Jazz Articles about John Abercrombie
Jack DeJohnette: Sorcery

by Rob Garratt
Which Jack DeJohnette is best known? The subtle sticksmith at the heart of Keith Jarrett's Standards Trio, perhaps? Probably the heavyweight hitter driving electric-era Miles Davis' '70s sonic brew. Maybe the percussive upstart propelling Charles Lloyd to crossover flower-power fame? Or even the fearless bandleader behind the ever-thrilling Special Edition band ... At age 81, DeJohnette can (still) fairly claim to be the most in-demand jazz drummer on the planet. But even the most studious acolyte ...
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by Scott Gudell
Jack DeJohnette gets around. The Chicago born drummer was drawn to R&B and bebop in the late 1950s and eventually toyed with a more avant-garde jazz sound when he spent some time with the esoteric Sun Ra. It seems like DeJohnette played in the big leagues almost from the beginning since, by the time he moved to New York City in the mid-1960s, he was teaming up with other monsters of jazz such as Keith Jarrett and Charles Lloyd. Several ...
read moreJohn Abercrombie: The First Quartet

by John Kelman
With the release of Arcade (1979), Abercrombie Quartet (1980) and M (1981), John Abercrombie's entire ECM discography as a leader is finally available on CD. Looking back at these albums and their position in his oeuvre, they are revealed as seminal documents of Abercrombie's arrival as a distinctive writer, improvising guitarist and bandleader, delivering on the promise of his first two ECM recordings under his own name, Timeless (1975) and Characters (1977). Abercrombie's subsequent career has, in many ways, been ...
read moreJohn Abercrombie and Don Thompson: Yesterdays

by Don Phipps
The late John Abercrombie's outstanding and extensive recorded legacy includes two duet albums with fellow guitarist Ralph Towner, Sargasso Sea (ECM 2008) and Five Years Later (ECM, 2014), four Gateway trio albums (with bassist Dave Holland and drummer Jack DeJohnette), and three Baseline Trio albums (with bassist Hein Van de Geyn and drummer Joe LaBarbera). Like those albums, Yesterdays finds him at his guitar-picking best, collaborating on this one with bassist Don Thompson. Recorded live in 1992 at ...
read moreOpen Land: Meeting John Abercrombie

by John Kelman
John Abercrombie Open Land: Meeting John AbercrombieMusic Heritage Productions / ECM Records2018 It's almost a year to the day since the world lost John Abercrombie and, for many of his fans, that loss remains something still deeply and palpably felt. A guitarist who managed to be instantly recognizable without relying on many of the signatures that help identify most guitarists--certain approaches to phrasing and melody and specific tonal approaches amongst them--Abercrombie may not have garnered ...
read moreOpen Land: Meeting John Abercrombie

by Mark Sullivan
John Abercrombie Open Land: Meeting John Abercrombie Music Heritage Productions / ECM Records 2018 Named after John Abercrombie's 1999 ECM album of the same name (by his trio with organist Dan Wall and drummer Adam Nussbaum, plus guests trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, violinist Mark Feldman and saxophonist Joe Lovano), Open Land finds the guitarist late in his career. Much of the ninety minute run time shows him talking about his life as a jazz guitarist and ...
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by Mario Calvitti
Arno Oehri & Oliver Primus Open Land -Meeting John Abercrombie ECM Records 2018 Già presentato al pubblico europeo e statunitense attraverso alcune proiezioni in festival cinematografici, il documentario sul chitarrista John Abercrombie approda anche in DVD grazie alla distribuzione della ECM, la label per la quale Abercrombie ha inciso gran parte della sua produzione discografica. Il lavoro, che ha richiesto alcuni anni di lavoro da parte della coppia formata dal regista Arno Oehri (artista ...
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