NIGHT

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.