TIMELESS

While John Abercrombie had been a professional musician, working and recording both in the main stream jazz and jazz rock fields for over 6 years, this was the first album under his own name. And the title 'Timeless' is most valid in telling the potential listener that the music has not aged. The album is seminal and one that stands out as original a record made during the heydays of jazz rock.

Abercrombie's jazz record sessions up to the 1974 recording date of this album, may have suggested an able guitarist, but one who lacked a voice, which otherwise marked out the likes of Mclaughlin or Connors, (who was then attracting attention in RTF). 'Timeless' was to change things inEurope, even if it took a little while to register in Abercrombie's home country. His live work at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Billy Cobham's Band had attracted the attention of the boss Manfred Eicher of the fledging german jazz record company ECM. Eicher signed him and ever since Abercrombie has rarely been found on any other label with his numerous album release. With Timeless Abercrombie is accompanied for the first of many times by both Jan Hammer (hot from the collapsed Mahavishnu, on keys and in particular the Hammond organ) and Jack DeJohnette (drum, who's jazz rock/fusion creditials were already long, e.g. played the jazz cross over of the Charles Lloyd Quintet mid 60's and with Miles Davis on the Bitches Brew sessions). Tune wise, here is mix of Abercrombie and Hammer compositions, along with a Ralph Towner piece. The style is very much of their own: high speed (as was the vogue at the time) but already showing the purity of sound that was to be the mark of later ECM 'European Chambers Jazz' albums. The interplay of Mahavishnu is carried over here with DeJohnette having an equal part in the trio; while the guitar leads, Hammer's organ (for the most part) fills in behind eloquently, and then vice versa. Jan Hammer's Hammond work attracted much attention - partly because this was an instrument most of his recent fans would have been unfamiliar for Hammer - but he has own way of attacking the keyboards, percussive and melodic at the same time. Compare the version of 'Red & Orange' here with Hammond the rawer version synth version heard on the Jan Hammer Group's 'Oh Yeah!'. And Abercrombie's guitar playing here less about effects and more a jazz guitarist in a sophisticated jazz rock company.

Overall an album which provides quite a different approach to jazz rock from those by RTF or MO at the time, although the attack and interplay will be recognised in all three groups.

A timeless album for any jazz rock collection, an album for any music lover who likes superb musicianship. 4.5 stars at least.

It's never a good thing for a reviewer to parade his ignorance, but I honestly can't tell you anything about the life or career of guitarist John Abercrombie. Fortunately, other fans have stepped in to fill that gap: check out the excellent, comprehensive biography on his page here at Prog Archives.

But I will say that the title track of his 1974 debut solo album is, without exaggeration, one of the cornerstones of my entire music collection. By itself this one cut is so compelling that for more than two decades it all but obliterated any interest I might have shown in the rest of the album. More fool me, because the entire package is an unassuming slice of pioneering Fusion, arranged by a guitar player who in a perfect world would be far better known outside the limited circle of Jazz Rock devotees.

The simple, no-frills production (not much more than a judicious application of reverb) leads me to suspect the bulk of the album was recorded live in the studio. Clearly the final mix benefits from the spontaneity of the performances, played by a gifted power trio able to employ as much nuance as muscle. Keyboardist Jan Hammer was of course an alumnus of the first and best MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA; drummer Jack DeJohnette attended the legendary Isle of Wight concert alongside a newly electrified MILES DAVIS; and Abercrombie himself was already a session veteran with a lengthy, impressive résumé.

The track list is perfectly balanced between two longer (but very different) pieces bracketing a quartet of shorter instrumentals. Among them are a pair of gentle piano / acoustic guitar duets, plus the intergalactic cocktail-lounge jazz of "Ralph's Piano Waltz" (with not a piano within earshot), and the harder-edged, hypertense fusion of Jan Hammer's "Red and Orange", built around a theme purloined from the classics. Another Hammer composition, the 12+ minute "Lungs", opens the album in a quiet frenzy of virtuosity, alternating with a more subdued, dreamlike interlude and an open-ended jazz-funk conclusion.

This leaves only the astonishing title track, a 12-minute masterpiece of otherworldly mood and invention, ending the album on maybe the warmest chillout in recorded history. Listen to that long opening drone, setting up a simple, haunting 12-note melody (actually only three notes, repeated in descending scales), with every carefully located sound bathed in blissful amniotic contentment. Is it Jazz? Space Rock? Ambient Electronica? A little bit of each and none of the above would be my closest guess.

Especially striking is the protracted entry of Hammer's mini-moog, fading in over the course of what sounds like several minutes (only a slight exaggeration), slowly embellishing Abercrombie's delicate picking and the typically fluid brushstrokes of DeJohnette's drumming. In short: here's a track that ably lives up to its title, having hardly aged a minute after more than 30 years.

Because this was an album that put a higher value on quality and competence over flashy pyrotechnics, it might have escaped the attention of discriminating listeners with an ear for Jazz Rock Fusion finesse (the cover art itself is likewise a model of taste of modesty, and surprisingly reminiscent of FRIPP and ENO's "Evening Star", released the same year). Trust me, you don't want to allow half your life to slip away before treating yourself to this one.

A smoker from start to finish, this is almost as good as "Gateway". Get it for "Lungs"...which I would rate in the Top 5 of "All Time Best Fusion Tracks". Jan Hammer, John Abercrombie and Jack DeJohnette are "in the pocket", but in a cerebral way. Can't quite put my finger on it...but think Terje Rypdal when he's really 'on'...and notch it up a bit while adding some "funk". Jan Hammer plays predomnantly the Hammond Organ on this(a good thing), so don't expect the jamz synthesizer he used on Jeff Beck records. 4.5 stars, really.

Having been part of the scene for some years, playing in various groups, but mostly for the Brecker Bros' first band Dreams, Abercrombie finally attacked his fist studio album after getting a recording contract from ECM, with whom he would remain mostly fidel throughout his career. This debut album, like most of his first few albums are citing his

Abercrombie's choice in DeJohnette (an ex-Bitches Brew drummer, but also very frequent Keith Jarrett sideman) will remain fairly constant in his early career, but it's surprising not seeing Dave Holland (also ex BB and frequent Jarrett sideman) on bass here, but there is no bass at all (whatever might sound is most likely organ-pedalled by Hammer. The opening Hammer-penned Lungs is one of those scary 700 MPH, where ultra-sonic virtuosity is everything. Love Song is one of those boring slow track that are supposed to be the antidote to the demented tracks, but to me these sleeping pills are best skipped. Ralph's Waltz (Towner of Oregon I guess) is at times enthralling, against which Hammer Red & Orange sounds captivating, but let's be careful of Einstein's Relativity theory here. R&O has some delightful moments, but I am saying moments, not minutes or songs. In some ways, this sounds like a Birds Of Fire track (which in itself is quite a feat), but to me it's a little too close for comfort to appreciate this truly. After the relatively new-agey Remembering, the album closes on the 12-mins title track. Starting on a slow drone, the track remain gentle

I've never been really sure why Abercrombie was included in PA, because he seems a bit far from the focus, but his early albums certainly smoked, rivalling in density (the unit is notes/second) with Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return To Forever; but unlike these two groups, Abercrombie's formation lacks the warmth of those cited just before.

Part of orthodox and acoustic part. And, it is methodological of the performance that has already been established. This John Abercrombie is always paid to attention as one of the guitar players who keep reforming always in Jazz/Fusion continuing the original performance.

The work that informed the world of his name was to have appointed to the recording of "Total Eclipse" that Billy Cobham had announced in 1974 though he had competing with various musicians before this album of the debut. Eminence might have gone up enough for the performance of him with whom an original interpretation and the intellect for music overflowed. And, it competes with Johnny"Hammond" Smith. Performance from Dreams of Rock group with Chico Hamilton. Because Abercrombie formed the base of music, these situations will have been elements enough. And, his involved young power his greeting and at that time is reflected enough in the album in this debut album. And, I will be able to ask the performance by Trio of this irregular organ enough for the zeal of Abercrombie.

"Lungs" is composed of some parts as the entire composition. An overwhelming opening speed and power show a complete technology. Ensemble of Trio is overwhelming. And, the performance of John Abercrombie might construct the music character with the angle besides the performance of the guitar players such as John McLaughlin and Larry Coryell. The tune advances with the development of Improvisation gradually. A good tension for the composition of the tune is given by as many as two people (Jan Hammer and Jack De Johnette) and it is continued. And, the flow that the synthesizer twines round the part of Bass by Jan Hammer might be indeed unique. A heavy part in close relation to a constant rhythm feels the area of the width of this Trio. It is a tune of which the element as Jazz Rock went out strongly very much. Because Jan Hammer composed, this tune might have the element of Mahavishnu Orchestra a little.

As for "Love Song", the melody of the piano and the guitar with the anacatesthesia is impressive. The progress of beautiful Chord might remarkably reflect the title of the tune in the tune. It talks about the piano and the guitar by music.

Playing the guitar with originality in the flow of Waltz exactly twines round "Ralph's Piano Waltz" well. The performance of Abercrombie will have an element original as for the method of settlement of the sound in which it lands when also thinking about progress and Ad-Rib of the tune because originality has gone out strongly. The tune gradually receives the top while making the theme cross each other to Ad-Rib by the organ. The sound of the guitar that uses the method of the volume is also impressive.

As for "Red And Orange", a complex, intermittent melody twines round the line of Bass by Jan Hammer. Because Jan Hammer composed as well as "Lungs" this tune, it is ..very high-quality Jazz Rock.. finished. And, the guitar and the drum answer the idea of Jan Hammer enough. The dash feeling of this tune might be also overwhelming. The tension is always continued.

"Remembering" shifts from the start of the guitar that gives the impression of uneasiness and the piano to a beautiful flow. The technology that Abercrombie cultivated listens to the impression not staying in simple Jazz/Fusion in this tune. Manfred Eicher that collects the tune in such a part, the feature as ECM might be added enough. It listens to the parts of a few avant-gardes.

"Timeless" starts from the flow of the float in the space. The melody of the guitar with the flow and the anacatesthesia of the synthesizer creates one space. A few, ambient flows progress quietly attended with the rhythm. Enough power might be exactly involved to the creation of Abercrombie with the performance.

This debut album might exist as overwhelming Jazz Rock in the work of John Abercrombie.

I've been enjoying guitarist extraordinaire John Abercrombie's "Gateway" album for years now, so to finally get my hands on his debut has been nothing short of outstanding. "Gateway" was John's second album and featured Jack DeJohnette (drums) and Dave Holland (bass) while "Timeless" also featured a trio with DeJohnette, but instead of Holland we get Jan Hammer on a variety of keyboards. So yes there's a different feel to this one when compared to "Gateway" but both are incredible.

Up first is the over 12 minute "Lungs" which is a real trip. At first everything is very uptempo with Hammer and DeJohnette leading the way then Abercrombie comes in with some fast paced soloing. This continues for almost 3 1/2 minutes then it calms right down to a whisper. Things stay laid back as different sounds come and go right to the end. Such a cool track. "Love Song" as you might imagine is a mellow track with the tasteful guitar and piano standing out. "Ralph's Piano Waltz" opens with jazzy drumming from DeJohnette as guitar and keyboards help out in this tasteful composition. Hammer comes in around 2 1/2 minutes on his Hammond to spice things up the rest of the way.

"Red And Orange" sounds great early on with the guitar, organ and drums setting a brisk pace. Hammer is so impressive here, but then they all are. Abercrombie comes and goes ripping it up. "Remembering" is a ballad-like instrumental. "Timeless" ends things on a high. At almost 12 minutes this beast starts off in an atmospheric manner, almost spacey really. Guitar sounds rise out of the mist. This is really good. The atmosphere fades out after 4 minutes as gentle guitar notes continue soon to be joined by intricate drumming and keyboards. This is all so laid back and beautiful. My favourite track on the album right here.

A very solid 4 stars and a must have along with "Gateway" for all you Jazz / Fusion fans out there.

Hard to believe that we're going on six years following Mr. Abercrombie's death (Aug. 22, 2017). John Abercrombie was one of those figures in Jazz Fusion specifically that I found myself latching onto easily. His approach is fantastic and he played with many fellow greats. Here on his first album he is joined by keyboardist Jan Hammer (Mahavishnu Orchestra) and drummer Jack DeJohnette. For John's solo work, Timeless and Sargasso Sea (1976) proved favorable in the least, and I wanted to be sure I also recommended the '76 debut Gateway album (exchange Hammer from this lineup with bassist Dave Holland for that band). Other recommendations I'd give from just before Timeless include Lookout Farm (1974) and Drum Ode (1975) by Dave Liebman, and Abercrombie also featured on Billy Cobham's Crosswinds and Total Eclipse (both from 1974).

No time is wasted whatsoever with the blazing fast start of "Lungs", the album opener and first of our two 12-minute bookends. All while DeJohnette lays down hasty Post-Bop on the drums, Abercrombie and Hammer (on Hammond and synth) change hands, exchanging every few bars for soloing, ramping up approaching minute 2. Abercrombie definitely proved to me to be of a similar caliber to John McLaughlin or Larry Coryell. While the others create wonderful atmosphere, Jack does things [although also consistently] that you will be hard-pressed to find anywhere; a unique and expressive player, to me unmatched. Get your noggin' scratched in this middle section, why don't'cha? Right at the 7 minute mark, Jan leads us off with a cool, alien-Funk bassline, followed by a smooth, smoky soloing from him and John. Abercombie and DeJohnette together but separately occasionally unravel as the soloing continues and intensifies. I just realized, in my excitement to be seriously listening through this once more, that this whole paragraph is about just that opener haha.

Unsurprisingly similar to the start of the perfect Mahavishnu song, "Open Country Joy"--or, also from Birds Of Fire, the bright acoustic track "Thousand Island Park"--"Love Song" features acoustic piano for the first time married with John's full-chorded strums and solo. Really gorgeous track, it's simultaneously crushingly sad and longing, by my estimation. Regardless, goes to show their knack and ability to conjure up any number of complex emotions. Up next is a track one might expect from contemporary Pat Metheny, "Ralph's Piano Waltz", with a smooth groove and beautiful, ever-flowing lead-play from John. Full steam ahead, regardless of the mood. And in this, once more, we get a few different feelings, from what I would consider joyous fun to pressing tension, the latter brought on most, to me, by Jan Hammer's Hammond return. This song has it; another near-essential.

We keep the speed at a 10 for "Red And Orange", a volcanic number with an apt title. I'm not sure what else to say here; just trying to keep up. This was the first time on the album where I truly felt that Abercrombie sounded like McLaughlin in tone. Wild stuff. Fiery Fusion Phenom. Up next, with a beginning to really hook you, we have the truly nostalgic "Remembering". This is, unsurprising to me, another acoustic number, though slower paced than "Love Song". The interplay of keys and guitar is really wonderful, with staccato and call-and-response and plenty of purty. Despite its quietness, "Remembering" certainly has its strengths abundant.

Finally, our title track, "Timeless". It begins out of nothingness, with a deep, sci-fi-perfect drone. John Abercrombie joins in, much like a singular Raga. Is it Rush's "La Villa Strangiato" that's coming to mind for me? Something off of Exit Stage Left. [Probably "Jacob's Ladder".] The drone continues, and the guitar slips and slides, now matched by light, distant organ and the softest cymbal strikes you've ever heard. To great effect, all this up till this point lasts for over 4 minutes. This track, in its quietness, is perfectly understated, so to speak. Nearing minute 8, the drums build and shift into a sort of trot. Really very lovely. All in all, a great closer to a great album.

True Rate: 4.25/5.00

A guitarist that has been known to me since the 1970s due to his long association with ECM Records, it has only been recently that I've really come to know and appreciate his skill and genius as a technical wizard of both acoustic and electric guitar formats, as well as his high intelligence and creativity in conditions requiring structure, support, and improvisation. I am now unafraid to include John in the highest circle of jazz-rock fusion guitarists (with the likes of John McLaughlin, Jan Akkerman, Volker Kriegel, and Al Di Meola).

1. "Lungs" (12:08) organ and electric guitar trading incandescent flares for solos over some equally-stunning drum play. In the fourth minute, just as the two melody-makers start to really duel, the music slows down, spreads out, leaving a lot of space for some spacey organ and volume-controlled and echoed electric guitar note play while Jack gives a virtual clinic in cymbal and bass drum play which turns into a tom-tom and snare clinic as well. This is easily as powerful and virtuosic as anything the Mahavishnu Orchestra ever produced. At the beginning of the eighth minute the band resets and restarts with some kind of low-bass note play (from Jan Hammer, of course) providing a kind of funky rhythmic propulsion for Jan, John, and Jack to slowly, very deliberately, start contributing notes, riffs, and other idiosyncratic flourishes and musical catchphrases from here to the song's end. What this has to do with lungs, I'm not sure. (22.5/25)

2. "Love Song" (4:34) Jan Hammer's piano and John Abercrombie's acoustic guitar are here recorded performing a beautiful duet. These guys really hear each other--which is why this lovely conversation sounds so respectful and co- ordinated--like a dance--and not unlike something Chick Corea and Al Di Meola might have done together. (9.75/10)

3. "Ralph's Piano Waltz" (5:21) a more typical jazz swing with a great melody "hook" This is a John Abercrombie composition that became one of his signature songs--one that he re-recorded on several other studio albums and, of course, performed live with many of his bands--and I wouldn't understand anyone who wouldn't be able to "see" why. Great performance by John with awesome support from Jan's organ play and Jack's stunning drum play. Though I have great trouble thinking of Jack DeJohnette as a "fusion" drummer, he is definitely on the short list of the best jazz drummers I've ever heard (probably #1): his creativity is a marvel to behold. (9.375/10)

4. "Red In Orange" (5:21) a furious syncopated opening sounds like it could come from both EMERSON, LAKE AND PALMER or the MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA though the jazz guitar play ends up sounding more like JOHN TROPEA or ERIC GALE during the early section, the Larry Coryell in the fiery second section, and then like John McLaughlin in the photon-speed final minute. Jan Hammer's dynamic organ play sounds like LARRY YOUNG (Khalid Yasin)--especially when in support mode--but then he fires up some amazing Keith Emerson-like stuff in his duels with John--and Jack is right there with them the whole way! (9.625/10)

5. "Remembering" (4:32) back to piano and acoustic guitar dueting, this one meandering a little more like something from the Americana or Chick Corea school of austere acoustic or atmospheric duet music. Despite the flourishes of virtuosity, the key and tempo changes are met with ease with both musicians delivering gorgeous melodies and variations on those melodies throughout. Both musicians are showing their masterful ability to bring the listener back to the security of "home" by positing the occasional, perfectly-timed, dominant "comfort" chord. (Thank you!) There is, however, something very warm and humane about this song--this style of duet music--that feels more inviting and engaging--more personable--than the "competitive" duets that Al Di Meola became known for. (9.25/10)

6. "Timeless" (11:57) ominous low-end synth chord provides the steady foundation for John to noodle around improvisationally using a very gentle, soft tone on his electric guitar. I love this kind of electric guitar performance where volume and dynamic take a backseat to heart-felt feeling and sensitivity. In the fifth minute there is a transition into a section in which Jan sets forth a patterned bass line over which John plays off of with equally-interesting, beautiful fluidity and melodic sense. Jack joins the puff parade with his brushes, rarely beating anything dynamic, instead keeping to the same delicate sensibilities as his band mates. Jan is allowed to jump in a couple of times with his MiniMoog and the song never really changes or shifts or deepens again, just plays out with this same bass-line-led motif to the end. A nice exhibition of a certain kind of solo improvisational music but not a really engaging or deeply interesting song from a listener's standpoint. (22/25)

Total Time: 43:53

Jan Hammer has always come across as a much weaker keyboard player in my mind due to the fact that I've seen and heard mostly his performances where he is playing on either his stage "keytars" or dueling with guitarists and/or violins by using the right-hand upper registers of his computers, thus, I never thought the guy had a left hand. On several albums from the 1970s that I've stumbled across over the past couple of years I've been impressed to hear Jan Hammer as a more "complete" keyboard player: playing piano, organs, Fender Rhodes, Moogs, and, as here, lots of bass as a substitute for the more typical upright or electric bass player.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of fringy jazz-rock fusion from three of Jazz-Rock Fusion's all-stars (two of which are lesser known). An album that I highly recommend to any prog lover who love it when virtuosic musicians can meld together really well.