The New Gary Burton Quartet: Guided Tour

Vibes master Gary Burton has been making his own sound since the late 1960s, and if it sounds less thoroughly unique today, it's only because he has been so influential on successive generations of players, notably Pat Metheny, a former member of this quartet. Burton's "new quartet" is loaded with similarly virtuosic talent: guitar prodigy Julian Lage, first-call bassist Scott Colley and current Metheny group drum wizard Antonio Sanchez. But Burton's commanding presence ensures that the focus remains on the music, and their second album together reveals four great musicians really starting to play as a group. Still, there's plenty here to satisfy the chops merchants (hands up!), with Lage and Sanchez in particular delivering displays of instrumental virtuosity for which the word "monstrous" was intended. garyburton.com