I never thought these words would come out of my mouth: this group is better than Gateway, Abercrombie's 'supergroup' with Dave Holland on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. I've always thought of Gateway as the perfect settings for Abercrombie's style of guitar playing. Certainly it's pretty tough to find fault with either of those two giants. But there's just something about Abercrombie's current lineup (which is the same as on 2002's Cat N Mouse). It may just be Joey Baron's 'fault'. While I don't usually like to play favorites (as in "this rates a 7, that rates an 8.5"), Baron's deft touch on the cymbals & brushes out-nuances DeJohnette on this particular record. Check out the clever "Illinoise". The interplay between Abercrombie's initial arpeggios and Baron's kit magic is just brilliant. By the time Johnson and Feldman enter the scene I'm pretty sure that I have entered the zone!
The rest of Class Trip is equally as interesting, with many solo, duet and trio sections forming on top of the song's basic foundation. Also present is ECM's familiar slightly 'wet' and reverb-laden sound. It's unfortunate that some have labeled Manfred Eicher's label as 'mellow' or 'laid back' as they really do miss the point: bringing together musician, composition and personality to (hopefully) create something unique and 'greater' than the sum of its components. If that ain't part of "The Zone", I don't know what is.
(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)
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