Legendary jazz guitarist John Abercrombie opened his 1 ½ hour set at the Musician’s Institute by jokingly referred to his style of playing as “based on making mistakes and correcting them during the song.” To the listening ears of the sublime sounds emitted by Abercrombie and his band of Joey Baron/dr, Marc Copland/p and Darek Oles/b, you’d be hard pressed to differentiate any wrong or right turns, as every song seemed to not only go in the right direction, but the ride was as smooth as a 7 Series BMW.
The team opened with a subtle and deft “Sweet And Lovely” that featured Abercrombie making Monk-like variations of the theme as Copland bopped along on an assertive solo. Copland then chimed like a church bell and Baron used his brush and hands to create a soft shoe effect as Abercrombie provided lyrical lines from “Vertigo,” one of the many songs displayed from their most recent album, 39. A piece dedicated to guitarist Ralph Towner, “Another Ralph’s” had Baron gently tapping the cymbal to create a canter of a beat while Oles and Abercrombie delivered almost subliminal stringed messages to each other. The next movie related theme, “Greenstreet” (named after the rotund actor) had Oles and Abercrombie deliver a nimble blues line than slowly churned up the energy until the four bore down and swung like a hip chamber band. Baron delivered a dynamic and highly melodic solo as guitar, bass and piano gradually joined into the fray to climax the close.
A silky soft “Darn That Dream” had Abercrombie’s guitar introduce the piece like a longing bag pipe, as piano and bass joined in to sound like falling leaves by your window. Copland’s original “Occam’s Razor” (what? Not called “Lorre”?) was a richly rhythmic piece that had serpentine lines by guitar and piano that included Baron’s drums sounding like castanets, with Abercrombie’s guitar doing a fine table dance. The closing standard “The Way You Look Tonight” included a fragile piano intro that gradually swung enough to make Fred and Ginger want to make a go of it. The mix of sophisticated soloing combined with melodic themes and irresistible pulses displayed all of the strengths of small group jazz. Abercrombie closed by saying “the best part of jazz is being in the moment and spontaneous.” A summary of the evening could not be better expressed this evening before Easter Sunrise in LA.
Upcoming shows sponsored by The Jazz Bakery include Fred Hersch 4/25 and Jane Bunnett 05/16