Guitarist John Abercrombie has been one of those ECM heritage artists over the years, helping the label define its cerebral and sometimes austere vision of creative jazz. Abercrombie's playing is clean, melodic, and subtle--he reaches beyond jazz to incorporate bits of classical, folk, blues, and rock. Here he's complemented by an amazing group--drummer Joey Baron, bassist Marc Johnson, and violinist Mark Feldman--for the third time. Though busy in a number of different contexts, the group members are wholly in sync with Abercrombie's vision, leaving plenty of space for the music to breath, prodding when it lingers, and generally adding elegant accompaniment throughout. The group is almost tango-like in its ability to build songs passionately through tasteful restraint. Of the ten tunes here, takes on Ornette Coleman's "Round Trip" and Bill Evans's "Epilogue" are telling signposts of influence, but this is a band that presses on, creating beautiful music that lives in the here and now. --Tad Hendrickson