002. John Abercrombie - Timeless (recorded 06/74)
A seminal early work of jazz-rock
Okay, so after my initial post I actually did the math and there are 643 jazz artists with at least one four-star review in the Penguin Guide. If I’m disciplined at posting once a week, that’s 643 divided by 52 weeks, which equals 12.37. So that means I’ll be doing this for almost twelve and a half years. Not sure what I’ve gotten myself into, but thanks in advance for being along for the ride with me. My naive and ambitious intention is for each post to be an illuminating exploration into an artist, label, style or era of music that you might not have otherwise known, cared about or enjoyed.
This week, the focus is on the guitarist John Abercrombie and his debut album, Timeless, recorded in 1974 and released on the famous German label ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music)1 with Abercrombie; Jan Hammer (piano, keyboard); Jack DeJohnette (drums).
Founded by producer Manfred Eicher in 1969 in Munich, ECM has released more than 1700 albums across all musical preferences and continues to release relevant music today. Timeless is considered one of the classic ECM albums. Some background on the important label from their website:
From early on the model of a literary publishing house was an inspiration for the label. Many of the musicians who recorded their debut albums with ECM in their mid-twenties have kept faith with the label ever since. As Manfred Eicher once said in an interview, ‘Our work is based on the notion of permanence.’ In addition Eicher feels that ‘it is important that relationships also develop between the company’s artists; that’s good for their creative work’. As a record producer, he is a partner in the artistic process, involved in everything from the choice of recording venue to the musical shaping of the album to the cover design for the finished product. And on the subject of cover designs: ECM record sleeves, much admired and much imitated, have made design history, and the Swiss publisher Lars Müller Verlag has devoted two books to ECM’s cover art.2
I remember the sheer amount of ECM records we had at WNUR, and I was always impressed by the cover art and continuity of design elements throughout their catalogue. There’s even an ecmcovers account on Instagram, where someone is in the process of listening to and documenting the ECM albums and their respective covers. The Timeless cover art features below, with its subtle theme of shades of blue inverted on each other against a horizon of low-lying yellow mountains. And basic but badass typeface in all caps.
The lineup on this album includes a drummer I have heard of, Jack DeJohnette. I know his work from Keith Jarret albums, and Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew. When I google “Jack DeJohnette,” I’m happy to see that he’s alive and still making music at 82. In fact, as per a New York Times article from a couple weeks ago, he just performed a rare solo piano concert near his home in upstate New York. I’ll feature DeJohnette in a couple years on this Substack. Feels unwieldy reading that, but it’s true.
The pianist/keyboardist Jan Hammer is someone I had not heard of. Thanks to a quick Wikipedia, I read that this Czech-American rose to prominence with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early 1970’s. I remembered my dad had given me a vinyl of the band’s second album, Birds of Fire (1973). Pretty far out stuff. Connection made, I enjoyed listening to this while making dinner while my wife was picking up our kids from school.
Fun fact: Hammer also scored the popular 80’s TV series, Miami Vice. He’s still making music today. Check out this spirited Rolling Stone interview with Hammer from 2014.
As for John Abercrombie, I hadn’t dug into his stuff as a DJ, but the name was familiar. Born in 1944 in Port Chester, New York, Abercrombie passed away of heart failure in 2017 at the age of 72. He attended Berklee School of Music in Boston in 1962 and pursued graduate studies at North Texas State University, clearly interested in jazz theory and in learning the erudite aspects of the guitar.
A move to New York City in 1969 began his pursuit of playing music professionally (he flunked his Vietnam draft physical due to having a short right leg). Jack DeJohnette, who had been hearing good things around town about the young guitar player, took an initial interest in Abercrombie. For more of a full-blown history on Abercrombie’s history and evolution, I recommend the following article from Downbeat magazine, which also illuminates how the Timeless album came about:
… Abercrombie linked up with ECM label founder Manfred Eicher, who knew the guitarist from his appearance on trumpeter Enrico Rava’s 1973 album Katchapari Rava (on the Italian label BASF) and invited him to make a recording as a leader. Initially Abercrombie told Eicher that he was just a sideman and hadn’t written much of his own music.
But Eicher persisted. They corresponded by mail, and finally the guitarist said that he was ready. His vision for a trio included DeJohnette and organist/pianist Jan Hammer. “I hired two ridiculous guys who were so good, so wide open, so exploratory, so full of amazing chops, it was all I could do to keep up with them to make the record,” he says. The result was Abercrombie’s Timeless, which teems with a rare blend of spirited fusion, gripping rhythms and acoustic jazz, including two ballads that Abercrombie wrote specifically for the session.3
Shout out to the website, Prog Archives, which has some great user reviews of the Timeless album, if you’re interested. The album’s inclusion on the site also speaks to its cross-pollinated style of jazz and rock fusion. I still don’t really know what “prog” means (don’t try to explain to me, please), but it’s worth checking out the site for the comprehensive bios, discographies and user album reviews.
Have a listen to the full Timeless album on Spotify below. Also, I highly recommend the album Gateway (recorded 1975), which is also the name of the trio who recorded it: Abercrombie; Jack DeJohnette (drums); Dave Holland (bass). The trio wasn’t given a four star album by Penguin, so I’ll slide it in here. You’re welcome.
Next week, I’ll focus on the Lebanese-born composer and oud player, Rabih Abou-Khalil. Take care.
*Quick corrections for last week’s post - it should have been numbered 001. Also, the parentheses in the title is noted as the recording date, not release date.
For an in-depth appreciation of ECM as a record label, check out “The Most Beautiful Sound Next to Silence” by Ted Gioia; https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-most-beautiful-sound-next-to-silence
https://ecmrecords.com/story/
https://downbeat.com/archives/detail/the-moment-looks-for-you