From Jazz & Back :: A Retrospective on the late John Abercrombie
From New York he came, in New York he shall always remain — John Abercrombie was an outstandingly prolific machine of enhanced components that fearlessly provoked the sleeping thoughts and non-preventable collisions with abstract matter like no other. A warrior of fierce technicality and timeless dexterity, the musician’s career spans over half a century both behind the guitar as well as beyond. Born in Port Chester, NY during the hight of the second war, the highly motivated future musician was particularly fascinated by the pioneers of American rock n’ roll such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Fats Dominos. Quickly picking up the guitar at the age of ten, Abercrombie began taking lessons and would eventually enroll at Berklee College of Music in Boston directly after high-school to further extend his reach towards jazz Nirvana. Focused and militantly inspired, the musician adapted to his environment by participating in friendly jam sessions with former students at Paul’s Mall, a jazz club located in Boston, before being invited to go on tour for the very first time with the Brecker Brothers. It’s fascinating because around this time Abercrombie had the ‘opportunity’ to experience the world of rock n’ roll while participating in Monty Stark’s outfit, Stark Reality and it simply didn’t do it for the young musician at the time. He went on record stating, "One night we appeared at the Spectrum in Philadelphia and I thought, 'What am I doing here? It just didn't compute”. Called by something more romantic and mysterious, Abercrombie eventually entered a realm of human expression where he could sit side by side in both ceremony and Jedi like contentment with his heroes such as Barney Kessel, Dave Brubeck and of course, Miles Davis.
A master of his craft who was ultimately dedicated to expressing through a medium that may have been challenged, depending on who you ask, by the great boom in ‘arena rock’ at the time, Abercrombie pushed the seamless boundaries of what it meant to be a jazz musician during a decade where the guitar solo reigned king. Pinching radical particles through a loose of vacuum of creative contingency, it wasn’t until Abercrombie met future collaborator and longtime friend Jack DeJohnette who would help bridge the spacious gap between the aspiring musician’s love and fascination with jazz to what could truly be accomplished. Abercrombie quickly dialed into his uncharted vision and would go on to write and record his sophisticated debut entitled “Timeless” in 1975. A ritualistic meditation that explores the dense jungles of the human conscience, “Timeless” is simply that. A twilight collaboration between a trio of musicians that effortless transcends into this seizure provoking competition where the winner is no one and the prize is calculated enlightenment served on ancient Tupperware. “Timeless” encapsulates the origin story of what would become a devastatingly original career in music to say the very least and with various releases such as “Sargasso Sea”, “Arcade”, “Abercrombie Quartet” and countless other albums to come, its without a doubt that the mere presence of John Abercrombie in the world of jazz is nothing short of a cosmic miracle in the data log of mere mortal chaos.
— "I'd like people to perceive me as having a direct connection to the history of jazz guitar, while expanding some musical boundaries."
