Gateway [Original recording reissued]

Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, John Abercrombie | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 6, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Ecm Records
• ASIN: B000026148
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #145,991 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Let The Sorcerer amaze you, April 17, 2000

By 

Pharoah S. Wail (Inner Space) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Gateway (Audio CD)

This is definitely a cd worth buying. This is coming from a person who is admittedly not the biggest fan of John Abercrombie (or jazz with an electric guitar in-general). While I have to admit that I don't like track two at all, BACK-WOODS SONG, UNSHIELDED DESIRE, and SORCERY 1 are worth the cost of the cd. BACK-WOODS SONG just has an incredibly cool groove to it and Dave Holland's playing and acoustic bass tone on it get me every single time I listen to this cd. This tune is probably one of my all-time favorite jazz tunes.

DeJohnette's playing is stellar! He is just drenched in that hard swinging, power-rhythmic style that he has perfected, and he and Holland are fantastic together. As great as Abercrombie plays during his best moments on this cd, for me it is Holland and DeJohnette (and the tunes) who make this a cd worth visiting time and time again. If you don't know Abercrombie well, his guitar tone is "softer" than that of other "fusion guitarists" such as McLaughlin or DiMeola. Not as in a "smooth jazz" sort of way, I just mean that his sound isn't a screaming wall of stinging electricity. Actually, I don't consider this fusion really though. I don't like fusion... too many horribly dated sounds and bad synthesizer schlock. This cd is gloriously thick sounding acoustic bass, a master drummer who swings when called for and "goes out" when called for, and an ethereal guitar tone. For lack of a better way to explain it... John Abercrombie's guitar tone sounds sort of like some of Steve Kimock's better sounds, though Abercrombie is easily the more original of the two guitarists.

I had very strong reservations when I bought this cd. Electric guitar is probably my least favorite instrument in a jazz setting and I had quite low expectations but I let myself follow my curiosity. I am glad I did, the quality of the music on this cd surprised me greatly and I have since enjoyed many listens to it.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No. 2 on the All Time ECM Hit List, March 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Gateway (Audio CD)

Yes, if avant garde jazz is your thing, this is the album for you. John Abercrombie is able to use his formidable pallet of sounds against one of the finest rhythm pairs on the market. DeJohnette and Holland mix it up for a framework that is just poetry. (For No. 1 ECM LP of all time, check out the original Rypdal/Vitous/DeJohnette recording).

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Dark Side of "Fusion" Guitar Music, November 1, 1998

By 

Jeffrey Osier - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gateway (Audio CD)

John Abercrombie has developed into a far more conventional guitarist than anyone hearing this album in 1976 could have ever imagined. At that time, amid the ever-slickening technical wizards (such as DiMeola and Holdsworth), Abercrombie was featured leader or sideman on a series of inspired recordings for ECM. In retrospect, a lot of what JA was trying to do didn't work -- he would stray so methodically away from cliches (and sometimes even the harmony of the piece) that it could seem aimless and pointless. But the point was, at a time when post-Hendrix electric jazz guitar was being codified into its own set of cliches, JA was searching relentlessly for sounds that no one had ever heard before. This recording is the high point of that search. Bolstered by some great Dave Holland compositions and the incredible interplay with Holland and Jack DeJohnette, Abercrombie plays some of the wildest and most idea-driven guitar solos you'll hear anywhere. Listen especially to "Unshielded Desire" (a duo with drummer DeJohnette) and "Sorcery 1," where JA's out-on-a-limb approach has some of its most spectacular moments. "Jamala," Dave Holland's ballad, is a gorgeous Abercrombie/Holland duet. The only downside on this CD (big enough to cost it that fifth star) is the overlong guitar solo on "May Dance," where JA really loses focus and never regains it. Even here, though, you've got a magnificent Dave Holland solo to pull the song out of a nosedive. If you're a big fan of 70s fusion guitar or its influence on 80s rock guitar, you might hate this. But if you're a fan of the darker pathways of jazz improvisation, give this a shot. This is one of the deepest, most imaginative guitar trio recordings in all of jazz.