I am heartbroken. One of my absolute heroes, John Abercrombie, is gone.
John will be remembered as one of the true greats of jazz guitar, with a rare ability to sound like nobody else while, at the same time, never relying on specific signatures. The great Richie Beirach described him to me as "a motivic improviser," and his ability to get to the heart of any song and be instantly recognizable made his contribution to music a legacy that will last long, long into the future.
Here is ECM's announcement:
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of the great guitarist John Abercrombie.
John Abercrombie, one of the great improvisers, died on August 22, after a long illness. He will be much missed, for his sensitive musicality,
his good companionship, and his dry humor which enhanced many a session. He leaves behind an extensive discography which will be studied
as long as people continue to play jazz guitar.
John made his first recording for ECM, the appropriately-titled “Timeless”, in the summer of 1974, with his lifelong friend Jack DeJohnette on the drums,
and Jan Hammer on organ. Over the next four decades, he was active as leader, co-leader and sideman on dozens of ECM projects. A creative writer of
jazz tunes, John also loved to play freely as much as he loved to play standards. Many of his albums combine all of these resources, unified by his fluid,
silvery tone and improvisational eloquence. In conversation he would speak of his enduring fondness for Jim Hall and Wes Montgomery, primary influences,
and also of the liberating examples of Ornette Coleman and Jimi Hendrix; Bill Evans’s sense of lyricism was also of crucial importance to him.
John Abercrombie led a number of very fine bands, and he was particularly proud of his last quartet with Marc Copland on piano, Drew Gress on double bass,
and Joey Baron on drums. This quartet released two albums, “39 Steps” and “Up and Coming”, the latter just released in January 2017.
Highlights in his recording career were many and include the Gateway trio albums with Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, the duo albums with Ralph Towner, the
Special Editions albums (with DeJohnette, Lester Bowie and Eddie Gomez), Jan Garbarek’s “Eventyr”, Charles Lloyd’s “The Water Is Wide”, Collin Walcott’s “Grazing Dreams”
(where John and Don Cherry play together), Enrico Rava’s “The Pilgrim and the Stars”, Kenny Wheeler’s “Deer Wan” … the list goes on.
John died peacefully at Hudson Valley Hospital outside of Peekskill, NY, in the presence of his family.
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I'm so fortunate to have met John on many occasions, heard him play on far more....and contribute liner notes to his wonderful First Quartet box on ECM, which, indeed, featured his very first touring band with Beirach, George Mraz & Peter Donald, a group which also released the three seminal albums collected in that box: Arcade (1979), Abercrombie Quartet (1980) and M (1981). He also collaborated in a duo with the great Ralph Towner; two inimitable trios - one with the simpatico Marc Johnson & Peter Erskine; the other, a deep organ trio with Dan Wall (later Gary Versace) & Adam Nussbaum - a longstanding "string quartet" with Mark Feldman, Drew Gress (later, Thomas Morgan) Joey Baron; and his recent sublime and, again, decades-old quartet with the perfectly matched Marc Copland, Drew Gress and initially Billy Hart (that lineup under Marc's name) but with, for his last two albums (under John's name), Joey Baron.
He played with so many others, amongst them Enrico Rava, Kenny Wheeler, Dave Liebman, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Joe Lovano, Larry Coryell, Andy Laverne, John Scofield, John Surman Gato Barbieri, Jan Garbarek, Billy Cobham, Bobby Hutchinson, Mike Nock, Charles Lloyd and Collin Walcott, amongst so many others....not to mention the great Gateway Trio, with Dave Holland & Jack DeJohnette (the latter also collaborating on John's first, classic ECM trio date, also with the great Jan Hammer, 1975's Timeless).
John also released what remains, for me, one of the best solo guitar albums ever recorded, 1977's Characters.
The best thing I can offer, beyond my deepest condolences to family, friends and musical collaborators, is my own writing about John, dating right back to Timeless through to his final ECM release, Up and Coming:
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article_center.php…
RIP, John. Gone, but never, ever to be forgotten….
John Kelman
Tracks
01. Sad Song (John Abercrombie)
02. Line-Up (John Abercrombie)
03. Wait Till You See Her (Richard Rogers/Lorenz Hart)
04. Trio (John Abercrombie)
05. I’ve Overlooked Before (John Abercrombie)
06. Anniversary Waltz (John Abercrombie)
07. Out Of Towner (John Abercrombie)
08. Chic Of Araby (John Abercrombie)
JOHN ABERCROMBIE guitar
JOEY BARON drums
THOMAS MORGAN double-bass
MARK FELDMAN violin
Recorded December 2008 at Avatar Studios, New York
ECM 2102 ECM Records - 179 8630