Guitarist John Abercrombie and pianist Marc
Copland are old allies, with an association stretching back forty years when both
were members of Chico Hamilton’s quartet. At the dawn of fusion, both played
with the pioneering jazz-rock band Dreams. Since the late ‘90s, they’ve revived
their partnership in diverse contexts and have toured in formations ranging from
piano-guitar duo to a trio with Kenny Wheeler to the cooperative group Contact
with Dave Liebman and Billy Hart. Abercrombie hasn’t featured a piano in his
ECM recording groups since his late ‘70s-early ‘80s quartet with Richie
Beirach. His new CD, “39 Steps,” is a quartet recording including Copland, Drew
Gress on bass and Joey Baron on drums.
Pianist and
composer James Weidman celebrated his 60th birthday with the release
of “Truth and Actuality,” a disc credited to the Aperturistic Trio. While this is his first trio release since 1997,
he never left the format entirely as each of his previous recordings featured
some tunes in that setting. He attributes his passion for the trio to his years
spent accompanying vocalists, something his band mates share, as bassist Harvie
S is well known for his partnership with Sheila Jordan and drummer Steve
Williams was at the core of Shirley Horn’s trio for decades. “Through working
with vocalists,” Weidman observes, “we all have a passion for the lyrical side
of this music.”
Also this
week, the duo of Scott Amendola and
Charlie Hunter follow up their duo release from earlier in the year with “Pucker,”
this time focusing on Amendola’s compositions; Brooklyn-based drummer and composer
Scott Neuman debuts his Neu3 Trio
with saxophonist Michael Blake and bassist Mark Helias on “Blessed”; and the Jitterbug Vipers, who specialize in a
beloved jazz offshoot called ‘viper jazz’ which evokes the rollicking spirit of
the Swing Era’s halcyon days, unveil “Phoebe’s Dream.”
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