John Abercrombie unveils a band comprised of old friends, and increases the improvisational quotient in his new music on "Cat´n´Mouse", which extends the experimental spirit of the "Open Land" session. This time, the emphasis is placed on string sounds, and the interaction of Abercrombie’s guitar, Mark Feldman’s violin, and Marc Johnson’s double-bass. Drummer Joey Baron adds drive and an edgy intensity to the music.
Cat 'n' Mouse
John Abercrombie, Mark Feldman, Joey Baron, Marc Johnson
- 1A Nice Idea
10:55 -
05:31 - 3String Thing
03:58 - 4Soundtrack
08:03 - 5Third Stream Samba
08:41 - 6On The Loose
05:58 - 7Stop and Go
06:59 - 8Show Of Hands
09:18
Baron and Abercrombie haven't crossed paths much in the last decade, but they also go back a long way. About 20 years ago, a young Baron substituted for Peter Donald, one night in Los Angeles, in an Abercrombie group with Richie Beirach and George Mraz. Through the 1980s, Baron would drop by for jam sessions in Abercrombie's Manhattan loft, often proposing unorthodox approaches to improvisation. "Let's think of a tune and not play it" was one of the directives Abercrombie fondly recalls. (A similar spirit might apply to parts of the present recording: "Third Stream Samba" for instance contains no hint of Brazilian rhythm.) "Joey has such a different take on the drums yet at the same time has all this tradition behind him, everything with work from Carmen McRae to big bands. And his playing is really wide open, ready to go anywhere at a moment's notice."
Abercrombie's "A Nice Idea", which opens the album, is one of a long train of waltzes written by the guitarist over the years. (His passion for 3/4 time once prompted pianist Andy Laverne to dedicate a composition, "The Waltz King", to Abercrombie). John praises Mark Feldman's contribution: "I can't imagine any other violinist being able to do what he does here. My tunes are not easy to improvise upon, and this one is harmonically pretty rich. But Feldman goes through it like it was a standard song."
"Convolution" is structured to encourage open-form playing: "It's a series of three little melodies which occur at different times, and in between the melodies the improvisation is quite free." A final theme sets up a rock rhythm. "At the end we play all the themes again, one after another, in rhythm." With electric guitar and violin playing the themes in unison, a heavy and powerful sound, some correspondences with the late Mahavishnu Orchestra may be noted.
"String Thing" was written on guitar and its melodic lines redistributed to Feldman and Johnson to create a chamber piece. "Manfred Eicher encouraged us to improvise freely around a harmonic chord progression extracted from the tune. Manfred also asked Mark Feldman and Marc Johnson to play without vibrato, to make the composition sound almost like a baroque piece." Abercrombie's steel string acoustic guitar takes on an almost lute-like sonority in the mix.
"Soundtrack" written on the piano, has a rich, romantic theme that cries out for cinematic treatment. "It's the soundtrack to a love story not yet written", the composer suggests.
Listening to playbacks of the first completely improvised piece on the disc, and the way in which abstract phrases of guitar and violin move around Joey Baron's brushed snare rhythms, Abercrombie was reminded of Third Stream music he'd heard around 1960, when Gunther Schuller and associates began to integrate jazz and classical forms. Hence "Third Stream Samba": "There's no 'Samba' of course ..." Broken rhythms figure prominently.
"On The Loose" is in two sections, the first has a "bluesy, backbeat feel", the second - cued with three sharp raps on Baron's snare - is in a fast and furious jazz tempo. The extreme diversity of approach challenges the soloists to play quite differently at both ends of the song.
"Stop And Go" is the oldest tune on the album, written 25 years ago in response to a recording by the Jerry Hahn Quintet. Guitarist Hahn, probably best known for his work with Gary Burton ("Country Roads", "Throb" etc) and John Handy, had a recording on (roots music label) Arhoolie with a band that included Jack DeJohnette, bassist Ron McLure, saxophonist Noel Jewkes and violinist Michael White. "The direction on Hahn's record was 'free country swing'. The melodies were country and almost corny and the solos were played in what we used to call 'time, no changes': there'd be a rhythm, a fast jazz tempo, but no harmonic progression. So 'Stop And Go' is in this spirit, in the style of a piece by Jerry Hahn called 'Dippin' Snuff'". The country context allows Mark Feldman to touch on some of the things he learned in a six year residency in Nashville. Before the violinist landed in New York, he was an in-demand session violinist in Tennessee, recording with country giants including Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, George Jones and Tammy Wynette.
Finally, "Show of Hands" is another free piece, building from delicate textural exploration and sound-colour, to powerful blowing. Towards the end of the collective improvisation, as the storm subsides, Joey Baron abandons drumsticks to play the kit with his hands. Hence the title.
The Abercrombie-Feldman-Johnson-Baron quartet tours the US in support of this CD in March, finishing with a week at the Jazz Standard in New York City. In April and May they tour Europe.
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