NIGHT

Despite falling in love with the phenomenal guitar work of the late, great John Abercrombie, I let a whole lot of material of his slip out from under me. Some standards I once had! haha. Thanks is due in great part to Mr. Dereck Higgins for directing me specifically here. And although this is clearly a significantly later era for Abercrombie, I am likewise drawn by this lineup. On tenor sax, the wonderful, emotive Michael Brecker, the drumming of the inspired Jack DeJohnette, and the fiery, most excellent Jan Hammer on keys. Masters all.

Funny hearing a very-80s Reggae jam with these still-exemplary, worldclass jazz musicians, but that's what our opener has to offer, "Ethereggae". A bit of corny, but it works well enough and is a decent showcase of our performers. Strongest of them all here, in my mind, is John. His guitar effects feel a tad unlike him; more like he's trying to be Pat Metheny... a bit too hard to sound like Pat Metheny...

Our title track, "Night", is low and slow, yet super moving, starting with a solo from Brecker. Hammer comes in with piano, and all the while Jack is showin' his cymbal game. Off to a much better, more interesting start is the chill, sleuth-reminiscent "3 East". The blaze is constant yet low. John then has a pretty wicked extended solo regardless. Low and slow still is "Look Around", though with way more interest than one might expect. Around minute 4 things pick up... and really intensify, but only for a minute. Definitely the highlight thus far.

"Believe You Me", which comes as no surprise to me, being Abercrombie with Hammer, sounds like an early Mahavishnu number. This then was the best you'll hear on the album, to this point. Certainly an arena in which they all excel, in its lowness and slowness, it's still tense as hell, Michael coming in hot with a blaze of a solo. What I also love about this track is Jan's embrace of organ. It sounds perfect here. Once again, so tense. We are being pulled to and fro on this one, all while pretty consistently holding onto the main theme.

Finally, we have the ever descriptive "Four On One", starting off with wild, but light drumming and wild, but front-and-center organ. Another fiery solo from John here, then matched once more by Michael. They break out into an even wilder blaze. Perhaps the most straightforward Jazz track, and yet one of the most appealing, exciting tracks of the lot.

True Rate: 3.5/5.0

3.5 stars. I was very much on the fence about picking this one up but I had just spent some time with Abercrombie's two 1975 releases "Timeless" and "Gateway" and was all giddy. The concerns were that this was released in 1984 and it's on the ECM label, not exactly a favourite of mine. A lot of classy, mature, sophisticated and snooty Jazz on there no? Where is my BUDGIE album? What moved me to take the plunge was the lineup of DeJohnette on drums, Hammer on keys and Brecker on tenor sax. And of course John Abercrombie who was one the greatest jazz guitarists ever, and a fixture on the ECM label for decades. The man with the moustache impresses here as usual and gives the other musicians plenty of space to do their thing.

This was recorded at The Power Station in New York but mixed in Norway and produced by Manfred Eicher of course. Hammer composed the opener while Abercrombie created the rest. The cover art is so strange but look at Charly Garcia's "Clic Modernos" cover art with seemingly the same dark figure from the year before in 1983. No doubt the inspiration for this one. I swear I hear bass on the opener and closer, especially the closer yet none is credited. No bass on a Jazz album? It doesn't exactly get off on the right foot for me with "Ethereggae" an 8 1/2 minute piece with that reggae rhythm that I'm just not a fan of. But to be fair it's more than that as it opens and closes without it.

The title track is classy and what you would expect from Abercrombie. Some smooth sax and piano too. A painfully mature track. "3 East" is a favourite. Some energy here as keys lead followed by drums and sax. Guitar replaces the sax at one point. A good song. I also like "Believe You Me", probably my favourite. Sax and guitar solo over the organ and drums. The organ leads before 4 minutes and it sounds awesome. DeJohnette really shines on the closer "Four On One" as does Brecker. I didn't mention the longest track "Look Around" at 9 minutes but it has it's ups and downs for me.

A true 3.5 star album in my opinion but fans of the ECM label need to hear this. Some killer performances on here by all.