PARALLEL REALITIES

Jack DeJohnette has been the flag bearer as it were for the ECM label for many years. And in the ECM tradition we get a very mellow recording. I am surprised they are a trio here but then Jack has played in trios before like that "Gateway" album with John Abercrombie and Dave Holland. That one is a classic, this one not so much. We get Pat Metheny and Herbie Hancock and for many these are two legends. Herbie yes, Pat no in my opinion. There's not a lot of Metheny albums that I can enjoy, he's such a lightweight and he's using synclavier here along with keyboards to create that bass sound. Pat adds orchestration as well and no I don't like it. Jack also uses keyboards to replicate the bass. Herbie is pretty much all acoustic piano except for some uninspired sax on that closing number. The biggest surprise was the aggressive piano to start "Nine Over Reggae" in fact it brought to mind ART ZOYD right away but it was gone so fast unfortunately. I like the start of "John McKee" too but again it lightens so quickly. Don't want to wake anybody up. So a very laid back and relaxed record in the ECM tradition.