Jack Dejohnette - New directions (1978)

This 1978 set was the debut of the ensemble which went on to record and perform under the name of Jack DeJohnette's New Directions. Drummer DeJohnette is perfectly matched with bass player Eddie Gomez, trumpet player Lester Bowie and guitarist John Abercrombie.

Bowie's multi-faceted trumpet sounds dance around the liquid guitar lines while the rhythm section bubbles underneath like a sonic lake that alternates between calm and foreboding. DeJohnette wrote three of the selections, including the wonderfully evocative opener, "Bayou Fever." The remaining two tracks were jointly composed by the quartet as a whole, borne out of group improvisation. "Dream Stalker" is a study in misty atmospherics, not unlike Weather Report's first album, while "One Handed Woman" is a gutsy and angular feast of potent interplay.

Recorded at Talent Studio, Oslo, Norway in June 1978.

1.Bayou Fever
2.Where Or Wayne
3.Dream Stalker
4.One Handed Woman
5.Silver Hollow.

Jack DeJohnette - drums, piano
John Abercrombie - guitar, mandolin
Lester Bowie - trumpet
Eddie Gomez - bass.