1997 · Album
Native Sense: The New Duets
Recorded 1997 · Concord · Peak Chart Position: Number 25, Billboard Top Jazz Albums
Two Masters Circling Back
Burton and Corea at fifty-something, still restless enough to chase new ground together.
By 1997, Gary Burton and Chick Corea had already documented their partnership three times over two decades. Native Sense: The New Duets (1997) was not a return or a reunion—it was a choice to keep working, to see what two musicians in their mid-fifties could still discover in conversation. That distinction matters. This was not nostalgia or a victory lap. It was the sound of two people who had spent their entire careers refusing to settle into a lane, deciding to settle into a room together again.
What makes this album sit differently in their catalog is precisely that maturity. They had the confidence to move without announcement, to record without the need to prove anything. AllMusic reviewer Richard S. Ginell caught this: "This is the product of two mature masters in their mid-fifties from the jazz-rock era who know precisely what they want from their instruments and reject stylistic boundaries." That freedom—knowing what you want and not being afraid to ignore fashion—changes how you listen to the music. The album peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart, a solid placement that suggested real interest without fanfare.
This is not the album to start with if you want to understand Burton and Corea individually. It is, however, the album for listeners who already know their work and want to hear what happens when two old collaborators stop proving anything and start playing. It sits comfortably in their catalog, a middle-ground recording from artists who had already made their statements and were simply continuing to make music.
Who's playing
Chick Coreapiano
Gary Burtonvibraphone
Where next?
More by Gary Burton
All 42 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
