GATEWAY: GATEWAY 2

John Abercrombie's music has always been about texture more than anything else; mood, feeling, color, and the slow expansion of time over space. It is electric jazz at its most sensitive, liberated from the trappings of fusion.

This follow-up to the classic 'Gateway' album features Dave Holland's sumptuous double bass filling the room with its deep sound and booming anchor, and the tight but loose Jack DeJohnette shooting with silky confidence on the traps. And then of course there's John Abercrombie, an instrumentalist like no other, putting the icing on the cake with notes and phrases thet seem to come from nowhere and resonate with light before disappearing again. The centerpiece of 'Gateway 2' has to be 'Nexus', a deft and infectious rhythm punctuated by soaring, often weeping solos. Abercrombie is able to *pull* notes and sounds out of his axe that lightly fill the air with painterly images-- vibrations having no discernible beginning or ending, as if his physical connection to the guitar is more important than his musical one. The result is a sensual, almost carnal impression of an artist in love with his muse and the private experience of that relationship recorded for us to peek into. A lovely third outing for this trio and an elegant addition to their catalog.

Two years after Gatewa from 76y, the same trio comes back to record the second tome of Gateway, this one being a bit more even affair, but on the whole, it's a quieter album. The only difference line-up-wise is that Jack is also playing some piano on some tracks. Like all Abercrombie albums before, this album is produced by the ECM label owner Manfred Eicher and the typical type of artwork is given, this time a photograph collage od clouds and an exotic door..

Starting out on the stupendous the slow developer 16-mins+ Opening, a joint composition that stands out easily as the album highlight, the album gives many reasons to think that the first Gateway was only training ground for thiis present album; The only slight remark is that I wish that Holland and DeJohnette's respective solos were either a duo or not overstaying its welcome, but this is minute. Rounding up the album's first side is Holland's Reminiscence, which sets the tone for most of the rest of the album, a very quiet affair.

Indeed, the flipside opens on the equally quiet Abercrombie Sing song, where his fluid electric guitar sails smoothly over an almost-windless summer day. Dave Holland's Nexus is probably the album's most exciting track, and certainly the second highlight of Gateway2. The electric guitar and Holland's bass take on a slightly Moorish flavour, letting us dream of the Sahara infinite spaces. The closing Dejohnette Blue is a mainly piano piece, played by Jack himself, even if Holland and Aber do much to enlighten the Jarrett- inspired piano: let's not forget Jack and Dave were present on most of Keith's 70's works.

Amother typical album of Abercrombie's early "solo" career, one that managed to play on ambiances more than on pure musical grounds, but however good are the three musicians, I find that their line-up is somewhat reductive of the trio's overall capacity. Indeed, had they used more keyboards (Hammer anyone?) and formed a quartet, there would've been so much more to listen to. .

The trio of fairly conservative jazz virtuosos take on their second album together, this time presenting their own interpretations and variations of other songs and styles.

1. "Opening" (16:19) there is a lot of textural experimentation over the course of the first four minutes--mostly coming from Jack DeJohnette's drums, a little from Dave Holland's bass play, while John Abercrombie takes quite a long time to introduce and then his very heavily-treated electric guitar (chorus, reverb, delay, and echo--thankfully no distortion). Amazingly the song maintains a rather steadily-increasing trajectory of development throughout the song--even managing to make a lot of noise with their highly-sophisticated weave (a weave that reminds me of peak-era 1980s Pat Metheny Group). Then the solos start in the second half with Dave's cymbal-supported bass solo occupying the eleventh and twelfth minutes before John and Jack jump forward to boost the energy: really complementing and augmenting Dave's continued buoyant enthusiasm. In the second half of the fourteenth minute Dave and John's play begins to stagnate and then fade (in volume) in order to make way for a sophisticated (as opposed to a showy or extra-dynamic) drum solo from Jack. All hands go to delicate mode for the wind chime bells finish. Cool song! Not what I expected from that long disorganized intro. (27.75/30)

2. "Reminiscence" (4:36) the boys here exploring their personal and rather separate improvised ruminations on Rodrigo's Adagio from "Concierto for Aranjuez." (9/10)

3. "Sing Song" (6:57) structured like a "Tea for Two" waltz using a sound palette that would become quite prevalent for the more traditional guitar jazz songs on Pat Metheny albums for that artist's entire career. I mean the sounds and stylings of all the musicians here are remarkable for sounding so close to those of Pat, Steve Rodby, and Paul Wertico! Beautiful and masterful. These guys know what they're doing even if the results aren't as dynamic as those of the Power Fusion bands like The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, and Eleventh House. (13.5/15)

4. "Nexus" (7:58) an unusual song that is rendered almost Third Stream Jazz-Rock Fusion for its David Torn-like guitar sounds and phrases used by John Abercrombie. I find it interesting that the most controlled and unexciting musician here is also the song's composer (Dave Holland). (13.75/15)

5. "Blue" (8:14) for this song Jack gives up his drummer's stool for the piano bench, playing the lead work while Dave and John respond and react to his musings. The song starts out as if Jack is trying to challenge and trick the others but then they seem to fall into line with forward motion for a while. Then, at the five-minute mark, Jack's collaborators step aside to watch as Jack solos, but they're soon back offering quite minimal/subtle support (Dave with his bowed bass). The music is quite lovely and evocative of many emotions and memories: some pastoral, some psychological. I like this very much but it is not background music. (14/15)

Total Time: 44:01

The jazzier side of Jazz-Rock Fusion is here anchored in Jack DeJohnette's very classically-conservative jazz drumming as well as Dave Holland's clear adherence to traditional jazz bass sounds and stylings. Even John Abercrombie's electrified guitar is well-within the sound traditions of past guitar masters from the 1960s like Barney Kessel, Charlie Christian, and Wes Montgomery.

A-/five stars; another masterpiece (though of the minor type) from this trio of maestros. When you get three of the finest craftsmen of their particular instruments together, it feels as if expectations are raised, so it's nice when the band can deliver--as they do here.