John Abercrombie - The First Quartet

John Abercrombie: guitars, mandolin; Richie Beirach: piano George Mraz: double bass; Peter Donald: drums

Disc 1 1.Arcade 2.Nightlake 3.Paramour 4.Neptune 5.Alchemy Disc 2 1.Blue Wolf 2.Rain 3.Stray 4.Madagascar 5.Riddles 6.Foolish Dog Disc 3 1.Boat Song 2.M 3.What Are the Rules 4.Flashback 5.To Be 6.Veils 7.Pebbles

This 3-CD set with recordings from 1978 to 1980, issued in ECM s acclaimed Old & New Masters series, returns some historically-important material to the catalog, namely the albums Arcade, Abercrombie Quartet and M. The quartet with Richie Beirach, George Mraz and Peter Donald John Abercrombie s first touring band as a leader was the group in which the guitarist defined some priorities, moving away from a jazz-rock period into a more spacious, impressionistic and original music. Abercrombie and pianist Beirach had a strong musical rapport as improvisers and wrote almost all of the band s book between them. George Mraz and Peter Donald provided imaginative support. For this edition the recordings - made in Oslo and Ludwigsburg and produced by Manfred Eicher were remastered from original analog sources.

Price: $29.98