see and hear such things in [A] during bar 9 and in [A'] at bar 23. Notice how on beat 3 in both bars, the line is configured in exactly the same manner. Pat's lines also offer very standard cadences from V7(alt.) chords to Imaj7 chords. During this period of his work, they seem to fall into two types: [1] those which employ the usage of the #9-b9 movement within the line, take a look at [A] and bar 10; and in [A'] at bars 26 and 30. Then there are those cadences which [2] employ the outline of an augmented triad. Observe bars 26 and 34 of [A']. Just one little extra point of interest, if you look closely at bar 10 of [A] and then compare it with bar 26 of [A'] you will see that beats 2-4 of bar 10 are EXACTLY the same as beats 1-3 of bar 26! Make out of that what you will.
      Pat also has a particular way of 'hearing' things over major 7th chords as well. [If anyone is confused by my notation, I use the 'triangle' symbol to indicate major 7th chords.] In rapid passages he often employs a line configuration where the line goes from the maj.7th-Root-3rd-5th(a major 7th arpeggio in the 4th inversion), take a look at bars 27 and 35 in Chorus [1]. He also often plays a line on major 7th chords with a particular emphasis on arriving at the 3rd of the chord and then going down to the maj. 7th followed by the 6th, this device can be seen in bars: 3; 31; and 33. It also appears in Chorus [2] which features his Wes Montgomery-esque octaves, observe bars: 3; 11; 15; and 27. There is also a particular chromaticism Martino applies to major 7th chords seen only once in this solo but also found in most of his other solos as well. It always appears in a descending line and begins on the major 7th moving chromatically down to the 5th. In this solo, it appears in the double-time passage in Chorus [1] during bars 35-36.
      As I just mentioned, Pat Martino's 2nd chorus of this solo features a 'tribute' to the octaves and chords of Wes Montgomery. Pat does this as well as anyone, then or now for that matter. It's interesting that the first notes played are also 'A' and 'E' just as he began the single-note chorus. The chordal punctuations he employs are very much influenced by Wes as he uses a sequence of 4-note diminished voicings over the 7b9 chords in bars 4 and 20. While listening to those chordal passages pay special attention to his phrasing, the 'bounce' and the short attack of the notes is really tremendous. It would seem obvious that Pat approached the exploration of octaves in a way similar to Wes, as he takes the specific configurations of his single lines and then transforms those same lines into octaves. Examples of this appear in bars: 9-10; 23; 25-26; 33-34; 38-39.
      One other point of interest I'd like to address is the labeling or naming of the chords in bars 4 and 6 of [A] or 20 and 22 in [A']. Often times in lead sheets of this tune, players will, for efficiency sake, label these chords as C#°7 and D#°7 respectively because they want to make certain that the movement of the bass notes is notated and observed. However, this can lead the improviser down a rather limited path of approaching the lines(for those bars) in a strictly diminished fashion; when what is really going on is that these chords are part of a V7(b9) chord which gives one a greater range for their lines.
      As with all the solos shared in the book, this solo was also done during my college years at U.C.L.A.('65-'69) and was not included in the original book. It has been my hope for sometime that there would either be a Volume II of "PAT MARTINO: The Early Years" or, that the original edition would be enlarged and the eight remaining transcriptions could be added to that. I can only say that we'll have to continue to wait to see what, if anything, develops with the publishers. So, for those of you who are great Pat Martino fans, please consider this to be my late Happy Thanksgiving present or an early Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's gift, make that a Happy Next Century! Wishing you all good health, happiness, and long life.

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