After extensive touring, Abercrombie's working trio - with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Peter Erskine - has solidified into a cohesive unit with a varied yet immediately identifiable group sound. On Current Events, John uses for the first time on record the guitar synthesizer - on "Hippityville", "Clint", and "Killing Time". In addition, Abercrombie returns to his acoustic guitar for three pieces - "Ralph's Piano Waltz", "Still", and "Lisa". His familiar electric guitar is heard on "Alice in Wonderland", the trio piece long associated with Bill Evans. The material on the album is a stylistically diverse offering of memorable melodies with arresting rhythmic and improvisational ideas presented in a unified and contemporary manner.
Though Abercrombie's role as group leader is noteworthy, Current Events is very much a group record. In Marc Johnson and Peter Erskine, John has two collaborators whose contributions extend far beyond the role of "sidemen".
Tracklist:
1 Clint 6:06
2 Alice In Wonderland 8:38
3 Ralph's Piano Waltz 6:11
4 Lisa 2:23
5 Hippityville 8:20
6 Killing Time 7:52
7 Still 8:56
Bass – Marc Johnson
Drums – Peter Erskine
Guitar, Guitar Synthesizer – John Abercrombie
