Joyous Lake

1977 studio album by Pat Martino

Joyous Lake

Studio album by

Pat Martino

Released

1977

Recorded

September 1976
Criteria Recording Studio, Miami, Florida

Genre

Jazz

Length

41:30

Label

Warner Bros.
BS 2977

Producer

Paul A. Rothchild

Pat Martino chronology

We'll Be Together Again
(1976)

Joyous Lake
(1977)

Exit
(1977)

Joyous Lake is an album by guitarist Pat Martino, recorded in 1976 and released on the Warner Bros. label.^[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	^[3]

The AllMusic site rated the album with 3 stars.^[2]

In an article for All About Jazz, Ian Patterson wrote: "The group interplay is tight and the soloing exhilarating, with Martino in exceptional, bebop-inspired form. Yet there is a melodicism within these grooves that seems to foreshadow the Pat Metheny Group... the record has stood the test of time, and for jazz-fusion fans anyway, it ranks as one of Martino's best."^[4]

All About Jazz's John Kelman remarked: "for those who enjoy their fusion with a stronger tie to the tradition, even as its grooves and colors are irrefutably electric and in their energy, electrified, Joyous Lake remains an undervalued gem in Martino's discography, and one that absolutely merits rediscovery."^[5]

Jim Campilongo, writing for Guitar Player, praised the album's "athletic impassioned playing, almost impossible unison lines, and yes, one could use the F word – fusion – to describe it accurately." He stated that Martino's "artistry is captured in spades on Joyous Lake."^[6]

Track listing

All compositions by Pat Martino except as indicated

"Line Games" - 3:55
"Pyramidal Vision" (Delmar Brown) - 7:42
"Mardi Gras" (Brown) - 8:56
"M'Wandishi" (Kenwood Dennard) - 5:29
"Song Bird" - 7:55
"Joyous Lake" - 7:33

Personnel

Pat Martino - guitar, EML 101 synthesizer, percussion
Delmar Brown - electric piano, Oberheim polyphonic, EML 500
Mark Leonard - electric bass
Kenwood Dennard - drums, percussion

References

^ Pat Martino discography, accessed September 10, 2013
^ ^a ^b Allmusic listing, accessed September 10, 2013
^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 132. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
^ Patterson, Ian (December 27, 2021). "Pat Martino Top Ten Albums: More Than Meets The Eye". All About Jazz. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
^ Kelman, John (January 13, 2015). "Pat Martino: Joyous Lake". All About Jazz. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
^ Campilongo, Jim (January 14, 2022). "Here's Why Pat Martino's 'Joyous Lake' Remains an Essential Listen from the Golden Age of Fusion". Guitar Player. Retrieved April 3, 2022.