01/08 2010 -Friday :: Abercrombie - Versace & Nussbaum

Web Site: John Abercrombie

Over a career spanning more than 40 years and nearly 50 albums, John Abercrombie has established himself as one of the masters of jazz guitar. Favoring unusual sounds (he played electronic mandolin on McCoy Tyner's 1993 album 4x4) and nontraditional ensembles (recent quartet recordings have included violinist Mark Feldman), Abercrombie is a restless experimenter, working firmly in the jazz tradition while pushing the boundaries of meter and harmony."

In the early 1970s, Abercrombie ran into Manfred Eicher, who invited him to record for ECM. The result was Abercrombie's first solo album, Timeless, in which he was backed by Jan Hammer and Jack DeJohnette. Abercrombie's second album, Gateway, was released in November 1975 with DeJohnette and bassist Dave Holland; a second Gateway recording was released in June 1978.

Throughout the 1990s and into 2000 and beyond, Abercrombie has continued to pluck from the ranks of jazz royalty--and be plucked for guest appearances on other artists' recordings. One propitious relationship was with guitarist, pianist, and composer Ralph Towner, with whom Abercrombie has worked in a duet setting. (Abercrombie has also worked in guitar duos with John Scofield, for 1993's Solar and with Joe Beck in Coincidence, released in 2007). Abercrombie has also recorded with saxophonist Jan Garbarek and bassist Eddie Gomez.

Abercrombie keeps up a heavy touring schedule and continues to record with ECM, a relationship that has spanned more than 30 years. As he told one interviewer, "I'd like people to perceive me as having a direct connection to the history of jazz guitar, while expanding some musical boundaries." That, no doubt, will be his legacy.

Web Site:Gary Versace

Since basing himself in New York City in June of 2002, jazz organist, pianist, and accordionist Gary Versace has quickly become one of the busiest and most versatile musicians on the scene, often featured in bands led by musicians such as John Scofield, John Abercrombie, Maria Schneider, Matt Wilson, Lee Konitz, Eliot Zigmund, Scott Wendholt, Joe Magnarelli, Danny Gottlieb, Seamus Blake, John Hollenbeck, Andy LaVerne, Adam Nussbaum, Brad Shepik, Ingrid Jensen, Tim Ries and many others.

Web Site:Adam Nussbaum

A very versatile drummer who generally plays in advanced settings, Adam Nussbaum is considered a major asset no matter where he appears and one of the finest jazz drummers of the 1990s. Although he started on piano, bass and alto, he eventually settled on drums.

Nussbaum studied at the Davis Center and City College of New York, and by 1978 was making a strong impression in the jazz world, playing regularly with both Dave Liebman and John Scofield (1978-83). Other important associations through the years include Stan Getz (1982-83), Gil Evans, the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, Gary Burton, Steve Swallow, Michael Brecker, Don Grolnick, James Moody, Sonny Rollins, Art Pepper, Joe Henderson, John Abercrombie, Sheila Jordan, Kenny Wheeler, Lee Konitz, NHØP and Charles Lloyd, along with countless others.