John Abercrombie Quartet - Jan. and Feb. 2017

[GA Russell]

JOHN ABERCROMBIE QUARTET - UP AND COMING

Release date: January 13, 2017

John Abercrombie: guitar / Marc Copland: piano
Drew Gress: double-bass / Joey Baron: drums

 

JOHN ABERCROMBIE QUARTET ON TOUR:

January 21             Cambridge, MA             Regattabar
January 24-28       New York, NY                Birdland
January 31             Washington DC             Blues Alley
February 17-18     Denver, CO                     DazzleJazz
February 19           Portland, OR                   Portland Jazz Festival
February 23          San Francisco, CA        SFJAZZ (ECM @SF Jazz II)

Guitarist John Abercrombie – who has recorded as a leader for ECM since 1974 – returns with a second album by his quartet featuring kindred-spirit piano foil Marc Copland, along with long-time rhythm partners Drew Gress and Joey Baron. Extolling 39 Steps, the group’s 2013 album, the Financial Times said: “The emphasis is on subtle intrigue, flowing lyricism and the interplay between the leader’s warm, cleanly articulated guitar and Copland’s piano… with bassist Gress and drummer Baron equally supple and sinewy companions.” The same virtues of lyrical melody and harmonic/rhythmic subtlety are apparent with the new Up and Coming, though with even more emphasis on the enduring values of song. Abercrombie’s liquid phrasing and glowing tone – enabled by the thumb technique he has honed since eschewing a plectrum in recent years – animate his five originals and the pair by Copland, as well as a take on the exotic-sounding Miles Davis classic “Nardis” done in the spirit of Bill Evans. Up and Coming has a twilight atmosphere, with melodic flow the guiding light.