THE FIRST QUARTET 　　JOHN ABERCROMBIE, RICHIE BEIRACH, GEORGE MRAZ, PETER DONALD 　　Release date: 06.11.2015 　　ECM 2478-80 　　Available on: CD 　　Cart 　　 　　EN / DE This 3-CD set with recordings from 1978 to 1980, issued in ECM’s acclaimed Old & New Masters series, returns some historically-important material to the catalogue, namely the albums Arcade, Abercrombie Quartet and M. The quartet with Richie Beirach, George Mraz and Peter Donald – John Abercrombie’s first touring band as a leader – was the group in which the guitarist defined some priorities, moving away from a jazz-rock period into a more spacious, impressionistic and original music. Abercrombie and pianist Beirach had a strong musical rapport as improvisers and wrote almost all of the band’s book between them. George Mraz and Peter Donald provided imaginative support. For this edition the recordings - made in Oslo and Ludwigsburg and produced by Manfred Eicher – were remastered from original analog sources. 　　BACKGROUND 　　This 3-CD set with recordings from 1978 to 1980, issued in ECM’s acclaimed Old & New Masters series, returns some historically-important material to the catalogue, namely the albums Arcade, Abercrombie Quartet and M. The quartet with Richie Beirach, George Mraz and Peter Donald was the group in which guitarist John Abercrombie defined some priorities, moving away from a jazz-rock period into a more spacious, impressionistic and original music. Abercrombie and pianist Beirach had a strong musical affinity as improvisers and wrote almost all of the band’s book between them. Bassist George Mraz and drummer Peter Donald provided imaginative and creative support, with Mraz also penning a couple of tunes. For this edition the recordings – made in Oslo and Ludwigsburg and produced by Manfred Eicher – were newly remastered from original analog sources. It’s a first appearance on CD for these discs in most world territories (Arcade was briefly available on compact disc in Japan) and re-release of these titles has been much requested by followers of both Abercrombie and Beirach as well as ECM collectors. 　　 　　The quartet was Abercrombie’s first full-fledged band as a leader. The Gateway trio with Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette had been a co-operative group and one that toured only fitfully, while the trio with Jan Hammer and DeJohnette on Timeless (recorded 1974) was not a touring band at all. But the quartet with Beirach, Mraz and Donald was a very well-travelled unit. In the liner notes, Richie Beirach recalls, “We did four or five tours of Europe every year. We played every festival. That’s how we got it together. We played every night. In New York we had the Vanguard, then down the block, Sweet Basil and then St. James and across the street the Brecker Brothers’ Seventh Avenue South. It was a dream.” In between the club and festival dates came these three studio discs, Arcade and Abercrombie Quartet being record in Oslo’s Talent Studio and M, completing the trilogy, recorded in Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg. 　　 　　Friendship was at the heart of the group’s rapport. Abercrombie, Mraz and Donald had all lived in Boston in the mid-1960s. At one point, while still attending Boston’s Berklee School, John shared an apartment with Mraz and Jan Hammer. Of Peter Donald, Abercrombie says, “He was one of the first to encourage me to play the way I play. George, Peter and I would get together and have jam sessions. Then I moved to New York where I met Beirach, and we just naturally gravitated towards each other.” Guitarist and pianist first recorded together for ECM in 1973 on Dave Liebman’s Lookout Farm album. 　　 　　Between them the four members had amassed a lot of musical experiences. Mraz had played extensively with the New York Jazz Quartet, with Roland Hanna, Frank Wess and Grady Tate. Donald had covered the range the range from disciplined big bands (especially the Tabackin-Akiyoshi orchestra) to free small groups (Sam Rivers, Paul Bley); one US reviewer also discerned that “Donald has a lot of Tamla Motown in his wrists.” Mraz was the bassist for Beirach’s album Elm (1979) in a trio completed by Jack DeJohnette, and Richie had already recorded the solo album Hubris (1977) following in the ECM solo piano tradition established with recordings of Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Paul Bley and Steve Kuhn. The pianist also appeared on George Adams’s Sound Suggestions (1979, with Kenny Wheeler, Heinz Sauer, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette). Meanwhile, as sideman Abercrombie had been busy, featured on recordings with Jack DeJohnette, Enrico Rava, Collin Walcott, Barre Phillips, Kenny Wheeler and more. It was a rich and highly creative period, with personnel from one project spilling into the next. 　　 　　Yet the Abercrombie Quartet maintained a strong musical personality of its own. From the liner notes, by John Kelman: “With the release of Arcade, Abercrombie Quartet and M, John Abercrombie’s entire ECM discography as a leader is finally available on CD. Looking back at these discs and their position in his oeuvre, they are revealed as seminal documents of Abercrombie’s arrival as a distinctive writer, improvising guitarist and bandleader. […] Abercrombie’s subsequent career has, in many ways, been built on the foundational strength of these early quartet recordings.” 　　PRESS REACTIONS 　　John Abercrombie, the American jazz guitarist, must have long since tired of hearing that he should be as famous as Pat Metheny or John Scofield. But although he uncommercially opted for a chamber-musical style, he has always retained a diamond-hard clarity and expressive lyricism. This set covers his neglected early work with a quartet featuring pianist Richie Beirach, bassist George Mraz and drummer Peter Donald. […] Abercrombie connoisseurs and improv-guitar fans in general will relish it. 　　John Fordham, The Guardian 　　The three recordings gathered here – ‘Arcade’ (1978), ‘Abercrombie Quartet’ (1979) and ‘M’ (1980) – represent the New York guitarist’s flowering as a player and as a composer, moving away from his fusion roots towards a sparer, more chamber-style music. The quartet, with pianist Richie Beirach, bassist George Mraz and drummer Peter Donald, toured extensively and over these three recordings you hear them developing into one of the great bands of the era. 　　Cormac Larkin, Irish Times 　　There’s a lot of subtlety in the group interplay and real understanding between all four players. Repeated play brings out new sides to the music, say on the title track of M, as a bustling optimism asserts itself, and the feeling that the group is stretching out into new territory. There’s input from Mraz at the end with his tune ‘Pebbles’ adding a new compositional voice while ‘To Be’ on this last disc is the definitive balladic statement of the whole set where there’s a grandeur and gritty robustness in the way the melody unfolds that simply takes the breath away. One of the reissues of the year without a shadow of a doubt. 　　Stephen Graham, Marlbank 　　Die drei CDs in der Abercrombie-Box fordern das Zuhören, die Imagination. Schenkt man ihnen beides, belohnen sie überaus reich. Die beiden Melodiengeber des Quartetts, Abercrombie und Beirach, spielen sich die Solo-Spots gegenseitig mit entspannter Nonchalance zu, die von Mraz und Donald rhythmisch perfekt in Szene gesetzt wird. Abercrombies Archtop-Ton unterstreicht derweil in typisch flehender Weise, wie aussagekräftig jede einzelne Note klingt, wenn man nicht mehr spielt als unbedingt notwendig. In dieser Disziplin war der Quartett-Leiter mindestens seinerzeit Weltmeister. 　　Michael Loesl, Grand Guitars 　　 　　FEATURED ARTISTS 　　John Abercrombie Guitar, Mandolin Guitar 　　Richie Beirach Piano 　　George Mraz Double Bass 　　Peter Donald Drums 　　TRACK LIST 　　CD 1 　　1.ARCADE 　　(John Abercrombie) 　　09:43 　　2.NIGHTLAKE 　　(Richie Beirach) 　　05:35 　　3.PARAMOUR 　　(John Abercrombie) 　　05:09 　　4.NEPTUNE 　　(Richie Beirach) 　　07:34 　　5.ALCHEMY 　　(Richie Beirach) 　　11:34 　　CD 2 　　1.BLUE WOLF 　　(John Abercrombie) 　　08:33 　　2.DEAR RAIN 　　(John Abercrombie) 　　06:54 　　3.STRAY 　　(Richie Beirach) 　　06:36 　　4.MADAGASCAR 　　(Richie Beirach) 　　09:05 　　5.RIDDLES 　　(Richie Beirach) 　　08:12 　　6.FOOLISH DOG 　　(John Abercrombie) 　　06:18 　　CD 3 　　1.BOAT SONG 　　(John Abercrombie) 　　09:57 　　2.M 　　(John Abercrombie) 　　06:19 　　3.WHAT ARE THE RULES 　　(Richie Beirach) 　　07:33 　　4.FLASHBACK 　　(Richie Beirach) 　　06:17 　　5.TO BE 　　(John Abercrombie) 　　05:17 　　6.VEILS 　　(Richie Beirach) 　　05:44 　　7.PEBBLES 　　(George Mraz) 　　04:45