Customer Reviews

Gateway 2

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The 2nd "GATEWAY" release is much more thoughtful and sedate but no less involving than the other titles by Abercrombie, Holland and DeJohnette. "OPENING" is a perfect start---DeJohnette using his percussion to brilliant effect (and closing the track also) with Holland dropping in for some limber bass that gets things rolling and Abercrombie's ethereal guitar creating the magic that sets him apart from ANY fret man in jazz. The typical ECM sound is here and kudos to Manfred Eicher for producing this and many classic albums of this stature. If you're a fan of any of the gentlemen featured here, this is a great trio CD and should not be missed.

John Abercrombie, Dave Holland and Jack Dejohnette reunited in the second offering of the Gateway trio. The music on this CD is more intriguing than their first offering, and is glued together more closely than before. Dejohnette's rolling drums is met with Holland's thoughtful and bold bass lines, providing a rich landscape for Abercrombie's lucid lines on the guitar.

The magic between the three players is obvious from the first track "Opening": thumping bass and drums underlying Abercrombie's avant-garde guitar improvisations slowly but surely building in collective improvisation. In "Sing Song", one of my favourite tunes, Abercrombie's craftily contructed melodic lines is counterbalanced by Holland's warm embrace on the bass, giving a very sentimental dialog rounded up with Dejohnette's lyrical lines on the drums.

This album is a glimpse at the future of jazz from the 70's: very sparse structures building itself through contructive communication between the players in real-time. Simply a timeless classic that I keep finding myself back to again and again.

This is the best Gateway set. As others have noted, the interplay between the players is awesome (and this isn't a trick of studio magic - I saw them in England just as this album (then) was being released and their interplay live is accurately captured here). The tunes are memorable and the improvising is first rate. I guarantee that this will stick in you mind for a long time (in the best way).

I have owned this since the day it was released as an LP. The interplay &
imrovisation between these 3 musicians is almost scary. Their dynamic
range & sense of melody (this applies to Mr.Dejohnette's drummimg as well)comes from years of playing together in different formats. The tunes on this one just sail. If you bought only 1 record with them on it, this
should be it. It is now 30 years since I first heard this & I still
consider it a favorite despite having a sizable jazz library. It's been too long since the last Gateway recordings on ECM. And somebody ask Mr. Abercrombie to break out that Fender electric mandolin.

Gateway 2: Featuring John Abercrombie: guitar,mandolin, Dave Holland:Bass,Jack Dejohnette:drums,piano. What a fantastic CD.These gentlemen have been a major force in the modern music world.Their list of credits is rather extensive, from Charles Lloyd,Miles Davis,Billy Cobham,the Brecker brothers etc.In this studio session the fellas are working from a more extemporized setting,instead of their usual outings that find them exploring each others compositions,this CD appears to be mostly focused on "free playing" or open ended concepts,rather than planned out compositions. Beautiful,engaging,thought provoking. If you are new to the 'magic' that is the "Gateway Trio" you might prefer their first CD,simply titled"Gateway".
If you are an adventure minded music lover check these gentlemen out. You will not be sorry.I give this CD 5 stars.It is another great session from these master improvisors.

If you get one of the "Gateway" albums, this is the one to get. Jack D. sounds good on piano on the simple "Blue," too--it is a better version than the one on Holland's "Triplicate."
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