(Review by Hugh C)
John Abercrombie – guitar; Marc Copland – piano; Drew Gress – double bass; Joey Baron – drums.
Up and Coming is the second album by the quartet. Abercrombie, Gress and Baron have had a long association, Marc Copland joined the three for their first quartet recording in 2013.
The first four tracks Joy – Flipside – Sunday School – Up and Coming are all by Abercrombie. The album as a whole has a laid-back, free-flowing groove engendered by Abercrombie's relaxed guitar style. By his own admission “I play less fast than I used to, less 'technical'”. His partners respond to this with a gentle exploration of the quieter aspects of their respective instruments.
Marc Copland contributed the next two tracks, Tears and Silver Circle which, according to Abercrombie “reflect his [Copland's] more classically oriented, polychordal compositional style”. A take on the Miles Davis composition Nardis follows, done in the spirit of Bill Evans. Another Abercrombie composition, Jumbles, completes the set.
Up and Coming, recorded at Avatar Studios, New York is released in the UK both as CD and (for Steve T) vinyl. The quartet will be touring the US and mainland Europe over the next few months, but have no dates in the UK.
Hugh C.
Released on ECM: CD 6025 5723377 3; LP 6025 5726238 4
1 comment :
Yea I wish ECM would stop; I wish they' all stop, it'll prove so harmful in the long (medium) run.
Number 1 son got a master-class from him before Christmas and I believe he has something which prohibits him playing like he used to.
Didn't do Django any harm.
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