John Abercrombie - Class Trip

[Nate Dorward]

1) It's nice

2) It's not really as good as Cat 'n' Mouse though

3) I really like Mark Feldman in this group though. Often he seems to me really too dazzling for his own good--witness George Schuller's recent release JigSaw where he's great but always stands out. & Feldman has a small budget of licks he tends to use over & over in each cadenz--er, solo. But on the two discs with Abercrombie (I'm not counting the previous disc where he sits in with the organ trio, which is a little different) Feldman really seems a lot more intimate & willing to use small gestures. He's willing to sound veiled.

4) the disc does tend to settle into a kind of drifting graceful moody groove in 3/4 or 6/8 or 12/8 (I think about 2/3rds of the tracks are in triple meter rather than 4/4 or free).....so it does get a little sameish. Very little of the freeform playing of the previous disc. & Abercrombie doesn't rock out really, though there's one peppy track (ECM tends to ration these to one or two tracks per disc): an Ornettey thing called "Swirls".

5) nonetheless if you liked the first disc the 2nd won't disappoint. But if you've heard neither, get the 1st disc first.


Hm, ECM does seem to be doing a lot of sequels lately. Look at the Abercrombie, Crispell, Stanko & Maneri releases--more or less attempts to extend the franchise of a previous ECM recording by the same band (the [minor] exception is the Crispell, which has a change of bassist).

[Ennis Snavely]

I like this one a lot, Nate. I'll have to check out "Cat and Mouse" though. Abercrombie, it's true, doesn't really cut loose on this, but it is still a very nice, tastefull session. It does tend to put me to sleep if I put it on late in the day, but everything else does that for the most part.

[stonemonkts]

I ordered two Abercrombie recordings just yesterday, Cat n' Mouse, and Timeless. I enjoy November so I figured those two would be a nice earful as well.

[BlueMiles]

I've become a big fan of Abercrombie's over the past few years. He has done some great work in the last decacde. I espeically like "Open Land," which is kind of a bridge album from the organ group to the quartet with Feldman. This was the album that first turned me on to more subtle aspects of Feldman's playing. Also, Kenny Wheeler and John A. produce (as always) a wondeful rapport.

For excellence in a a more stripped down setting, try "Homecoming." This stunning trio (with Holland and DeJohnette) reaches its full potential. As many of you know, the record is attibuted to Gateway.

I have also enjoyed John's playing over the past several years with Charles Lloyd.

I own "Cat and Mouse," which is a good one. I don't yet have the new CD, but I am certainly interested in it.

I believe the current issue of Jazz Times has a very nice article on John Abercrombie.

[Ennis Snavely]

Originally Posted by stonemonkts

I ordered two Abercrombie recordings just yesterday, Cat n' Mouse, and Timeless. I enjoy November so I figured those two would be a nice earful as well.

"Timeless" is just that.

[Gentle Giant]

Originally Posted by BlueMiles

For excellence in a a more stripped down setting, try "Homecoming." This stunning trio (with Holland and DeJohnette) reaches its full potential. As many of you know, the record is attibuted to Gateway.

I was actually going to start a thread on this CD, as I picked it up not long ago. Makes me want to get all the Gateway albums, especially the first.

I last saw Abercrombie with Lloyd a year or so ago, and he was excellent.

[john williams]

I Love Cat and Mouse, which I really should give another spin soon. I might get the new one too.


Open Land is good too but less cohesive than C&M, though I always enjoy Wheeler.

[BlueMiles]

I prefer to think of "Open Land" as being varied. I consider this a pretty vital quality in this age of CD's with super-long running times.

[Nate Dorward]

I dont know, Open Land never really clicked with me like the basic organ trio discs did, in part because Wheeler & esp. Lovano seem at a little less than their best (though Feldman's in great form). & the two excellent concerts by that trio I saw live stick in the mind--amazing version of "Equinox" for instance. I haven't heard the first of the trio discs but Speak of the Devil has some great stuff (plus a couple dull tracks admittedly) & Tactics is even better (some nice standards performances on it too).

[Capt.W./TX.]

"Class Trip" is on my 'need-to-get' list.

I enjoy "Cat 'N Mouse" a lot. IMO, it was a 'Top Ten' jazz CD the year it was
issued (2002).

Trust me: I've worked in the studio with violinists (including a couple of world-class concertmasters: Anshel Brusilow and Gerald Tarack) and jazz and country fiddle players as well. Mark Feldman raises the bar for everybody-jazz and classical alike. Among his attributes, his intonation is the best I've ever heard from any jazz violinist (for that matter, his intonation is probably better than many of his brethern in symphony orchestras).

There's a moment at the end of one of the tracks on "Cat 'N Mouse' where Feldman plays a very high sustained harmonic that is astonishing in its effect- simply because it so perfectly IN TUNE.

Anybody who hasn't heard Feldman's work with Dave Douglas-especially the 'Charms Of The Night Sky' group and the quintet CDs on Soul Note-needs to check that stuff out. He's even scarier there-because the music is much more complex and demanding. And he NAILS it!

It's hard for me to completely impartial about two of musicians on the Abercrombie sessions, since I know-and have played with-both of them:

I've known Marc Johnson (a Ft. Worth native) since he was a student at what is now UNT in Denton, TX. We played together at the memorial service for Fred Crane, the great Dallas pianist who hired Marc for gigs in Dallas and was a mentor to him (Fred recommended Marc to his old college running buddy, Bill Evans, after Eddie Gomez left the Evans trio).

Joey Baron is an old associate and friend; we toured together with Al Hirt in '85-86' (Joey was also doing gigs back then with the Red Rodney-Ira Sullivan quintet or Toots Thielmans-when he wasn't touring with Hirt). Ever since, I've found myself buying almost any CD that lists Joey on it (I used to kid him that he wasn't just versatile-he was actually several different drummers in one body!).

Abercrombie is creative, musical-and consistantly listenable. Hard to believe he's in his fourth decade as an ECM artist. I've never heard an album of his that wasn't worth hearing again.

[kh1958]

I was fortunate to see John Abercrombie with Mark Feldman at Birdland (with organ and drums) about three years ago. I like John Abercrombie, but Mark Feldman was great, incredible, amazing...

[Sand]

I have listened to John Abercrombie recordings since 1975, and have used the Johnson/Baron method described by Capt.W./Tex for 20 years now.
So far I've heard snippets from Class Trip and I very much look forward to listening to all of it.
Mark Feldman is the kind of violinist I've been waiting for to emerge in jazz .

Have you noticed that J.A. is cheating? The Bass is tuned like a guitar (ok) and the mandolin like a violin...Everybody's entitled to an opinion and you may prefer John's

[Nate Dorward]

Feldman is indeed great stuff. I wish ECM would add him to the Marilyn Crispell trio & goose her a bit--he was really a major factor in her Santuerio, probably her best disc....

Interesting to learn that the album was at first called Three and More to reflect the amount of waltz-time things on it.

[Pete C]

I'm really enjoying "Class Trip." I haven't heard Cat 'n' Mouse, though.

I'm a big Feldman fan too. Living in NY, I've been able to see him in a number of different contexts. I have to assume he has serious conservatory training. I think he & Sylvie Courvoisier (another favorite of mine) live not far from me in Brooklyn.

I think one of the most important developments in jazz & improvised music over the last 15 or so years is the emergence of a slew of brilliant string players--Feldman, Erik Freidlander, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Mat Maneri, Vincent Courtois and musicians I think we'll be hearing a lot more from, like Okkyung Lee, Jennifer Choi & Dana Leong.

[Lois Gilbert]