John Abercrombie - Timeless 1974

The opener "Lungs" sets the tone–Abercrombie's spacy guitars arc in waves of sound, cresting on Hammer's spiky organ licks and gurgling synth frills, as DeJohnette's searing percussion threatens to send the entire escapade crashing onto a sonic reef. Whew.
John Abercrombie emerged in the shadows of McLaughlin and Di Meola. He is subtler and, in some ways, more restrained and accomplished. The result here on his ECM debut is a session that really stands the test of time: TIMELESS indeed! I am particularly fond of the title track and the acoustic pieces (there are two here and they are sophisticated entries in the same vein as Mahavishnu's "Thousand Island Park" and Return to Forever's acoustic material: if only fusion had done MUCH MORE of this it would not have mutated into a parody of itself).
The sound of the record is tight, energetic, yet somehow mellow. Jack DeJohnette is superb throughout, Jan Hammer makes a rare appearance on Hammond B3 and just sizzles! On the up-tempo side is "Lungs" an opening burner that settles into an exploratory groove. On the mystical, searching side is the title track that takes a simple motiff and weaves a long gorgeous story that has much more to do with what we think of as the "ECM sound" than "fusion". This should be your first stop on the way to discovering the rich discography of John Abercrombie. Five Stars (meaning: EVERY track is superb, no clunkers, no filler)

The Sky Moves Sideways

1 Lungs 12:11
2 Love Song 4:35
3 Ralph's Piano Waltz 4:55
4 Red and Orange 5:24
5 Remembering 4:33
6 Timeless 11:58



John Abercrombie Guitar
Jack DeJohnette Drums
Jan Hammer Organ, Piano, Synthesizer