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SUBJECT:	Farewell John Abercrombie Back to Subjects
mountain Aug 23 2017 at 11:54 AM	Sorry to hear the passing of John Abercrombie. He was an innovator and a guitarist somewhat underappreciated. The cause of death was heart failure, according to Ottawa Citizen. He was 72. Abercrombie’s innovative approach to guitar touched on multiple genres, including rock, folk, and avant-garde music.
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franksexton Jan 22 2018 at 9:58 AM	http://roulette.org/event/john-abercrombie-timeless-a-tribute-to-his-life-and-music/ John Abercrombie: Timeless: A Tribute To His Life And Music Monday, March 26, 2018 @ 7:30 pm Joey Baron – Drums Nels Cline – Guitar Marc Copland – Piano Jack DeJohnette – Drums Mark Feldman – Violin Bill Frisell – Guitar Drew Gress – Double-bass Marc Johnson – Double-bass Joe Lovano – Saxophones Thomas Morgan – Double-bass Adam Nussbaum – Drums John Scofield – Guitar Ralph Towner – Guitar Gary Versace – Organ With Special Guests
jazzsurfer Oct 31 2017 at 4:01 PM	I saw John Abercrombie in the Methodist Church on Center Street on Nantucket Island in 1975. I will never forget it. He played with Mike Nock and a bassist whose name I forget. It have have been the bassist from the Mahavishnu Orchestrta and Armand Halburian on percussion. I was in high school. . . avant garde stuff for me then but the experience was indelible. . . .
HAMBONE Aug 24 2017 at 11:01 PM	Sad to hear of John’s passing. He was one of the crossover guitarists, like Pat, Coryell and McLaughlin, who got my attention and lured me from rock guitarists to jazz. I was lucky enough to see him in 76 at The Main Point outside Philly with DeJohnette and Holland. I was too young to realize how great they were at the time but now looking back and listening to his playing know he was special. He will definitely be missed. RIP
Dortboy Aug 24 2017 at 3:15 PM	What a loss. But what a blessing that he was here! Looking (and listening) over his discography as a leader one can only stand in complete awe at the sheer quality and batting average, from "Timeless" to "Up And Coming" and everything in between: one masterpiece after another. One also marvels at the superior quality of his writing and the many incredible bands he led. Then look (and listen) over his "sideman" dates and check out his live work and interviews on YouTube and it will be impossible to come away thinking that this extraordinary artist was anything less than a giant of the music. Those of us who were lucky enough to come into personal contact with the man can attest that his stature as a musician was matched only by his humility, generosity and good humor. Thanks, John, for everything.
franksexton Aug 24 2017 at 11:57 AM	from ecm 23.08.2017 JOHN ABERCROMBIE (1944-2017) John Abercrombie, one of the great improvisers, died on August 22, after a long illness. He will be much missed, for his sensitive musicality, his good companionship, and his dry humour which enhanced many a session. He leaves behind an extensive discography which will be studied as long as people continue to play jazz guitar. John made his first recording for ECM, the appropriately-titled “Timeless”, in the summer of 1974, with his lifelong friend Jack DeJohnette on the drums, and Jan Hammer on organ. Over the next four decades, he was active as leader, co-leader and sideman on dozens of ECM projects. A creative writer of jazz tunes, John also loved to play freely as much as he loved to play standards. Many of his albums combine all of these resources, unified by his fluid, silvery tone and improvisational eloquence. In conversation he would speak of his enduring fondness for Jim Hall and Wes Montgomery, primary influences, and also of the liberating examples of Ornette Coleman and Jimi Hendrix; Bill Evans’s sense of lyricism was also of crucial importance to him. John Abercrombie led a number of very fine bands, and he was particularly proud of his last quartet with Marc Copland on piano, Drew Gress on double bass, and Joey Baron on drums. This quartet released two albums, “39 Steps” and “Up and Coming”, the latter released in January 2017. Highlights in his recording career were many and include the Gateway trio albums with Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, the duo albums with Ralph Towner, the New Directions albums (with DeJohnette, Lester Bowie and Eddie Gomez), Jan Garbarek’s “Eventyr”, Charles Lloyd’s “The Water Is Wide”, Collin Walcott’s “Grazing Dreams” (where John and Don Cherry play together), Enrico Rava’s “The Pilgrim and the Stars”, Kenny Wheeler’s “Deer Wan” … the list goes on.
franksexton Aug 24 2017 at 10:05 AM	sorry to hear that , I loved his Timeless album plus his work with Marc Johnson. He can play again with Brecker in heaven.
molesoulsandal Aug 24 2017 at 7:41 AM	correction: there was a ’typo’ on m’ last msg: the year that JA’s house burned was 2003, NOT 2013. thanks.
molesoulsandal Aug 24 2017 at 7:24 AM	in the 80s & 90s, when people talked about the best of the ’new breed’ of guitarists, they always named ’the big four’, pat, frisell, scofield, and john abercrombie. for some reason, for about the past 10 or 15 years now, they usually leave abercrombie’s name out, and just name the first 3. have never understood that. probably has something to do w/record sales. even though it’s rarely ever been talked about, i’ve always thought that pat and john shared a certain sensibility (heck, one of JA’s best albums was called ’M’!), and as many know, when john’s house burned back in 2013, along w/all his guitars & gear, it was pat who came to the rescue by offering to help replace any of JA’s gear that he wanted. typical pat! john abercrombie, along with pat and kurt rosenwinkel are pretty much the ’most listened to’ guitarists at this house, and it’s been that way now for quite a spell. john abercrombie will be mightily missed indeed!
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