Marc Johnson - Sound Of Summer Running (1998)

Although this album was only the second released by Omaha-born jazz bassist Marc Johnson under his own name, he was well established by the 90s.  His sideman appearances went back to Bill Evans' last days, and subsequently saw several ECM appearances, particularly with John Abercrombie.  He'd also fronted the Bass Desires group on ECM, a quartet with Bill Frisell and John Scofield as duelling guitarists.

For this 1997 recording, Johnson went back to the dual guitar-bass-drums configuration of Bass Desires, this time pairing Frisell with none other than Pat Metheny.  This lineup was bound to produce something special, and it most certainly did.  Perhaps some expected fireworks - the AMG writeup registers disappointment on that score - but what emerged instead was a beautifully mellow, mostly mid-tempo album of quietly assured brilliance.

Frisell and Metheny blend perfectfully on every track here, yet still make their individual influences heard.  The album variously touches on country & western (Ghost Train, Porch Swing) and blues (Union Pacific), as well as Metheny's great Midwestern folk influences.  Dingy Dong Day even takes in surf and rockabilly, with nifty key changes, and then the partly acoustic stretch to the end of the album brought to mind my favourite ECM guitar trio album Travel Guide.  Essential summer enjoyment from start to finish.

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