Pat Metheny on Gary Burton and his tune, Walter L
PLAYING WITH GARY BURTON – [:89]
NOW, A JAZZ MOMENT WITH GUITARIST, PAT METHENY.
Pat Metheny: When I think about Gary Burton, I was such a fan. The Gary Burton Quartet of the late ‘60s, that was like the Beatles for me.
Walter L up and under
There’s a—a tune of Gary’s called “Walter L” that I started playing when I was maybe 14 or 15 years old with a couple of the organ players in Kansas City.
PAT METHENY MET GARY BURTON FOR THE FIRST TIME AT THE WICHITA JAZZ FESTIVAL.
Pat Metheny: So he’s there at the rehearsal with all these people, and the band director said well, what do you want to play? And I said well, this tune, “Walter L.”
Walter L
So me and the rhythm section started playing it, which of course caught Gary’s attention, because it’s not an easy kind of a tune; it’s a kind of weird tune. And, so he started playing with us, and we played this tune, and it was a dream come true for me to just hear that.
“Walter L” composed by Gary Burton and performed by The Gary Burton Quartet live on French TV and “Walter L” performed by Pat Metheny, Gary Burton, Steve Swallow, and Antonio Sanchez, from the album Quartet Live, used courtesy of Concord Records and used by permission of Grayfriar Music, c/o Ted Kurland, BMI.
THIS JAZZ MOMENT WITH NEA JAZZ MASTER PAT METHENY WAS PRODUCED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.
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