TIMELESS

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.

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