CD Reviews

John Abercrombie

The Third Quartet | ECM

By JON GARELICK | April 10, 2007

3.0 Stars

Twenty years ago, you might have associated guitarist John Abercrombie with the fancy firebreathing of jazz-rock fusion. But his music has also always been capable of pastoral spaciousness — a quality that’s made him a definitive member of the ECM roster for more than 30 years. This is his third CD sharing the front line with violinist Mark Feldman in a quartet with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joey Baron, and — as up-to-the-minute as these guys are — it’s as likely to recall the ancient guitar-violin combos of Reinhardt/Grappelli and Lang/Venuti as Mahavishnu with Jerry Goodman. The material covers swinging triple-meter originals, ruminative Ornette bebop (“Round Trip”), and Bill Evans (“Epilogue”). Emblematic is the opener, “Banshee,” rhythmic but loose, Baron setting the tempo with hard-swinging eighth-note cymbal hits, Feldman announcing the tune with an upward swoop, Abercrombie coming in with a broadly spaced lyrical theme. This isn’t the delicacy of early jazz but the driven urgency of electric rock and the avant-garde, played with chamber-jazz intimacy. Abercrombie’s tone is big and fat yet perfectly defined in its attack. And he exploits the violin-like sustain of electric guitar as a match for Feldman’s bowing. If you don’t get it the first time, just obey the old rockist dictum: turn it up.

John Abercrombie Quartet | Regattabar, Charles Hotel, 1 Bennett St, Cambridge | April 17 | 617.395.7757
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