John Abercrombie
39 Steps
ECM **** RECOMMENDED
39 Steps has a lilt and a bittersweet quality that draws you in but never too close. A bit different to last year’s standards outing Within a Song, which featured Joe Lovano, this time Lovano is absent and Philly-born pianist Marc Copland joins the 68-year-old New York state-born guitarist, with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Joey Baron in empathetic tow. Abercrombie and Copland go way back and bond here like brothers. Opener ‘Vertigo’ sets the scene well but ‘Greenstreet’ and the pleasingly opaque ‘Melancholy Baby’ are best of all. A master of jazz guitar in his prime, 39 Steps is a beauty.