| Desperado | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Pat Martino |
| Cover: | desperadomartino.jpg |
| Released: | March 1970 |
| Recorded: | March 9, 1970 |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Length: | 35:53 |
| Label: | Prestige |
| Producer: | Bob Porter |
| Prev Title: | Baiyina (The Clear Evidence) |
| Prev Year: | 1968 |
| Next Title: | The Visit! |
| Next Year: | 1972 |
Desperado is a 1970 post-bop jazz album by Pat Martino.
“A key album in the shift in Pat Martino's sound at the end of the 60s -- with one foot in the soul jazz camp in which he got his start, and the other in the freer, open-minded style he used a lot in the 70s!”[1]
Jazz critic Scott Yanow described the album as “funky in spots, electric, and swinging when called for” and extols Martino's performance as “consistently inventive"[2]
The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings wrote: "Desperado is a little-known stab at fusion: Martino plays electric 12-string against rumbling electric piano and bass, and the results are akin to a tighter, less violent Lifetime. 'Express' and 'Desperado' hit a particularly compelling movement."
In an article for All About Jazz, Ian Patterson wrote: "Martino's inventiveness... seems inexhaustible... Though Martino's soloing has the energy of rock, the language is unmistakably jazz, with a clear melodic logic. There is also a gentler side to his playing, as witnessed on the caressing ballad 'A Portrait of Diana.' 'Express' caps an excellent album on a thrilling note."[3]
“Even this difficult instrument doesn’t dampen his proficiency.”[4]
Recorded at the legendary Rudy Van Gelder studios, Mr. Martino chose a 12 string guitar to define his interpretations of his own compositions and "Oleo" by Sonny Rollins.[4]
Remastered versions of the album (one being from 1989) do not include any bonus tracks and are stereo versions of the original stereo recording.