John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette: Gateway

Maybe in a world a-tuned to the sound of people seeking their own expressive modal dialogue to negotiate, barter, pray or prevent the king's rise, Gateway would have been the greatest jazz guitar trio album ever made. It certainly feels that way when one slips this handsome disc from its wrappings, handle gently to the turntable, and set the stylus down.

It is like 1975 again (the good parts anyway): the head high, the mood mellow. Maybe one has the dorm room all to oneself for forty-five minutes, the time it takes to play the album. And the music in those deep black grooves had it and still has it all: the jazz, the groove, the rock n roll, jam, improv, country, skiffle. Everything within the musical extent of the day was truly audible. And the audible truly affected positively all the other senses and the dark dissolved. Newer ways of expression were indeed within reach.

Gateway is the summer 2024 release in ECM's Audiophile Luminescence Vinyl Series. A taking from the analog masters series which, in it own modest words, promises a kaleidoscope, shedding light on the jewels of the label's deep catalogue in elegant, high-quality 180g editions. But even if ECM's catalogue is that deep, which it is, no one before or since its existence rips it up like John Abercrombie, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette do here with a wild eyed, creator's glee.

"Sorcery 1" is a real screamer. ("Shred-tastic" Nels Cline enthuses in his heartfelt, conversational liner essay). Holding the tip-on gatefold, seeing the archival pictures, Abercrombie runs all over "May Dance" with DeJohnette in full on pursuit. Holland's "Unshielded Desire" isn't only that, it is a madcap scramble to the finish. On the opening "Back-Woods Song" the bassist wantonly lays down the head. Guitar and drums pile on: bending, re-shaping. ECM's Audiophile Luminescence Vinyl Series is not just another re-marketing, it is a gateway to a time when great ideas did not run aground so quickly.

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