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naut
Aug 14 2013
at 4:06 PM
I caught the ECM mega-tour in St. Louis in 1976. I remember some of the players--Pat with Gary’s band, Garbarek, Towner, Rypdal--but not all of them. Did any of you see this tour? Do you recall all the players? Does anybody happen to have a list of the dates and cities the tour covered? I’ve tried to find this information online, to no avail. I welcome any more details and will be grateful for what you might know.
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MarcNebo
Nov 16 2022
at 10:04 AM
Bookmark and Share MrMike: I just Googled "1976 ECM Festival of Music" and only found several articles on the tour. One not very flattering review of the NYC show and a Jazz Times reprint of a review of the Minneapolis show. The writer got to interview Gary Burton. I’ll let you know if I discover more information.
MarcNebo
Nov 15 2022
at 11:52 PM
Bookmark and Share MrMike: You were right it was the Gary Burton Quartet (Gary, Pat, Steve Swallow and Danny Gottlieb) plus Eberhard Weber. It looks like it was a limited tour in US only and some of the shows were two nights in the venue. Looks like Pat did two shows at the University of Chicago (Mandel Hall) one with Gary Burton and one solo. I only saw one date with Set List. The site is a wealth of information. At my age , 68 (same as Pat) I need all the help I can get to remember dates. But I have still be unable to confirm two shows in Southern California at two different venues. Due to my photographic memory I can visualize myself driving and walking into the theaters. I even contacted the venues.
MarcNebo
Nov 15 2022
at 11:33 PM
Bookmark and Share MrMike: I just visited the Pat Metheny Database and confirmed your show at the Kennedy Center. The ECM Festival of Music was on October 24 1976 and only Gary Burton Quartet is listed and no Set List available. I tried Googling the show and found nothing. I did see an Audio recording of the ECM Festival in NYC that year. Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland and John Abercrombie was one band and Colin Walcott, Ralph Tyner were another and Steve Kuhn was solo.
MrMike
Nov 15 2022
at 3:33 PM
Bookmark and Share Since it is 46 or more years ago. Info not guaranteed to be accurate. I saw the tour at the Kennedy Center but the show I saw was in ’75 I think. Eberhard Weber was there . John Abercrombie played duets with Ralph Towner. Pat’s playing was like a breath of fresh air. I search ed high and low for a ticket stub in my shoe box full of them and of course could not locate that particular one. Everyone else’s memory seems to be pretty much on target. Can’t add much else at the moment.
MarcNebo
Sep 02 2022
at 11:13 AM
Bookmark and Share seadog & naut : I ran across this old post while searching for something else. I just went to the Marc Morvan Pat Metheny Database Concert Chronology. ECM Tour started on October 20, 1976 and ended on November 13. Scroll through those dates and you will get more information, especially when you see "more info" link where you will find more information on musicians and set list. Last post 11/13 had most information. Google "Pat Metheny Database" to get to the site. I turned 68 in late August, so I need help also remembering certain Pat shows (50+ bands/shows). I hope this helps.
naut
Aug 28 2013
at 1:05 AM
Bookmark and Share I’m amazed you recall the dates, seadog. You must have a photogenic memory or a damn old diary. Since you went to Wash U (my dad went there), you undoubtedly ate at Talayna’s a time or two or three or.... I worked there for a while, when they had lines wrapping around the building at 2 in the morning. I guess they’ve cut back on their hours over the years. I didn’t see Martino at the Fox, which is on Grand, more mid-downtown off Lindell, but some converted movie theater in the heart of downtown. (I saw Weather Report at the Fox, and the sound was so bad that Zawinul took his hands off the keys and put them on his head. Such a shame. And the sound guys never got it right!) When I briefly met DeJohnette, I just remember looking up, way up, at him; he seemed so tall. I’m sure the awe-factor had something to do with it. Anyway, nice to know we had some of the same stomping grounds. :)
seadog
Aug 24 2013
at 8:46 AM
Bookmark and Share naut, glad I could help with the info. It was either Sat Oct 2nd or 9th. The theater you mention was probably The Fox, great hall. Amazing how much useless information the human brain retains. Now if I can just find my frik’n keys! I was a student at WU back then, an interesting time musically at the school. ECM was the fall concert that year, the next year it was Zappa. That is when the infamous "Ike Willis Story" took place. Ike was a polysci major who was always seen outside the SU building just cranking away on his guitar day in, day out. That fall he volunteered for the concert committee in hopes of meeting Zappa. Met him, managed to audition for him, was hired, left school never to return and toured with Zappa until 1988. On yet another tangent, I met Jack DeJohnette at Newport last summer. He was just hanging around under a tent signing autographs. Not being an autograph hound I went over to talk to him anyway. He asks what do I want him to sign. All I had was my old, sweaty PM Trio hat on from Road Trip tour, so I hand it to him. He looks at it just starts to laugh. Signed it and just kept chuckling. Seemed to be a really nice guy, signed his autograph with sketch of a pair of drumsticks.
naut
Aug 17 2013
at 11:11 AM
Bookmark and Share Thanks for the info, , and for pointing me to that interview, seadog. I think I read it long ago, but I guess it didn’t stick with me since it didn’t have the info I was really looking for. It’s amazing that you remember the name of the Wash U fieldhouse. I would’ve never recalled that. You also know more about the players who were there. Do you recall the exact date of the show? My guess is sometime in October ’76, but I’m sure I’m not sure. A "watershed concert" for me that same year (or early ’77) was catching Pat Martino in a little theater in downtown St. Louis, where he blew us all away. As a tangent and not that it matters, but I met DeJohnette and Peacock before and after a Jarrett show in San Fran. No surprise that Keith never came out, though I did holler "great concert" to him as he got in the limo; he acknowledged with a nod. :)
BobSmith
Aug 17 2013
at 10:11 AM
Bookmark and Share seadog-- thanks for that interview article. To think that in 1976 Pat had already been with Gary Burton for 3 years, amazing. It would be another 2 years til I discovered Pat and another 4 til I first heard Eberhard Weber and Gary and started discovering some of the others in the ECM universe.
seadog
Aug 16 2013
at 8:48 AM
Bookmark and Share naut - you’re the second person I’ve run into on this site that was at the show. Francis Field House at Washington University, in retrospect an ridiculously unbelievable lineup. In addition to the ones you mention others were John Abercrombie, Eberhard Weber and my first introduction to the monster that is Jack Dejohnette. Walked out there with my head spinning. I also remember a midshow set of Pat, Towner and Abercrombie together and I think that Gary’s band closed out the show. His band consisted of Steve Swallow, Danny Gottlieb, Pat and himself. You’re right it’s tough to find out much about this tour but hear is an interesting link with an interview at the time with Gary Burton during the tour. http://jazztimes.com/articles/ 30463 It was an amazing time to have my 19 year old eyes/ears opened up to this amazing music. For me a watershed concert year including RTF Romantic Warrior tour, this show and later Chick and Herbie acoustic piano duet!
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