John Abercrombie - 39 Steps (2013)

John Abercrombie's revised quartet - his last album, 'Within a Song', featured Joe Lovano in the line-up - provides Marc Copland with his first appearance on ECM. Yet the renowned guitarist and pianist are old allies, with an association stretching back forty years. Jazz ballads and lyricism predominate on this disc with six tunes from Abercrombie's pen, two Copland tunes, one collective improvisation, and a creative deconstruction of the old standard "Melancholy Baby".

In the early 1970s Abercrombie and Copland were members of Chico Hamilton's quartet, and at the dawn of fusion both played with pioneering jazz-rock band Dreams. Since the late 1990s they've revived their partnership in diverse context and have toured in formations ranging from piano-guitar duo to trio with Kenny Wheeler to the cooperative group Contact with Dave Liebman and Billy Hart.

For much of the last decade Abercrombie and Copland have also each had bassist Drew Gress as a regular member of their respective bands so '39 Steps' draws on a network of trusted relationships. Joey Baron has been the drummer on all six of Abercrombie's ECM albums since 'Cat 'n' Mouse' was recorded in 2000. '39 Steps' was produced by Manfred Eicher at New York's Avatar Studio in April 2013.

Tracklist:

01. Vertigo
02. LST
03. Bacharach
04. Greenstreet
05. As It Stands
06. Spellbound
07. Another Ralph's
08. Shadow Of A Doubt
09. 39 Steps
10. Melancholy Baby

Personnel:

John Abercrombie (guitar),
Marc Copland (piano),
Drew Gress (double bass),
Joey Baron (drums).