Class Trip (album)

Class Trip
Studio album by John Abercrombie
Released	April 26, 2004
Recorded	February 2003 Avatar Studios, New York City
Genre	Jazz
Length	71:56
Label	ECM ECM 1846
Producer	Manfred Eicher
John Abercrombie chronology
Cat 'n' Mouse (2000) Class Trip (2003) Structures (2006)

Class Trip is an album by guitarist John Abercrombie with violinist Mark Feldman, bassist Marc Johnson, and drummer Joey Baron recorded in 2003 and released on the ECM label^[1]

Reception

The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4½ stars stating "On Class Trip, the bandmembers come together fully and build on that concept with such beauty and grace that they sound as if they've been playing together all their lives. The sheer subtle intuition that guides these proceedings is breathtaking... This band is concerned only with the articulation and expression of a musicality that lies not in the obviousness of its contributors' considerable musical gifts as jazz improvisers, but in the sheer nuanced elegance of an ensemble whose blurring of traditions under the rubric of improvisation makes the group not only compelling but brilliant. Abercrombie's compositions for this band are the most adventurous and graceful of his long career; as a unit, the quartet is a band without peers that plays a music whose challenge is only eclipsed by its accessibility and singular language".^[2] The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 4 stars stating "Class Trip is quiet, thoughtful and about as remote from the current axis of American jazz guitar".^[3]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Penguin Guide to Jazz	[3]

Track listing

All compositions by John Abercrombie except as indicated.

1. "Dansir" - 9:31
2. "Risky Business" - 7:38
3. "Descending Grace" - 8:56
4. "Illinoise" (John Abercrombie, Joey Baron, Mark Feldman, Marc Johnson) - 5:35
5. "Cat Walk" - 7:55
6. "Excuse My Shoes" - 8:28
7. "Swirls" - 6:06
8. "Jack and Betty" - 3:39
9. "Class Trip" - 7:29
10. "Soldier's Song" (Béla Bartók) - 3:02
11. "Epilogue" (Abercrombie, Baron, Feldman, Johnson) - 3:37

Personnel

• John Abercrombie — guitar
• Mark Feldman — violin
• Marc Johnson — bass
• Joey Baron — drums

References

1. ECM discography accessed October 25, 2011
2. Jurek, T. Allmusic Review accessed October 25, 2011
3. Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2006) [1992]. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (8th ed.). London: Penguin. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-141-02327-4.