John Laird Abercrombie (December 16, 1944 – August 22, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist. His work explored jazz fusion, free jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Abercrombie studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. He was known for his understated style and his work with organ trios.

Career

Early life and education

John Abercrombie was born on December 16, 1944, in

Port Chester Port Chester is a village in the U.S. state of New York and the largest part of the town of Rye in Westchester County by population. At the 2010 U.S. census, the village of Port Chester had a population of 28,967 and was the fifth-most populou ...

, New York. Growing up in the 1950s in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, Connecticut he was attracted to the rock and roll of

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Fats Domino Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New O ...

, and Bill Haley and the Comets. He also liked the sound of jazz guitarist Mickey Baker of the vocal duo Mickey and Silvia. He had two friends who were musicians with a large jazz collection. They played him albums by Dave Brubeck and

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

. The first jazz guitar album he heard was by Barney Kessel. He took guitar lessons at the age of ten, asking his teacher to show him what Barney Kessel was playing. After high school, he attended Berklee College of Music. At Berklee, he was drawn to the music of Jim Hall, the 1962 album '' The Bridge'' by Sonny Rollins, and Wes Montgomery on his albums ''

The Wes Montgomery Trio ''The Wes Montgomery Trio'' (a.k.a. ''A Dynamic New Sound'') is an album by the American jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, released in 1959. The track "Missile Blues" is named after the club in Indianapolis where Montgomery played before moving to Ne ...

'' (1959) and ''

Boss Guitar ''Boss Guitar'' is an album by American jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, released in 1963 by Riverside. It was reissued on the Original Jazz Classics label with alternate takes. All the tracks are available on '' Wes Montgomery: The Complete River ...

'' (1963). He cites

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...

and Pat Martino as inspirations. He often played with other students at Paul's Mall, a jazz club in Boston connected to a larger club, Jazz Workshop. Appearing at Paul's Mall led to meetings with

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on No ...

, and organist Johnny Hammond Smith, who invited him to go on tour.

Stark Reality, Dreams, and Gateway

Abercrombie graduated from Berklee in 1967 and attended North Texas State University before moving to New York City in 1969. Before becoming a popular session musician, he joined Monty Stark's band, Stark Reality, in 1969 and recorded several sides including Stark Reality Discovers Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop. Abercrombie went on to record with Gato Barbieri in 1971,

Barry Miles Barry Miles (born 21 February 1943) is an English author known for his participation in and writing on the subjects of the 1960s London underground and counterculture. He is the author of numerous books and his work has also regularly appeare ...

in 1972, and

Gil Evans Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans (né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian–American jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators in jazz, playing an important role i ...

in 1974. In 1969 he joined the Brecker Brothers in the jazz-rock fusion band

Dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

. He continued to play fusion in

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was inducted into the ''Mode ...

's band, but found that he disliked its focus on rock over jazz. Nonetheless his reputation grew with the popularity of both Cobham and Dreams. The band shared billing with such acts as the

Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

, but Abercrombie found his career taking an unwanted direction. "One night we appeared at the Spectrum in Philadelphia and I thought, 'What am I doing here?' It just didn't compute." An invitation from drummer Jack DeJohnette led to the fulfillment of Abercrombie's desire to play in a jazz-oriented ensemble. Around the same time, record producer

Manfred Eicher Manfred Eicher (born 9 July 1943) is a German record producer and the founder of ECM Records. Life and career Eicher was born in Lindau, Germany. He studied music at the Academy of Music in Berlin. He started as a double-bass player of classi ...

, founder and president of ECM Records, invited him to record an album. He recorded his first solo album, '' Timeless'', with DeJohnette and keyboardist Jan Hammer, who had been his roommate in the 1960s. In 1975 he formed the band Gateway with DeJohnette and bassist

Dave Holland David “Dave” Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years. His extensive discography r ...

, recording the albums '' Gateway'' (1976) and '' Gateway 2'' (1978). Though Abercrombie would record for other labels going forward, ECM became his mainstay, and his association with that label continued for the rest of his career.

Working as a leader

The Gateway band played songs written by all three members, in a

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians duri ...

style. Following his albums as a member of the Gateway trio, Abercrombie moved to playing in a more traditional style, recording for ECM three albums, ''

Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

'' (1979), '' Abercrombie Quartet'' (1979), and '' M'' (1981) with a quartet that included pianist

Richie Beirach Richard Alan Beirach (born 23 May 1947) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Early life Beirach was born in New York City. He initially studied both classical music and jazz. While still attending high school, he took lessons from pianist L ...

, bassist

George Mraz George Mraz (born Jiří Mráz; 9 September 1944 – 16 September 2021) was a Czech-born American jazz bassist and alto saxophonist. He was a member of Oscar Peterson's group, and worked with Pepper Adams, Stan Getz, Michel Petrucciani, Stephan ...

, and drummer Peter Donald. Abercrombie said, "it was extremely important to have that group ... it was my first opportunity to really be a leader and write consistently for the same group of musicians." During the mid-1970s and into the 1980s, he contributed to ensembles led by DeJohnette and participated in other sessions for ECM, occasionally doubling on electric mandolin. He toured with guitarist

Ralph Towner Ralph Towner (born March 1, 1940) is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and bandleader. He plays the twelve-string guitar, classical guitar, piano, synthesizer, percussion, trumpet and French horn. Biography Towner was born i ...

with whom he recorded two albums, '' Sargasso Sea'' (1976) and '' Five Years Later'' (1981). During the mid-1980s, he continued to play standards with bassist George Mraz, and he played in a bop duo with guitarist

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in th ...

. He also appeared on a number of ECM releases in various ensembles with other artists on the label. Between 1984 and 1990, Abercrombie experimented with a

guitar synthesizer A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical instrument systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities. Overview Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partnersh ...

. He first used the instrument, though not exclusively, in 1984 in a trio with Marc Johnson on bass and

Peter Erskine Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the dru ...

on drums, as well as with pianist

Paul Bley Paul Bley, CM (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016) was a jazz pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live performance on the Moog and ...

in a free jazz group. The synthesizer allowed him to play what he called "louder, more open music." Abercrombie's trio with Johnson and Erskine released three albums during this time showcasing the guitar-synth: '' Current Events'' (1986), '' Getting There'' (1988, with Michael Brecker), and a live album, '' John Abercrombie / Marc Johnson / Peter Erskine'' (1989). The 1990s and 2000s marked a time of many new associations. In 1992, Abercrombie, drummer

Adam Nussbaum Adam Nussbaum (born November 29, 1955) is an American jazz drummer. Early life Nussbaum was born in New York City on November 29, 1955. He grew up in Norwalk, Connecticut, and first played the drums at the age of four. After five years of piano ...

, and Hammond organist Jeff Palmer made a free-jazz album. He then started a trio with Nussbaum and organist Dan Wall and released '' While We're Young'' (1992), '' Speak of the Devil'' (1994), and ''

Tactics Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics ** Political tact ...

'' (1997). He added trumpeter

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he was also active i ...

, violinist Mark Feldman and saxophonist

Joe Lovano Joseph Salvatore Lovano (born December 29, 1952)"Joe Lovano." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 13. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 1994. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, May 5, 2017. is an American jazz saxophonist, alto clarin ...

to the trio to record ''

Open Land ''Open Land'' is an album by the jazz guitarist John Abercrombie, with trumpeter and flugelhornist Kenny Wheeler, saxophonist Joe Lovano, violinist Mark Feldman, organist Dan Wall, and drummer Adam Nussbaum. The album was recorded in 1998 and r ...

'' (1999). The Gateway band reunited for the albums ''

Homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...

'' (1995) and ''In the Moment'' (1996). Abercrombie continued to tour and record to the end of his life. He also continued to release albums on the ECM label, an association which lasted for more than 40 years. As he said in an interview, "I'd like people to perceive me as having a direct connection to the history of jazz guitar, while expanding some musical boundaries." In 2017, Abercrombie died of heart failure in Cortlandt Manor, New York, at the age of 72.

Discography

As leader or co-leader

* '' Timeless'' ( ECM, 1975) * '' Sargasso Sea'' (ECM, 1976) * ''

Characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

'' (ECM, 1978) * ''

'' (ECM, 1979) * '' Abercrombie Quartet'' (ECM, 1980) * '' Straight Flight'' (Jam, 1980) * '' M'' (ECM, 1981) * ''Route Two'' (Landslide, 1981) * '' Five Years Later'' (ECM, 1982) * ''The Midweek Blues'' (Plug, 1983) * ''

Night Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends ...

'' (ECM, 1984) * ''Drum Strum'' (1750 Arch, 1984) * '' Solar'' (

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

, 1984) * '' Current Events'' (ECM, 1986) * ''All Strings Attached'' (Verve, 1987) * ''

Emerald City The Emerald City (sometimes called the City of Emeralds) is the capital city of the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). Fictional description Located in the center of the L ...

'' (Pathfinder, 1987) * '' Getting There'' (ECM, 1988) * ''My Foolish Heart'' (Jazz City, 1988) * '' John Abercrombie / Marc Johnson / Peter Erskine'' (ECM, 1989) * '' Upon a Time'' (New Albion, 1989) * '' Animato'' (ECM, 1989) * ''Abracadabra'' (Soul Note, 1990) * ''Double Variations'' (Justin Time, 1990) * ''Secret Obsession'' (Nabel, 1991) * ''

Witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

'' ( Justin Time, 1991) * ''Yesterday's Tomorrow'' (European Music Productions, 1991) * ''The Toronto Concert'' (Maracatu, 1992) * ''Ease On'' ( AudioQuest Music, 1993) * ''Farewell'' (Musidisc, 1993) * '' November'' (ECM, 1993) * '' While We're Young'' (ECM, 1993) * '' Speak of the Devil'' (ECM, 1994) * ''

'' (ECM, 1997) * ''Standard Transmission'' (GOWI Records, 1997) * ''

'' (ECM, 1999) * '' The Hudson Project'' ( Stretch, 2000) * ''Burn'in The Blues'' (Consolidated Artists Productions, 2001) * ''That's for Sure'' (Challenge, 2002) * ''

Cat 'n' Mouse ''Cat 'n' Mouse'' is a studio album by guitarist John Abercrombie (guitarist), John Abercrombie with violinist Mark Feldman, bassist Marc Johnson (musician), Marc Johnson, and drummer Joey Baron. The album was released by ECM Records, ECM in 2002. ...

'' (ECM, 2002) * ''Noisy Old Men'' (Jam, 2002) * ''Three Guitars'' ( Chesky, 2003) * ''Animations'' (Underhill Jazz, 2003) * '' Class Trip'' (ECM, 2004) * ''Alone Together'' (Acoustic Music, 2004) * ''Brand New'' (Challenge, 2004) * ''Echoes'' (Alessa, 2005) * ''

Structures A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...

'' (Chesky, 2006) * '' The Third Quartet'' (ECM, 2007) * ''Topics'' (Challenge, 2007) * ''Coincidence'' (

Whaling City Sound Whaling City Sound is an independent jazz record label established by Neal Weiss in 1999. History Weiss is president of Fiber Optic Center in New Bedford, Massachusetts. A lifelong fan of jazz, he started Whaling City Sound as a jazz label, thoug ...

, 2007) * ''Tales'' (Sony BMG, 2008) * '' Wait Till You See Her'' (ECM, 2009) * ''Cradle of Light'' (EFCM, 2009) * ''Speak to Me'' (Pirouet, 2011) * '' Within a Song'' (ECM, 2012) * '' 39 Steps'' (ECM, 2013) * ''The Angle Below'' (SteepleChase, 2013) * ''Inspired'' (

ArtistShare ArtistShare is the internet's first commercial crowdfunding website.Crowd-Funding 101: What Every Musician Needs for a Successful Campaign It also operates as a record label and business model for artists which enables them to fund their projec ...

, 2016) * '' Up and Coming'' (ECM, 2017) With Gateway * '' Gateway'' (ECM, 1976) * '' Gateway 2'' (ECM, 1978) * ''

'' (ECM, 1995) * '' In the Moment'' (ECM, 1996) With Andy LaVerne * '' Natural Living'' (Musidisc, 1990) * '' Nosmo King'' (SteepleChase, 1994) * '' Now It Can Be Played'' (SteepleChase, 1995) * ''Where We Were'' (

Double-Time In popular music, half-time is a type of meter and tempo that alters the rhythmic feel by essentially ''doubling the tempo resolution'' or metric division/level in comparison to common-time. Thus, two measures of approximate a single measure o ...

, 1996) * ''A Nice Idea'' (Steeplechase, 2005) * ''Live from New York'' (Steeplechase, 2010)

As sideman

With Franco Ambrosetti *'' Light Breeze'' ( Enja, 1998) With Gato Barbieri * '' Under Fire'' (

Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Du ...

, 1971

973 Year 973 ( CMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – The Byzantine army, led by General Melias (Domestic of the S ...

* '' Bolivia'' (Flying Dutchman, 1973) With

* '' Crosswinds'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, 1974) * ''

Total Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

'' (Atlantic, 1974) * '' Shabazz'' (Atlantic, 1975) With Marc Copland * ''Second Look'' (Savoy, 1996) * ''That's For Sure'' (2001) * ''...And'' (Hatology, 2003) * ''Another Place'' (Pirouet, 2008) With Jack DeJohnette * '' Sorcery'' (

Prestige Prestige refers to a good reputation or high esteem; in earlier usage, ''prestige'' meant "showiness". (19th c.) Prestige may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Films * ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnet ...

, 1974) * '' Cosmic Chicken'' (Prestige, 1975) * ''

Untitled Untitled or (Untitled) may refer to: Artworks * '' Untitled (2004)'', by Banksy * ''Untitled'' (1982 painting), by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat * ''Untitled'' (Devil), a 1982 painting by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat * ''Untitled ...

'' (ECM, 1976) * '' Pictures'' (ECM, 1977) * '' New Rags'' (ECM, 1977) * '' New Directions'' (ECM, 1978) * '' New Directions in Europe'' (ECM, Live 1979, rel. 1980) With

* ''Transition'' ( Denon, 1987) * ''Motion Poet'' (Denon, 1988) With

Danny Gottlieb Daniel Richard Gottlieb (born April 18, 1953) is an American drummer. He was a founding member of the Pat Metheny Group and was co-founder of Elements with Mark Egan. Biography Gottlieb was born in New York City on April 18, 1953. He took less ...

* ''Aquamarine'' ( Atlantic Jazz, 1987) * ''Whirlwind'' (Atlantic, 1989) * ''Brooklyn Blues'' (Big World, 1991) With

Dave Liebman David Liebman (born September 4, 1946) is an American saxophonist, flautist and jazz educator. He is known for his innovative lines and use of atonality. He was a frequent collaborator with pianist Richie Beirach. In June 2010, he received ...

* '' Lookout Farm'' (ECM, 1973) * '' Drum Ode'' (ECM, 1974) * '' Sweet Hands'' ( Horizon, 1975) With

Rudy Linka Rudy Linka (born 29 May 1960) is a jazz guitarist from the Czech Republic. From 1975–1979, he studied classical guitar as a teenager at the Prague Conservatory and learned jazz through his mentor, Karel Velebný. After travelling to Germany ...

* ''Rudy Linka Quartet'' (Arta, 1991) * ''Mostly Standards'' (Arta, 1993) * ''Lucky Southern'' (Quinton, 2006) * ''Every Moment'' (Acoustic Music, 2011) With Charles Lloyd * '' Voice in the Night'' (ECM, 1999) * '' The Water Is Wide'' (ECM, 2000) * '' Hyperion with Higgins'' (ECM, 2001) * '' Lift Every Voice'' (ECM, 2002) With

* ''White Heat'' ( Mainstream, 1971) * ''Scatbird'' (Mainstream, 1972) With

Terry Plumeri Jon Terryl "Terry" Plumeri (November 28, 1944 – March 31, 2016) was an American musician, classical composer, orchestra conductor, double bassist, lecturer, teacher, producer, and film score composer. Early life Plumeri was born in Greensbo ...

* ''He Who Lives In Many Places'' (Airborne, 1971) * ''Ongoing'' (Airborne, 1978) With

Enrico Rava Enrico Rava (born 20 August 1939), is an Italian jazz trumpeter. He started on trombone, then changed to the trumpet after hearing Miles Davis. Career He was born in Trieste, Italy. His first commercial work was as a member of Gato Barbieri' ...

* ''Katcharpari'' ( MPS/

BASF BASF SE () is a German multinational chemical company and the largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters is located in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The BASF Group comprises subsidiaries and joint ventures in more than 80 countries ...

, 1973) * '' The Pilgrim and the Stars'' (ECM, 1975) * ''Pupa o Crisalide'' (

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

, 1975) * ''"Quotation Marks"'' ( Japo, 1976) * '' The Plot'' (ECM, 1977) With

Johnny "Hammond" Smith John Robert "Johnny Hammond" Smith (December 16, 1933 – June 4, 1997) was an American soul jazz and hard bop organist. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he was a renowned player of the Hammond B-3 organ so earning "Hammond" as a nickname, wh ...

* ''

Nasty! ''Nasty!'' is an album by jazz organist Johnny "Hammond" Smith recorded for the Prestige Records, Prestige label in 1968.

'' (

, 1968) * ''Forever Taurus'' ( Milestone, 1976) * ''Storm Warning'' (Milestone, 1977) With Lonnie Smith * ''Afro Blue'' (1993) * ''Purple Haze: Tribute to Jimi Hendrix'' (1995) * ''Foxy Lady: Tribute to Jimi Hendrix'' (1996) With Collin Walcott * '' Cloud Dance'' (ECM, 1975) * '' Grazing Dreams'' (ECM, 1977) With

* '' Deer Wan'' (ECM, 1977) * '' Music for Large & Small Ensembles'' (ECM, 1990) * '' The Widow in the Window'' (ECM, 1990) * ''It Takes Two!'' (2006) With others * Horacee Arnold – ''Tales of the Exonerated Flea'' (Columbia, 1974) *

Jerry Bergonzi Jerry Bergonzi (born October 21, 1947) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and educator. Early life and education Bergonzi received a B.A. in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 1971 and is the founde ...

– ''Tenorist'' ( Savant, 2007) *

– '' Live at Sweet Basil'' (Soul Note, 1988) *

Bob Brookmeyer Robert Edward "Bob" Brookmeyer (December 19, 1929 – December 15, 2011) was an American jazz valve trombonist, pianist, arranger, and composer. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public attention as a member of G ...

and the WDR Big Band – ''Electricity'' (1994) *

Royce Campbell Royce Campbell (born June 7, 1952) is a jazz guitarist from Indiana who was a member of the Henry Mancini orchestra for twenty years. Musical career He was born in North Vernon, Indiana. When he was five, his mother married a career Navy man, ...

– ''Six by Six: A Jazz Guitar Celebration'' (rec. 1994, rel. 2004) *

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first ja ...

& Bill Shields – ''Shieldstone'' (Optimism, 1987) *

– ''Dreams'' (Columbia, 1970) *

Urszula Dudziak Urszula Bogumiła Dudziak-Urbaniak (born 22 October 1943) is a Polish jazz vocalist. She has worked with Krzysztof Komeda, Michał Urbaniak (her ex-husband), Gil Evans, Archie Shepp, and Lester Bowie. In 2007, her 1970s song "Papaya" gained wid ...

– ''Future Talk'' (

Inner City The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

, 1979) * Mark Egan - ''As We Speak'' (Wavetone, 2006) *

– '' The Gil Evans Orchestra Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix'' (

, 1974) * Jan Garbarek – '' Eventyr'' (ECM, 1981) * Jim Hall – ''Jim Hall And Friends Live At Town Hall Vol.2'' (Musicmasters, 1991) * Tom Harrell – ''Sail Away'' (

Contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

, 1989) *

Clint Houston Clinton Joseph Houston (June 24, 1946 – June 7, 2000) was an American jazz double-bassist. Houston played with George Cables and Lenny White in the house band at Slug's, a club in New York City, then played with Nina Simone (1969), Roy Hayne ...

– ''Watership Down'' (Trio, 1978) * Bobby Hutcherson – '' Un Poco Loco'' (Columbia, 1980) * Jeff Johnston – ''Nuage'' (Justin Time, 2001) * Lee Konitz – '' Sound of Surprise'' ( RCA Victor, 1999) * Andy LaVerne – '' Liquid Silver'' ( DMP, 1984) * Andy LaVerne – '' Plays the Music of Chick Corea'' (Jazzline 2008) *

– ''

Landmarks A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...

'' (Blue Note, 1991) * Bob Mintzer – ''Hymn'' (Owl, 1990) * Czesław Niemen – '' Mourner's Rhapsody'' (1974) * Mike Nock – ''Climbing'' (

Tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

, 1979) *

Makoto Ozone is a Japanese jazz pianist. Career He was born in Kobe, Japan. He began playing organ at two and by seven was an improviser. He appeared on Japanese television with his father from 1968 to 1970. At twelve he switched to piano after being impre ...

– ''Now You Know'' (Columbia, 1987) * Jeff Palmer – ''Laser Wizzard'' (Statiras, 1987) * Michel Petrucciani – '' Michel plays Petrucciani'' (

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

, 1988) * Barre Phillips – '' Mountainscapes'' (ECM, 1976) * Stark Reality – ''The Stark Reality Discovers Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop'' (1970) * John Surman – '' Brewster's Rooster'' (ECM, 2009) *

Harvie Swartz Harvie S (born Harvie Swartz; December 6, 1948) is an American jazz double-bassist. He learned piano as a child and did not begin playing bass until 1967, when he was nineteen years old.Scott Yanow, Harvie Swartzat Allmusic He attended Berklee ...

– ''Arrival'' (RCA 1992) * Joseph Tawadros – ''The Hour of Separation'' (2010) *

Henri Texier Henri Texier (born 27 January 1945) is a French jazz double bassist. At the age of sixteen, fascinated by the double bass, Texier became a self-taught bassist, crediting Wilbur Ware most as an influence. He formed his first group with Georges ...

– ''Colonel Skopje'' (Label Bleu, 1988) * The Don Thompson Quartet – ''A Beautiful Friendship'' ( Concord Jazz, 1984) *

McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet (from 1960 to 1965) and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Master and five-time Gram ...

– '' Quartets 4 X 4'' (Milestone, 1980) * Michał Urbaniak – ''Fusion III'' ( Columbia, 1975) * Jim Vivian - ''Sometime Ago'' (Cornerstone, 2018) *

Jack Walrath Jack Arthur Walrath (born May 5, 1946) is an American post-bop jazz trumpeter and musical arranger known for his work with Ray Charles, Gary Peacock, Charles Mingus, and Glenn Ferris, among others. Biography Walrath was born in Stuart, Florida. ...

– '' Neohippus'' (Blue Note, 1989) *

Denny Zeitlin Denny Zeitlin (born April 10, 1938) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and clinical professor of psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco. Since 1963, he has recorded more than 100 compositions and was a first-place winner in the ...

– ''Tidal Wave'' (Palo Alto, 1984)

References

External links

John Abercrombie
on ECM Records
Notes on the Road interview with John Abercrombie

at TimBerens.com * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070216233845/http://www.furious.com/Perfect/johnabercrombie.html John Abercrombie interview by Mark S. Tucker (June 2005)at '' Perfect Sound Forever'', www.furious.com
John Abercrombie - ''The Third Quartet'' (2007) album review by Brad Walseth
at JazzChicago.net
John Abercrombie biography by Chris Kelsey, discography and album reviews, credits & releases
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

John Abercrombie discography, album releases & credits
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

John Abercrombie biography, discography, album credits & user reviews
at ProgArchives.com
John Abercrombie albums to be listened
as stream on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abercrombie, John 1944 births 2017 deaths Jazz musicians from New York (state) People from Port Chester, New York 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American jazz guitarists American male guitarists Berklee College of Music alumni University of North Texas College of Music alumni Jazz fusion guitarists Alessa Records artists Chesky Records artists ECM Records artists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Dreams (band) members Gateway (band) members Double-Time Records artists Pirouet Records artists