John Abercrombie

My parents and friends probably thought I was going mad but I knew better :-)

Update: the YouTube channel presenting the concert of the John Abercrombie Quartet at Antibes, 1979 was taken down.

I got to know John Abercrombie by means of a French TV show covering part of his 'first Quartet' concert at Antibes 1979. That particulary band was a crossover between jazz and chamberlike melodic music. The rythmic part was heavy, stimulating playing by George Mraz and Peter Donald. Richie Beirach was the virtuoso piano player, jazz but with a clearly strong classical training. The communication between the lead instruments was fluent, sometimes hypnotic. Most material performed came from the then actual "Arcade" album on ECM records.

It was easy to recognize that Abercrombie was a distinctive voice in the temporary music landscape. A long list of recordings can be found in the ECM catalogue. Some recordings to look for are:

• Timeless (his knock on the door)
• Gateway (with Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette)
• Duo albums with Ralph Towner
• Trio albums with Marc Johnson and Peter Erskine
• Quartet albums: the first above mentioned and following quartets with amongst others Mark Feldman and Joey Baron