John Abercrombie: Come Rain or Come Shine

In a loosely defined structure based on the melody of the Arlen/Mercer standard, John Abercrombie and cohorts harmonically reconfigure this song into an almost unrecognizable pastiche of tonal explorations. Marc Johnson's wonderfully dancing bass serpentines around the probing guitar work of the always surprising Abercrombie. Peter Erskine's wonderfully subtle touch on the snares and cymbals smoothly keeps the pace. To categorize Abercrombie's playing is to pigeonhole it and is perhaps an exercise in futility. He has produced some of the most daringly interesting music of any guitarist performing today. An accomplished musician of tremendous lyricism and Evans-like harmonic complexity, his work with these musicians is particularly sympathetic. To say that this tune has been played many times before but never so uniquely is to state the obvious. Abercrombie's beautifully conceived ending is a wonderful testament to this classic song's enduring appeal to jazz musicians.