Common Ground [2LP]

Gary Burton is not one of those musicians who change labels frequently. After many years with ECM and most recently with Concord, he now sees his new home in the label MackAvenue, which is causing a sensation.

He is starting off with a bang: it is his first studio album since 2005, and the first with an outstanding new quartet. Apart from the master, of course, it is the high-flyer Julian Lage who is likely to attract the most attention. The dialogues between between Burton and Lage alone are a delight, but of course Colley and Sanchez are brilliant and proven sidemen.

Overall, this new CD is certainly a highlight in Gary Burton's catalog, but it is also an outstanding album of 2011 and undoubtedly has what it takes to bring Gary Burton another Grammy.