John Abercrombie is the face of what happened to the jazz scene after acceptance of Davis' classical Bitches Brew; a splintering that is only rivaled by the current democratic party, feminism, and protestant christianity for its numbers of factions.

In this classic ECM release Abercombie and his crew create musical collaborations that at first seem impossible: psych over a post bop rythmn section, neil young- like strumming and solo into a straight rock steady bop.

ECM was, at least in its first years, all about these heady fusion projects. They are the kind of label that makes me think that fusion might not be as horrible as what I have been made to believe.

As I have learned about ECM, I have started to see how the record of releases parrallels the development of Jazz on the continent and in britian and the US.

ECM, based in berlin, favors the continent which had a tendancy toward fusion, of course, but mostly expansion of free jazz and post bitches brew (post post bop...for those counting at home) jazz.

Off the continent, there has been a tendency to make the medium sacrosanct. That is, to freeze the entities in time.