Late summer sunset: still still stillReviewed by Steve Wyzard, 2009-09-28
If you've come to this album looking for John Abercrombie's
high-intensity howling guitar-playing, you're in for a great
disappointment. If, however, you are interested in his gifts as a
composer, an interpreter, a technological innovator, and an
atmosphere-and-mood-creator par excellence, this album is a
must-have. Released in 1986, Current Events is not only one of
Abercrombie's greatest albums/performances EVER, but also one of
the very best albums released by ECM Records in the entire
decade.
There's an autumnal melancholy hanging over this album, but it
never descends into sentimentality or nostalgia. With the exception
of "Killing Time" (an over-the-top improv freak-out), it's mostly
calm and peaceful without becoming a soundtrack for massage therapy
or a new age healing center. It's nothing at all like Abercrombie's
disappointing previous (1984) album, Night. Most will comment on
the extensive use of the guitar synthesizer on songs like "Clint"
and "Hippityville" - a quirky pattern is laid down, add Peter
Erskine's solid drums and amazing cymbal work, add Marc Johnson's
rumbling, adventuresome bass-playing, build slowly and solo on top.
Abercrombie's acoustic playing is featured on "Lisa" and "Ralph's
Piano Waltz" (originally recorded on the 1975 fusion classic
Timeless).
The two performances that make this album one of the greats are
also the two longest. The second song, Sammy Fain and Bob
Hilliard's "Alice in Wonderland" (yes, the Disney one, also covered
by Bill Evans) opens with 1-1/2 minutes of the most hauntingly
beautiful guitar playing you will ever hear. Johnson solos over
Erskine's brush work and you have a very unlikely masterpiece.
Album-closer "Still" is built on a mesmerizing, repeating cadence -
close your eyes and you're in a vast, solemn cathedral listening to
chords on the pipe organ. Johnson (bass) and Abercrombie (acoustic
guitar) both have their say before it fades into nothingness. The
effect is absolutely unforgetable, embedding itself in the memory
long after it's over. Still indeed.
Give John Abercrombie credit for departing from expectations and
giving us something truly different and memorable. He would
continue with the guitar synthesizer, and with Johnson and Erskine
for the rest of the 1980s, but never came close to matching the
atmospheres captured on Current Events. While some will dismiss
this as an experiment gone wrong or "mindless noodling", I for one
am thankful he was willing to take chances, and we have this album
today.
Still TimelessReviewed by M. J. Devito, 2007-11-23
This is an amazing CD. Abercrombie only made about 3 CD's during
the 80's early 90's with the guitar synth before he scrapped that
and turned to the classical/jazz sound he has favored since then.
There was an energy in the 80's in jazz where there was a feeling
of something new again and I think it really was the last great
decade of jazz. And there was such a melding back then between jazz
and pop, whether it was Miles or Sting's first solo Cd, U2 or what
Pat Metheny was doing. We underestimate how "smooth jazz" has
rotted out the form from the inside out. Honestly, I can't remember
the last time I heard something both technically flawless and as
moving as this.
What Abercrombie does with the guitar synth here was just really
great. You never feel like your listening to a trio. Within a
melodic context he constantly deconstructs his own solos like on
Clint or Hippityville. For the beginning guitar student THERE IS A
LIFETIME'S WORTH OF GUITAR LESSONS HERE. I've been playing for 30
years and still learn new things whenever I hear this one...
A Masterpiece by a Virtuoso at the Peak of His PowersReviewed by Stephen Silberman, 2005-05-02
Guitarist John Abercrombie has recorded dozens of albums in varying
configurations, but "Current Events" is one of his very best. His
playing on each of the range of styles represented here -- from the
muted, straight-ahead swing of "Alice in Wonderland," to the perky
guitar-synth explorations of "Hippityville," to the hauntingly
lyrical meditation of "Still" -- would be a career peak for most
other guitarists. With the top-notch accompaniment of Marc Johnson
on bass and Peter Erskine on drums, Abercrombie often sounds like a
guitar player plus a keyboardist here, but the synth-tones he's
using on this album are warm and organic-sounding, unlike the more
tart, puckered flavors that have infiltrated his playing in recent
years.
It's truly a shame that Abercrombie is not more widely known among
the general jazz public. John Scofield has been able to package
himself more successfully, but is not nearly as versatile or
lyrical a player; Bill Frisell is brilliant, but Abercrombie has
maintained a standard of outright beauty across an astonishing
range of music that none of his peers can touch. He's a national
treasure.
A classicReviewed by Charles Hartman, 2003-01-14
I can't believe there's only one review of this album. I've now owned it on LP, cassette, and CD -- the last just ordered because I can't be without it. Abercrombie's been a lot of different players in the last 20 or 30 years. Here at least as well as anywhere he combines the lyrical, the fiery, and the atmospheric. It's a turning point, but of permanent interest to anyone engaged by guitar music, post-60s jazz, or simply American improvisation.
Oh well!Reviewed by Piotr C., 2002-06-04
I'm not a reviewer but need to say this: no time to hurry if you listen to this album and if you only hear the sounds you waste time because I see many fantastic colors melting in my mind. That's enough to recommend it.
