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. - Ron Wynn
Recorded live at Boston’s Nightstage club in 1988 this album found John Abercrombie both pushing sonic boundaries on guitar synthesizer and, on regular jazz guitar, deepening his relationship to the world of standards. In this trio he had exceptional improvisational support from bass and drums. Marc Johnson has said this band was the first that felt “like home” to him after the final Bill Evans Trio. And Peter Erskine was rechannelling Weather Report ideas about soloing inside the structures in this more intimate context.
Tracks
01. Furs On Ice (Marc Johnson)
02. Stella By Starlight (Ned Washington/Victor Young)
03. Alice In Wonderland (Sammy Fain/Bob Hilliard)
04. Beautiful Love (H.Gillespie/W. King/E. Van Alstyne/V. Young)
05. Innerplay (Abercrombie/Erskine/Johnson)
06. Light Beam (John Abercrombie)
07. Drum Solo (Peter Erskine)
08. Four On One (John Abercrombie)
09. Samurai Hee-Haw (Marc Johnson)
10. Haunted Heart (H. Dietz/A. Schwartz)
JOHN ABERCROMBIE guitar, guitar synthesizer
MARC JOHNSON doubla bass
PETER ERSKINE drums
Recorded April 21, 1988 at Nightstage, Boston, Massachusetts
ECM Records - ECM 1390