1990 · Album
Reunion
Recorded 1989 · GRP Records · Produced by Gary Burton, Pat Metheny
Two Guitarists, Thirteen Years, One Room
Burton and Metheny had grown into different musicians—and the album captures that distance honestly.
Gary Burton and Pat Metheny had not recorded together since 1976, when Metheny was still finding his voice in Burton's quintet. By 1989, Metheny was already a star—Grammy-winning, prolific on ECM, respected across jazz and beyond. Burton had continued his own path, leading groups and teaching. The reunion sessions brought them back with Mitchel Forman on keyboards, Will Lee on bass, and Peter Erskine on drums—a handpicked ensemble designed to let both leaders breathe without stepping on each other.
What makes Reunion distinctive is how little it feels like nostalgia. Burton's vibraphone and Metheny's guitar occupy different emotional spaces here; they rarely chase the same melodic line. Instead, Forman's keyboards often mediate between them, creating layers rather than lockstep unisons. Lee and Erskine anchor things with a rhythm section that swings without pushing, giving the soloists room to explore without rushing. The material itself—mostly original compositions—reflects where both men stood in 1989: polished, harmonically sophisticated, uninterested in proving anything.
This is neither a peak Burton album nor Metheny's strongest work, but it is a genuinely confident recording made by musicians who had earned the right to play without strain. If you come to Reunion expecting fireworks, you will be disappointed. If you listen for two mature artists comfortable enough to simply play, the album opens up—warm, unhurried, and built on real musical respect.
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More by Gary Burton
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The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
