Up And Coming - John Abercrombie Quartet

A unique sonic signature

Guitarist John Abercrombie returns with a second album with his quartet composed of Marc Copland on piano, and his long-time partners, Drew Gress on double bass and Joey Baron on drums. Up And Coming follows the excellent album of the quartet, 39 Steps, released in 2013.

Abercrombie has always been among the most important and curious jazz guitarists since jazz got truly electrified in the late 1960s. Up And Coming bears the very distinctive sonic signature of Abercrombie guitar playing which has evolved over the years; a sonority characterized by a  more pronounced fluidity of its phrasing, but also a tone warmer and more limpid than ever, allied to a characteristically incisive improvisational sense.

Abercrombie’s first ECM as a leader was Timeless, released in 1975 with Jack DeJohnette and Jan Hammer. The next year, the guitarist recorded the first of several albums with the dynamic trio Gateway, a cooperative also featuring DeJohnette and Dave Holland. Abercrombie has collaborated on an impressive number of ECM projects featuring among others, Jack DeJohnette, Ralph Towner, Kenny Wheeler, Enrico Rava, Jan Garbarek and Charles Lloyd.

He died on August 22, 2017 at the age of 72. A great loss for avant-garde jazz.

Tracklist