OVERLOOKED GEM!
02/29/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The 2nd "GATEWAY" release is much more thoughtful and sedate but no less involving than the other titles by Abercrombie, Holland and DeJohnette. "OPENING" is a perfect start---DeJohnette using his percussion to brilliant effect (and closing the track also) with Holland dropping in for some limber bass that gets things rolling and Abercrombie's ethereal guitar creating the magic that sets him apart from ANY fret man in jazz. The typical ECM sound is here and kudos to Manfred Eicher for producing this and many classic albums of this stature. If you're a fan of any of the gentlemen featured here, this is a great trio CD and should not be missed."
The next gateway - further explorations of the Gateway Trio
Julius Kusuma | Cambridge, MA, USA | 11/22/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"John Abercrombie, Dave Holland and Jack Dejohnette reunited in the second offering of the Gateway trio. The music on this CD is more intriguing than their first offering, and is glued together more closely than before. Dejohnette's rolling drums is met with Holland's thoughtful and bold bass lines, providing a rich landscape for Abercrombie's lucid lines on the guitar.The magic between the three players is obvious from the first track "Opening": thumping bass and drums underlying Abercrombie's avant-garde guitar improvisations slowly but surely building in collective improvisation. In "Sing Song", one of my favourite tunes, Abercrombie's craftily contructed melodic lines is counterbalanced by Holland's warm embrace on the bass, giving a very sentimental dialog rounded up with Dejohnette's lyrical lines on the drums.This album is a glimpse at the future of jazz from the 70's: very sparse structures building itself through contructive communication between the players in real-time. Simply a timeless classic that I keep finding myself back to again and again."