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John Abercrombie Remembered
Marc Johnson
bassb.1953
Peter Erskine
drumsb.1954
Joe Lovano
drumsb.1952
Drew Gress
bassb.1959
"Playing music with John Abercrombie, and knowing him as a friend, has been one of the true highlights of my life. John loved nothing more than getting together in his living room to play...without agenda...more as a kind of social ritual. His main interest was in spontaneous musical conversation. He'd nothing to prove, was not particularly concerned with technical considerations, but always had something interesting to say. Music was a natural, intuitive expression of his inner self. Coupled with his fabulous, irreverent sense of humor [Absorbine The Greek, Jr. indeed!], playing and touring with him was pure joy. His large catalog of originals is chock full of melodic gems as idiosyncratic as their composer. He was, and remains, the essential composer/improvisor. I will miss him." 
Joey Baron
drumsb.1955
The special thing that stands out about John is his natural democratic manner as a player and writer. He could not help it—it's just the way he was. John always welcomed his bandmates' ideas and was a fearless team player. He had the whole package: energy, beauty, surprise, lyricism, soul, and swing. 
Brad Shepik
guitar
I was lucky to have studied with John Abercrombie in 1987 on a trip to NY and later that summer in Banff. The albums, Gateway, Night , and Current Events were albums of his that I had listened to heavily at that point. I was trying to copy his fluid sound and way of phrasing on the guitar. I loved the sense space and mystery about his sound and deep compositions. His solos seemed perfect to me, I loved how they would rise organically out of his tunes and how he would build his solos to a burn like at the end of "Ethereggae," and "Hippityville." It was all swirling in my head when I got to meet him for a lesson in June 1987. I remember we talked about none of those things, but we talked a lot about 
Jim Hall
guitar1930 - 2013
Steve Cardenas
guitar
I first heard John Abercrombie on his earlier records, the first quartet and duos with 
Ralph Towner
guitarb.1940
Rez Abbasi
guitar, acousticb.1965
I took a few lessons with John on the side while I was attending Manhattan School of Music. I was always attracted to the fact that he had a vision that came through in all he did; playing, composing and sound. The lessons with him cemented in me at an early age that I had to think larger than simply playing solos over tunes but that I had to develop a concept that would move through everything. He never said it that way but it came across in his example. He was the first guitarist I saw play in NY, when he was in 
Michel Petrucciani
piano1962 - 1999
Pete McCann
guitarb.1966
John Abercrombie was a tremendously gifted guitarist and composer who had a profound affect on me and a generation of guitarist who grew up listening to him. Without a doubt, John would make any top 10 great jazz guitarist list. Some of my favorite Abercrombie albums: Gateway, Arcade, Night, and Current Events. His work with Kenny Wheeler was also stellar! John always had a great sound, wether it was on arch-top, Les Paul, Roland Guitar Synth, or hand made instruments by Ric McCurdy. He was also a prolific composer and many of his tunes have a unique 'Abercrombie' sound. His tunes had very rich harmonies, often dark and brooding chord structures, but always a singable and memorable melody. John will be sorely missed but his music lives on.
Photo credit: Dragan Tasic
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John Abercrombie
Dave Allen
Drew Gress
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Steve Cardenas
Rez Abbasi
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Brad Shepik
ECM Records
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