PETER ERSKINE - Transition (1987) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The music on Peter Erskine's second recording as a leader (all but two songs are by either the drummer-leader or Vince Mendoza) is disappointingly forgettable, including Erskine's five-part, 22-minute "Suite: Music from Shakespeare's 'King Richard II'." With such fine players as Joe Lovano and Bob Mintzer on tenors, guitarist John Abercrombie, keyboardists Kenny Werner and Don Grolnick, bassist Marc Johnson and Peter Gordon on french horn, the solos are generally quite good, but the lack of any memorable melodies and the dated-sounding synthesizers largely sink the effort. by Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    Osaka Castle 6'47
Composed By – Ken Werner
2    The Rabbit In The Moon 1'19
Composed By – Peter Erskine
3    Corazon 5'04
Composed By – Peter Erskine
Synthesizer – Don Grolnick
Suite: Music From Shakespeare's King Richard II    
4    Introduction 1'31
Composed By – Peter Erskine
5    Music Plays 7'16
Composed By – Peter Erskine
6    Sonnet 2'32
Composed By – Peter Erskine
Synthesizer – Don Grolnick
7    Transition 8'02
Composed By – Peter Erskine
8    End Hymn 2'39
Composed By – Peter Erskine
9    Lions And Tigers And Bears 2'58
Composed By – Vince Mendoza
10    The Hand Speaks Hold 8'04
Composed By – Vince Mendoza
Synthesizer – Don Grolnick
11    Smart Shoppers 5'03
Composed By – Vince Mendoza
Synthesizer – Don Grolnick
12    My Foolish Heart 5'14
Composed By – Ned Washington, Victor Young
13    Orson Welles (Intro) 0'52
Composed By – Vince Mendoza
14    Orson Welles 5'53
Composed By – Vince Mendoza
Credits :
Acoustic Bass – Marc Johnson
Drums, Electronic Drums, Gong, Synthesizer, Computer, Producer – Peter Erskine
French Horn – Peter Gordon
Guitar, Guitar Synthesizer – John Abercrombie
Piano, Synthesizer – Kenny Werner
Tenor Saxophone – Bob Mintzer
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Joe Lovano

MAURIZIO GIAMMARCO QUARTET - Hornithology (2006) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Old Home    6:00
Maurizio Giammarco
2    Sky Walker    9:56
Maurizio Giammarco
3    End Of A Bop Affair    3:30
Maurizio Giammarco
4    No Spanish Night    7:45
Maurizio Giammarco
5    Arboreal Code    6:37
Maurizio Giammarco
6    Unexpected Flight    8:58
Maurizio Giammarco
7    Voce Vai Ver    6:24
Maurizio Giammarco
Credits :
Acoustic Bass – Marc Johnson
Drums – Peter Erskine
Piano, Keyboards – Danilo Rea
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Producer – Maurizio Giammarco

JOHN ABERCROMBIE - Getting There (1987) APE (image+.cue), lossless

The music on this 1988 release from guitarist John Abercrombie is groomed to such aseptic perfection that little remains of the musical personalities behind these sounds. Abercrombie, bassist Marc Johnson, drummer Peter Erskine, and saxophonist Michael Brecker (on three tracks) turn in immaculate performances, rich in technique and austere, cerebral exchanges, but despite the musical prowess, the listener is left to gaze on blankly, uninvolved. The malaise is typified by Abercrombie's guitar synthesizer, which too frequently renders the leader's brush strokes in a muted monochrome. Similarly, while the signature "Fortress of Solitude" chill of an ECM date is not the issue, the release's enervating engineering does sap the vitality from these performances. There are, nestled among this generally reflective, introverted music, some rewarding bits, notably Abercrombie's short jazz waltz, "Labour Day," where he sets aside the guitar synthesizer and electronic enhancements to serve up some delicious straight-ahead sounds. Two of the tracks with Brecker, Abercrombie's "Sidekicks" and Johnson's "Furs on Ice," have initially engaging melodies and rhythmic interest, but their promise is not realized. These two tracks would make excellent instrumental beds for a pair of latter day Steely Dan songs, but they do not sustain interest on their own. Musicians of the caliber of Abercrombie, Johnson, Erskine, and Brecker cannot fail to generate interest when they get together. This time out, though, their efforts would have been better presented as a master class workshop. The broader fan base, however, can take a pass. by Jim Todd  
Tracklist :
1     Sidekicks 5:17
John Abercrombie
2     Upon a Time 4:28
John Abercrombie
3     Getting There 7:35
John Abercrombie
4     Remember Hymn 5:17
John Abercrombie
5     Thalia 4:19
Vince Mendoza
6     Furs on Ice 8:09
Marc Johnson
7     Chance 4:56
John Abercrombie
8     Labour Day 3:47
John Abercrombie
Credits :
Bass – Marc Johnson
Drums – Peter Erskine
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Guitar Synthesizer – John Abercrombie
Tenor Saxophone, Guest – Michael Brecker

JOHN ABERCROMBIE - Cat 'n' Mouse (2000) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Aided by an all-star band, John Abercombie makes it clear on CAT 'N' MOUSE exactly why he continues to be regarded as one of jazz's most creative and progressive guitarists. He's possessed not only of fearsome chops, but a finely honed textural sensibility that enables him to move from the slinky lines and feathery tones of the opening cut "A Nice Idea" to the forward-looking experimentalism of "Convolution" and post-bop firestorm of "Stop and Go" without missing a beat. Yoemanlike work is done as well by violinist Mark Feldman, whose purity of tone is matched only by his ceaseless originality and succinct phrasing. On the album's numerous contemplative tunes, it's a pleasure to hear Abercombie and Feldman's lines cris-crossing, creating spontaneous tone poems that bear beauty and invention in equal measure. AllMusic
Tracklist :
1     A Nice Idea 10:55
John Abercrombie
2     Convolution 5:31
John Abercrombie
3     String Thing 3:59
John Abercrombie
4     Soundtrack 8:04
John Abercrombie
5     Third Stream Samba 8:41
John Abercrombie / Joey Baron / Mark Feldman / Marc Johnson
6     On the Loose 5:59
John Abercrombie
7     Stop and Go 6:59
John Abercrombie
8     Show of Hands 9:18
John Abercrombie / Joey Baron / Mark Feldman / Marc Johnson
Credits :
Double Bass – Marc Johnson
Drums – Joey Baron
Guitar – John Abercrombie
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Violin – Mark Feldman

JOHN ABERCROMBIE - Class Trip (2003) APE (image+.cue), lossless

The John Abercrombie Quartet's Cat 'n' Mouse, issued in 2002, showcased a band that was on the verge of something that approached greatness. Abercrombie, violinist Mark Feldman, drummer Joey Baron, and bassist Marc Johnson gelled together inside the framework of the guitarist's increasingly open-ended compositions and became a unit that could articulate the most subtle of sonorities and intricate harmonic architectures. But they also revealed that they were entering the zone where they could actually stretch time and space. On Class Trip, the bandmembers come together fully and build on that concept with such beauty and grace that they sound as if they've been playing together all their lives. The sheer subtle intuition that guides these proceedings is breathtaking, whether they are weaving through one another on "Cat Walk," which is alternately full of shimmering yet knotty harmonics with Abercrombie's chord voicings offering a dimensional extension of Feldman's lines in counterpoint, finding a common singing voice where time signatures seemingly disappear, as on "Risky Business," or messing about with Bartók's "Soldier's Song" and turning its melodic line back on itself in an inverse scalar schemata. This band is concerned only with the articulation and expression of a musicality that lies not in the obviousness of its contributors' considerable musical gifts as jazz improvisers, but in the sheer nuanced elegance of an ensemble whose blurring of traditions under the rubric of improvisation makes the group not only compelling but brilliant. Abercrombie's compositions for this band are the most adventurous and graceful of his long career; as a unit, the quartet is a band without peers that plays a music whose challenge is only eclipsed by its accessibility and singular language. by Thom Jurek
Tracklist :
1     Dansir 9:32
John Abercrombie
2     Risky Business 7:40
John Abercrombie
3     Descending Grace 8:56
John Abercrombie
4     Illinoise 5:36
John Abercrombie / Joey Baron / Mark Feldman / Marc Johnson
5     Cat Walk 7:56
John Abercrombie
6     Excuse My Shoes 8:29
John Abercrombie
7     Swirls 6:07
John Abercrombie
8     Jack and Betty 3:41
John Abercrombie
9     Class Trip 7:29
John Abercrombie
10     Bartók: Soldier's Song 3:03
Béla Bartók
11     Epilogue 3:04
John Abercrombie / Joey Baron / Mark Feldman / Marc Johnson
Credits :
Double Bass – Marc Johnson
Drums – Joey Baron
Guitar – John Abercrombie
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Violin – Mark Feldman

JOHN ABERCROMBIE - The Third Quartet (2006) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Third Quartet is the third album by this rather astonishing group of musicians under guitarist and composer John Abercrombie's leadership. His collaborators: drummer Joey Baron, violinist Mark Feldman, and bassist Marc Johnson are all accomplished leaders in their own rights, but as they team with Abercrombie, something unusual, unwieldy, and utterly transformative takes place. Feldman is such a worthy foil for the guitarist. The call is the response in tunes like "Banshee" and "Wishing Bell," the counterpoint in "Tres," and the gorgeously simple harmonic extrapolations in "Number Nine," with its spacious and slippery melody, accent each man's greatest strength. For Feldman it's in the ear. He doesn't simply follow Abercrombie, he underscores him, he journeys from him and illumines his violin's particularly colorful tonalities in contrast to Abercrombie's warm and buttery tone. The ensemble symbiosis is at its height on tunes like Ornette Coleman's "Round Trip," which is begun by Baron and followed by Johnson, followed by Abercrombie and then Feldman. That said, the ensemble interplay near the end of tune, stretching Coleman's lyric line to the breaking point, is almost breathtaking. The other cover here, following immediately after, is Bill Evans' "Epilogue." Here, the sheer tenderness and emotion of Evans' composition are evident from the moment Abercrombie and Feldman begin playing together. Feldman's nearly modal approach to the actual head is startling at first, but the pacing, and Abercrombie's trademark sparse phrasing, are where the genius that is Evans' displays itself. Abercrombie and Feldman re-read the tune through its mode, and Johnson's skeletal playing of the changes keeps its from being entirely spectral. Baron's cymbal washes here are especially poignant. It feels more like an elegy, but there is no doubt that is its intention. This is a most welcome and beautiful addition to this particular group's musical language as well as their catalog. by Thom Jurek  
Tracklist :
1    Banshee    5:49
John Abercrombie
2    Number 9    5:26
John Abercrombie
3    Vingt Six    4:20
John Abercrombie
4    Wishing Bell    8:17
John Abercrombie
5    Bred    7:05
John Abercrombie
6    Tres    6:11
John Abercrombie
7    Round Trip    4:59
Ornette Coleman
8    Epilogue    5:14
Bill Evans
9    Elvin    8:23
John Abercrombie
10    Fine    3:23
John Abercrombie
Credits :
Double Bass – Marc Johnson
Drums – Joey Baron
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – John Abercrombie
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Violin – Mark Feldman

NGUYÊN LÊ - Miracles (1996) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Miracles 8:04
Composed By – Nguyên Lê
2    ? 7:24
Composed By – Nguyên Lê
3    Willow 3:42
Composed By – Dominique Borker
4    The Odd Game 3:01
Composed By – Nguyên Lê, Peter Erskine
5    Saari 6:47
Composed By – Dominique Borker
6    20 Fingers 5:37
Composed By – Nguyên Lê
7    Cerf Volant 1:40
Composed By – Nguyên Lê
8    Miss One 7:28
Composed By – Dominique Borker
9    Pacha 6:25
Composed By – Nguyên Lê
10    Haïku 2:31
Composed By – Nguyên Lê
11    Eyeland 4:13
Composed By – Nguyên Lê
Credits:
Acoustic Bass – Marc Johnson
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Zither [Đàn Tranh], Programmed By, Synthesizer, Mixed By, Illustration – Nguyên Lê
Drums, Percussion – Peter Erskine
Piano – Art Lande

JOHN ABERCROMBIE / MARC JOHNSON / PETER ERSKINE (1989) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

An excellent trio outing with Abercrombie, inventive bassist Marc Johnson, and careening drummer Peter Erskine. The trio sometimes unite for piercing interpretations as on "Stella By Starlight," and other times collide and interact on furious rhythm dialogues and extended improvisations. by Ron Wynn
Tracklist:
1 Furs On Ice 7:28
Marc Johnson
2 Stella By Starlight 7:34
Ned Washington / Victor Young
3 Alice In Wonderland 7:22
Sammy Fain / Bob Hilliard
4 Beautiful Love 7:52
Haven Gillespie / Wayne King / Egbert VanAlstyne / Victor Young
5 Innerplay
John Abercrombie / Peter Erskine / Marc Johnson
6 Light Beam 3:08
John Abercrombie
7 Drum Solo 3:00
Peter Erskine
8 Four On One 6:03
John Abercrombie
9 Samurai Hee-Haw 8:22
Marc Johnson
10 Haunted Heart 5:27
Howard Dietz / Arthur Schwartz
Credits:
Bass – Marc Johnson
Drums – Peter Erskine
Guitar, Guitar Synthesizer – John Abercrombie

JOHN ABERCROMBIE - November (1993) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This 1993 recording of John Abercrombie's trio with a guest appearance by British saxophone giant and composer John Surman is, without question, a trademark ECM session. There's the spacious, pristine, icy production by label boss Manfred Eicher from his studio in Oslo. Next, all the players are ECM staples with the exception of Erskine, who plays everything from pop jazz to classical music. But there are many things that distinguish it as well. For one, Surman is playing here with a fire not heard since the early '70s. Whether he is blowing a baritone or soprano saxophone or his bass clarinet, he's cutting loose. There are long, looping lines that quote everyone from John Carter to Jim Pepper to Eric Dolphy and Ben Webster. His willingness to seek out the heart of dissonance inspires his bandmates, particularly on "The Cat's Back." From a nuanced, eerie wail to a Native American folk melody to smoky phraseology taken from "Chelsea Bridge," Surman pulls out all the stops and then puts them back in to make the tune whisper. Abercrombie doesn't exactly take a back seat on this date, but he does showcase his expansive knowledge of Tal Farlow's harmonic palette by playing extended chords either inside the melody or as a dissonant counterpoint to Surman. Other standouts include the title track with its strange, even alien, crosstalk between Johnson's bowed bass and Abercormbie's short, knotted leads. On Surman's ballad "Ogeda," too, Abercrombie investigates the manner in which the jazz tradition celebrates dissonant harmonies while using a kind of lyrical improvisation to keep the tune gently swinging. It's a solid session from beginning to end, but one still wishes Eicher would take his hands off the sound controls a bit, allowing some of the rawness that each of these players shows in live settings to enter the studio.

Tracklist:

1. The Cat's Back - 6:24

2. J.S. - 6:14

3. Right Brain Patrol (Johnson) - 9:00

4. Prelude - 3:27

5. November (Abercrombie, Erskine, Johnson) - 8:26

6. Rise and Fall (Erskine) - 5:22

7. John's Waltz - 5:40

8. Ogeda (Surman) - 4:40

9. Tuesday Afternoon (Erskine, Johnson) - 2:55

10. To Be - 5:24

11. Come Rain or Come Shine - 6:04

(Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer)

12. Big Music - 5:41

All compositions by John Abercrombie except as indicated.

Credits :

John Abercrombie — guitar

John Surman — baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet

Marc Johnson — bass

Peter Erskine — drums.

 

JOHN ABERCROMBIE - Current Events (1985) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Excellent trio date featuring Abercrombie playing with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Peter Erskine. The three take chances, converge, collide, alternate time in the spotlight, and make emphatic, unpredictable music while never staying locked into one groove or style. by Ron Wynn
Tracklist 
1 Clint 6:06
Composed By – John Abercrombie, Marc Johnson, Peter Erskine
2 Alice In Wonderland 8:38
Composed By – Bob Hillard, Sammy Fain
3 Ralph's Piano Waltz 6:11
Composed By – John Abercrombie
4 Lisa 2:23
Composed By – John Abercrombie
5 Hippityville 8:20
Composed By – John Abercrombie
6 Killing Time 7:52
Composed By – John Abercrombie
7 Still 8:56
Composed By – John Abercrombie
Credits
Bass – Marc Johnson
Drums – Peter Erskine
Guitar, Guitar Synthesizer – John Abercrombie

LYLE MAYS - Street Dreams (1988) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Lyle Mays' second solo album ventures even further afield than his acclaimed first record, into areas not associated with Mays nor his employer Pat Metheny. This time, the personnel list is far more varied, with several guest luminaries from the world of jazz-rock, as well as a big band and full chamber orchestra on some selections. Again, the main thrust of the album is bound up in a lengthy suite with new age atmospheric elements, juxtaposing fleet Brazilian grooves with a chamber orchestra, voluble Mays piano solos, and electronic interpolations by Mays and Frisell reminiscent of early classical electronic music. The solo "Chorinho" is a running classical exercise on electric keyboards, almost a contemporary Bachianas Brasileiras (to borrow Villa-Lobos' term) and a considerable feat of invention. The biggest surprise of all may well be "Possible Straight," a brief, straight-ahead piece of big band hard bop, and "Before You Can Go" seems to be the token emulation of the Metheny groove. There's a lot of inventive, mostly easygoing music here, though if one must choose, the level is not as consistently high as on Mays' first album. by Richard S. Ginell