The Third Quartet

John Abercrombie

CD18,90 out of print
Featured Artists Recorded

June 2006, Avatar Studios, New York

Original Release Date

23.03.2007

  • 1Banshee
    (John Abercrombie)
    05:49
  • 2Number 9
    (John Abercrombie)
    05:26
  • 3Vingt Six
    (John Abercrombie)
    04:20
  • 4Wishing Bell
    (John Abercrombie)
    08:17
  • 5Bred
    (John Abercrombie)
    07:05
  • 6Tres
    (John Abercrombie)
    06:11
  • 7Round Trip
    (Ornette Coleman)
    04:59
  • 8Epilogue
    (Bill Evans)
    05:14
  • 9Elvin
    (John Abercrombie)
    08:23
  • 10Fine
    (John Abercrombie)
    03:23
Für jede andere Workingband wäre der Faktor “Routine” wohl eher ein veritabler Fallstrick. Für Abercrombies Lieblingscombo dagegen wirkt er wie ein übergroßes Ventil. Die vier suchen um so lustvoller das Risiko, je länger sie einander kennen. … Das dritte Quartett klingt noch eine Idee frischer, bunter weiser als das erste und das zweite. Eine hohe Messlatte für Nummer vier.
Reinhard Köchl, Jazzthing
 
Through the set the alternations of country roughness and European fastidiousness in Feldman, Baron’s and Johnson’s empathy, and Abercrombie’s glistening guitar sound, serve as reminders of what a richly resourceful group this goes on being.
John Fordham, The Guardian
 
There’s something very special about this latest disc from John Abercrombie’s quartet, but the whole thing’s so understated that it’s hard to put your finger on quite what it is. … It’s nice to hear a group quietly forging new ground like this – that is to say, not by smashing away at the limits of modern jazz, but rather by gently coaxing them slowly outwards. More to the point, it’s nice to hear such subtle and intimate music-making as on this record.
Matt Trustram, BBC Online
 
The Third Quartet is too sublime a recording to make much of a splash as far as sales and airplay are concerned, but it is likely to stand as one of guitarist John Abercrombie’s most haunting and elegant  releases.                                                   
Mike Joyce, Washington Post, April 13, 2007
 
Schon das erste Stück des Albums, „Banshee“, lehrt uns Möglichkeiten der Geige, die ein traditionelles Jazzquartett mit einem Bläser nicht haben kann. … Das Ensemble hat den Mut zum umstandslos Kammermusikalischen. John Abercrombie ist selbst ein Weichzeichner und Samtpfotiger. Delikatesse, Kultiviertheit, butterweiche Phrasierung – Gitarre und Violine verschmelzen im lyrischen Gleichklang in einer Musik fast ohne perkussive Attacke.
Christoph Merki, Tages-Anzeiger
 
Abercrombie’s band – which includes violinist Mark Feldman, bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joey Baron – provides uncommon support. The three musicians … adapt their playing styles to match the way in which the guitarist flitters around his fretboard. At times, it’s impossible to tell who’s doing what. Was that a flurry of notes on the ride cymbal or on the electric guitar? Feldman, especially, blurs the line between the quartet’s two melodic instruments. He not only mimics the simmering sound that comes from Abercrombie’s amp, he also echoes the bossman’s miniature motifs. There are no weak points in this band’s discography, but The Third Quartet might be the best of all three. It’s certainly the most symbiotic.
Brent Burton, JazzTimes