Up and Coming

Up and Coming is the final studio album by guitarist John Abercrombie, who died in 2017. It features pianist Marc Copland, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Joey Baron. It was recorded in 2016 and released in 2017 by ECM Records. The album contains seven originals by Abercrombie and Copland and a cover of "Nardis" by Miles Davis. Reception At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 80, based on four reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Paul de Barros of DownBeat stated, "A solid follow-up to 2013's 39 Steps, the new album by the John Abercrombie Quartet— Marc Copland (piano), Drew Gress (bass) and Joey Baron (drums)—is another quiet, delicately balanced outing with an ebbing and flowing undercurrent that recalls the understated loveliness of Bill Evans and Jim Hall. As Abercrombie fans know, the guitarist has dialed back his trademark reverb in favor of a classic, single-note glow. However, listening to his quartet still feels pleasantly like taking a warm sonic bath." John Fordham of The Guardian said, "The whole album is the quintessence of jazz power in reserve".