John Abercrombie, Lyrical Jazz Guitarist, dies at 72

John Abercrombie 1944-2017

My guess is that the Philadelphia Spectrum
Has had throughout the years
Many who have asked the simple question:
“What am I doing here?”

Granted most doing the asking
Were lost in drug-dazzled delusion
But at least one was carefully crafting
His part in rock- jazz fusion

Abercrombie was just getting some notice
He rocked riffs jazzy bluesy
But this is not where he wanted to focus:
Sharing a bill with Brothers Doobie

Jesus may be all right
Just not every night

The first time his fingers twitched,
Chuck Berry on the radio
The he switched up his licks
Kessel and Wes and away we go

He knew very early
Straight rock would rust with time
Studied guitar – Boston, Berklee
Classmates? Just nine.

He played in bands of rising musicians
Toured with a host of true believers
Came to understand that it was in him
To make a record where he was the leader

With “Timeless” he totally changed the game
Tempo, tone, texture
It cannot be wholly explained
But at Berklee there’s a lecture

(You’re at a club, you hear it clearly:
The mystery in the sound
Then your friend gets drunk on theory
And misery abounds
Art is everlasting
waves of sound go on and on
But conversations not worth having
Can seem to last as long)

Sharp-edged electric fusion, barreling post-bop
Chamber jazz attunement tinged with raga pop
(I confess to confusion to some of these descriptions
Except “wandering irresolution”, I do that in the kitchen)

A man of many signatures: an unassuming nature,
And every bit the listener as a tunesmith and a player
Every solo taken is in service to the whole
No future in amazing without a semblance of a soul

Some songs he played a thousand times
but what’s a boy to do?
He said with an open mind
The song is always new

On days of gray, such a phrase
I’ll attempt not to forget
It’s another day, take the stage
And play another set

Thanks to Giovanni Russonello, New York Times Obituary