Within A Song

If you've been listening to John Abercrombie for a while or have even a smattering of his considerable output over the past many years, especially as a leader, this one may strike you as something different.I heard an anecdote of the brilliant young turk who played for the master and played the score note for note flawlessly. When the master played the same notes the music came to life in a way the young man could not duplicate. When asked the difference the master replied: You don't love every note. On this release John Abercrombie and Joe Lovano do love every note. Nothing is wasted, nothing is forced. It is contemplative. The tempos are all slow to moderate, though never ponderous.The last collaboration of these two that I'm aware of was on JA's 1999 "Open Land" where Lovano put in an appearance with John's working quartet of the time. This outing gives the two a chance to interact directly and share their love and respect for the music.John is still playing guitar with his thumb, a technique he adopted in the mid-90s and has not abandoned since. (And he has never come off sounding like Wes.) That soft attack has possibly never been better balanced than in this interplay with Lovano's rich, lingering sax. But JA's guitar is so soft in the mix, if you didn't know better, at first hearing you might take this for a Joe Lovano release with JA sitting in. It almost sounds like John, so often the leader, wants to take a back seat, let the guitar come to the music from below and let the sax sail over top. Too often in this recording I find myself wondering "Where's John?" He's so low in some parts of the mix Joey Barron's light cymbal taps almost drown him out. That may be the "something different" in this release and I find myself wishing for just a hint of the dynamic of the earlier collaboration.

This is a bit unusual production from the ECM Records, whose jazz productions are mostly filled with original compositions by the performers. Unlike the others this album by the John Abercrombie Quartet (J.A. on guitar, Joe Lovano on the tenor, Drew Gress on the bass, and Joey Baron on the drums) performs three original compositions, two standards, and four jazzmen originals. The last group are dedicated to: Miles Davis ("Flamenco Sketch"), Bill Evans ("Interplay"), John Coltrane ("Wise One"), and Ornette Coleman ("Blues Connotation"). Noteworthy in these selections is that Joe Henderson's Miles tribute album ("So Far, So Near") in the same quartet format with John Scofield on the guitar played that Miles tune and Kenny Garrett's Coltrane tribute album ("Pursuance") in the same quartet format (with Pat Metheny) on guitar played another selection "Lonnie's Lament" from the Coltrane masterpiece album "Crescent". The album book let has a brief note by John Abercrombie that references to the 60's as an inspiration for this album. The two standard tunes, "Where Are You?" by Jimmie McHugh and "Sometime Ago", by Sergio Mihanovich, open and close the album. The former is known from the Sonny Rollins album "The Bridge" and the latter is known from the "Sergio Mendez '66" album are clear references to the 60s. Of the three compositions by J.A., the title track is a variation of "Without A Song" with the measures 13, 14, and 15 of the A-part of the AABA tune played in 3/4 instead of the 4/4. In the final chorus, at the B-part the tune morphs into the original, which is quite charming.As to the performance, only three tunes are mid- to up-tempo four beats (the title track, the Ornette tune, and an original "Nick Of Time") and so the atmosphere is much suppressed. As a post-Coltrane generation tenor saxophonist, Joe Lovano shows off his amazing deep sound and creative in-and-out phrasing, sprinkled with some freaky tones. J.A. is in the top form as usual and some of his solos sound great. And the support that Drew Gress and Joey Baron provide is excellent. In particular, Baron's deep understanding of music and his ability to adjust his playing are well represented in the amazing brush work in the opening tune and the cymbal in the last tune, which totally blew me off. I think these two tracks along with "Within A Song" and "Wise One" are the best tracks of the album.Since I am not a great fan of the Third Quartet of J.A. with Marc Copland, I highly welcome this new quartet and hope to listen to more performance by this group.

I've been listening to John Abercrombie since TIMELESS and can enthusiastically recommend this beautiful release as one of his very best. Groundbreaking? No, but this tribute to his musical heroes is a subtle return to his roots and he has able support from Lovano, Gress & Baron. Mostly covers but ever so tastefully done. I'm very glad John and Manfred Eicher have teamed up once again with a solid outing; easily one of his top 5 quartet releases for ECM.

Enjoyed Abercrombie's work on this cd. Great group interplay.

Great record. Beautiful writing and playing. Recorded wonderfully.

Of course I recommend this super CD of John Abercrombie, it's quiet, peaceful and good to rest with the correct music.

Great Album

It's a good Cd. But not edgy at all, or played dangerous. Everything is played safe, and that is why I give it only 4 stars.Maybe too safe. No wow moments!