GATEWAY: GATEWAY

While all were loosing their heads during fusion fever time of the mid to late seventies, here are three well honed and extremely talented musicians putting on an album of dedicated jazz. John Abercrombie, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette are as stripped down as a jazz act gets and they produce the goods here on this album right through to the end, and in fact the album comes across as a little short even, but then again all good albums are like that I suppose, though the trio would get together and put out Gateway 2 a couple of years later. I'm slowly discovering the delights of the ECM label, and so far have not been disappointed with what I have heard, much of what I have heard is certainly top drawer quality. Gateway pushes and throbs through six cuts with some intricate interplay coming to the front. Holland's use of an upright bass here is inspired, and definitely refreshing for the mid seventies, the rolling rhythms of "Back-Woods Song" are as good as that which will open any decent jazz album if not better, it's impossible to get the lulling riff out of the mind and when Abercrombie's smooth, yet driving guitar glides in you know it is going to be good, and the albums lead by example. Basically what you get here is three competent musicians giving up some fantastic music

As mentioned, this is not solely a John Abercrombie solo album. This is a collective trio known as GATEWAY since they've had several reunion releases in the '80s and '90s. This is the debut on ECM Records. What we have here is the incredible Jack DeJohnette on drums, Dave Holland on bass and John Abercrombie on electric guitar. The sound on this recording is not unlike what Terje Rypdal and the Jean-Luc Ponty-era of the Mahavishnu Orchestra were doing around 1975. The opener "Backwoods Song" has some of the slinkiest acoustic bass you'll ever hear....and catchy interplay between Abercrombie and DeJohnette? WOW! Another highlight is the closer "Sorcery no.1". Definitely influenced by Red-era King Crimson, this one (to my ears, at least). It has a "Providence"-like feel to it (for those familiar with KC's "Red" LP). The build up from improv. trio to scorching guitar and riffing bass/drum interplay is probably the best thing I've heard in the fusion genre. Highly recommended. I would consider this a masterpiece.

This 1975 release on the ECM label had more ferocity and fangs than your average ECM disc of the time. Having come fresh off a recording session with Oregon's Colin Walcott for his Cloud Dance album, the three musicians decided to stir up some electrified and inspired mayhem of their own.

Bassist Dave Holland leads the charge on Backwoods Song, starting innocently enough with a country-ish groove, then enters DeJohnette to give it further drive, then Abercrombie steers it toward the outer fringes of the woods, so to speak, with a vaguely unsettling, warbling melody, leading to a bluesy turnaround. From there, JA takes you to the darkest most unknown parts of this woods with his relentless guitar musings. Waiting is Dave Hollands' hypnotic bass solo piece that definitely conveys that feeling very well in fact. May Dance is a sunnier, more upbeat bop-inspired romp with Abercrombie leading the way with a clean yet edgy jazz tone from his axe.

Things get more intense with Unshielded Desire a duet of Abercrombie and DeJohnette that recalls the fiery exchanges of Coltrane and Elvin Jones from a decade earlier, both musicians relentlessly search for new melodic ideas as the piece almost blows itself apart. Jamal is a beautifully mysterious and enigmatic interaction between Abercrombie and Holland, To close on a high note, there is Sorcery 1, starting with menacing spook noises from Abercrombie and equally menacing percussion noises weave in and out, building in intensity until Abercrombie roars in with some of the spookiest long sustained notes this side of Hendrix as DeJohnette unleashes violent explosions of drums and cymbals while Holland roars authoritatively underneath them eventually winding down and leaving you spooked.

As is typical with ECM recordings, the overall ambience is spacious as all outdoors, yet the instruments are so crisp (especially drums and bass) while Abercrombie is recorded with just enough reverb and distance to give him, to my ears, one of the most genuinely unsettling, spooky and unique electric guitar sounds of the time, he sounded like NOBODY else.

Fusion with a strong emphasis on the JAZZ part of the equation with that kind of looseness combined with the ferocity of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. A great postcard from when creativity was the norm!

A very interesting Jazz album from three extraordinary talents. Abercrombie on guitar, DeJohnette on drums and Holland on bass. This is quite different from the Rypdal, DeJohnette and Vitous album also released by ECM. Abercrombie and Rypdal have very different styles and that changes the overall sound between the two.

"Gateway" begins with three fairly laid back tunes that are quite intricate as the bass, guitar and drums seem to do their own thing. "Waiting" puts the spotlight on Holland as he leads the way with some cymbals added in. "May Dance" is where we get some passion from Abercrombie after 5 minutes then Holland solos once again. "Unshielded Desire" sounds so good mainly because up until now it's been fairly mellow and intricate. This song is very dynamic with DeJohnette offering up a great drum intro as Abercrombie comes in soloing over top. This continues as the guitar lights it up while the drums pound away. "Jamala" is mellow with cymbals, guitar and bass. "Sorcery I" will challenge your mind. After all that's gone before which I must say requires some patience,we are hit with an experimental intro before the guitar and drums start to wield their might before 2 minutes. It settles to a Jazzy mode a minute later then Abercrombie starts to set the soundscape ablaze. My God ! He's ripping it up 5 1/2 minutes in. I'm laughing at this section because of the joy I feel. DeJohnette not to be left out starts to dominte before 9 1/2 minutes to the end. I don't have an I-Pod yet but if I did this 11 minute tour de force would be on it. Killer track.

A special album that is an honour to own. 4 solid stars.

An ECM production of the collaborative music of three of the greatest jazz musicians to have graced the vinyl and plastic grooves of last 40 years of the 20th Century.

1. "Back-Woods Song" (7:54) starts out sounding a bit like an ALLMAN BROTHERS song before the three start exerting their jazzy virtuosity. John Abercrombie, whom I've come to recognize as one of the greatest jazz guitarists ever, really puts on a display of CHET ATKINS-like virtuosic subtlety, also like Chet, often covering the low and middle ranges as well as rhythm--despite the fact that he's got one of the best rhythm sections ever assembled beneath him. The ECM sound is, as one comes to expect, incredibly well recorded, engineered, and rendered unto tape: it seems that every tiny little nuance of each players' performance is captured with pristine accuracy. Dave Holland is such a lyrical bass player that I don't for a minute lament the absence of vocals or words, and when he's soloing, we get to observe the creative/inventive rhythm strokes of Mr. Abercrombie--one of the areas that he excels in a way similar to that of John McLaughlin and Jan Akkerman. While I don't really like this style of music, I find myself sitting back while bathing in the enjoyment of hearing these fine musicians captured for all time, just for me. (13.75/15)

2. "Waiting" (2:13) interesting little loose piece with Dave's bass providing the focal material. Innocuous and forgettable. (Even as I just heard it two minutes ago.) (4.25/5)

3. "May Dance" (11:04) a piece that sounds a lot like the old jazz of the 1960s when the free-jazz artists were really starting to take off. Jack sounds like he's doing the best job playing off of John's lead guitar work, but then Dave Holland is so adept, so attuned that he may be not only in perfect synchrony but also perhaps the lead instrument. Heck! I understand free-jazz so poorly that maybe Jack's the lead--or all three could be racing off in their own direction. What let's me know that the artists aren't too far out there is the fact that there is some cohesion in the form of the pacing. John's guitar play in the sixth minute is so bizarre it reminds me of the free-form guitar playing of Sonny Sharrock or Robert Fripp. We get a nice extended bass solo in the seventh and eighth minutes as Dave and Jack back off to provide only minimal assistance. When double bass players solo like this I feel that they're really just practicing scales and inventing inversions and chords, never really thinking in terms of melody. In the meantime Jack and John's subtleties are equally, if not more, mesmerizing. Oh, to be in their heads in order to gain some inkling of comprehension for what they are doing! Though this is not my favorite form of music, at least with this song I am able to stay with the guys: I'm not driven away by the dissonance or anarchic chaos. (17.75/20)

4. "Unshielded Desire" (4:52) this song starts out as a Jack DeJohnette drum solo (with emphasis on the cymbal play). John enters about 30-seconds in with some wah-wah-ed staccato machine gun note play, but I find myself still glued to Jack's performance. I'm astonished to find that over two minutes into the song it's still a duet: nary a sign of Dave Holland! And yet, it's brilliant! It's breath-taking! The edge of Jazz-Rock Fusion but fascinating! At the end of the fourth minute the boys turn on the rock afterburners and really charge it up! Wow! Terry Kath and Danny Seraphine: eat your hearts out! (9.5/10)

5. "Jamala" (7:47) delicate cymbal play with sparse- and subtle-ly played volume controlled electric guitar note play and quiet, mostly accenting bass far beneath. John hits some stunningly beautiful riffs and runs, providing just enough space in between to allow the simple listener, such as myself, time to digest the offerings. Such pristine clarity in the guitar notes (and cymbals)! Though the music of this song falls more into the realm of pure jazz, it is still quite accessible and totally enjoyable. On the version I have access to, this song is over seven minutes long--with the final three minutes spaciously evolving into some aggressive, distorted, more-rock-oriented guitar and band play for the final minute. Wow! Now that was unexpected! (13.875/15)

6. "Sorcery 1" (10:56) Jack, followed by a very melodic Dave Holland, establishing a song with some blues-rock attitude. I like it! John enters with the same aggressive, distorted guitar tone that snuck into the end of the previous song. Now this is cutting edge Jazz-Rock Fusion of the highest order! These three musicians are so gifted! To be able to deliver this kind of cohesive music while playing at such high levels of virtuosity--and making it all feel as if it's so EFFORTLESS! Incredible! John sounds as if Jimi Hendrix were gifted, and Dave as if Noel Redding had a clue, and Mitch Mitchell had some skill and restraint! The musicians' performances are so mesmerizing that the song's eleven minutes pass by in the blink of an eye! Dave's intuition for holding back! Jack's intuition for providing such brilliant accent to John's guitar! And John! The dude that makes it all feel so Power Trio rock 'n' roll! Not a note wasted and yet not a note that isn't jaw- droppingly shocking! One of the best trio songs I've ever heard! Total perfection! (20/20)

Total Time: 44:46

Gateway's variety surprises me. The level of virtuosity coming from all three musicians even comes as a surprise. (I mean: I knew, but I never KNEW!) And then put that immaculate ECM production value from Manfred Eicher into the mix and you have an indisputable masterpiece of Jazz-heavy Jazz-Rock Fusion.

93.09 on the Fishscales = A/five stars; a total masterpiece of Jazz-Rock Fusion. If everyone heard that last song, "Sorcery I", alone, there would be a reshuffling of the greatest power trio songs of all-time. Step down Jimi, Eric, Larry, Stevie Ray, and Johnny Mac! There was a trio that was way better than you! And please, let's start adjusting our pantheon of guitar greats to include Mr. John Abercrombie at or near the very top!