Mick Goodrick - In Pas(s)ing (1979)

ECM's 50th Anniversary release of 50 more 'Touchstones' reissues continues at the end of this week, with the second batch of 25 albums including early jewels like Paul Motian's Tribute, Julian Priester's Love Love and Bennie Maupin's Jewel In The Lotus.  Sadly, as in January, there doesn't seem to be any that are making their digital debut: if, like me, you were holding out for a CD release of long-deleted treasures like John Clark's Faces or Hajo Weber/Ulrich Ingenbold's Winterreisse, we'll just have to keep hoping.

Anyway, here's a favourite out of a small handful that I picked up from January's tranche (see news for 18 Jan 2019) of new Touchstones.  Philadelphian guitarist Mick Goodrick made his ECM debut in Gary Burton's group, appearing on three albums - the first of which comes back into print on Friday, and the third was among the original 2008 Touchstones.  A few years later, Goodrick recorded his only ECM album as leader, with the dream team of Eddie Gomez & Jack DeJohnette on bass and drums, and John Surman on saxes and bass clarinet.

In Pas(s)ing, named as a pun on the Munich district, is an album of slow-burning, after-hours beauty.  Goodrick is such a subtle and understated player that you can at times find yourself forgetting you're not listening to a Surman album.  But whenever Surman takes a break, as on the brightest tune Summer Band Camp, the quiet beauty of Goodrick's chords and runs makes clear whose material you're enjoying.  Tonally, Goodrick is somewhere in between Metheny and Abercrombie and leaning towards the latter, but is a strong enough identity in his own right to make this an album to return to repeatedly.  A single favourite track is difficult - they're all cut from one cloth without being samey - but I'll go for the melancholy lilt of Pedal Pusher.

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pw: sgtg

Gary Burton Quintet - Dreams So Real: Music of Carla Bley (1976)

A definite Spring favourite this one, with a clean, fresh sound like a homemade lemonade.  The great four-malletted vibesman was accompanied for one of his most legendary recordings by drums, electric bass, and two guitarists, a lineup that really lets the strength of the composer's writing shine through.

Recorded in the same month as Pat Metheny's ageless debut album, Dreams So Real is from the dead-centre of ECM's purple patch when classic after classic were being seemingly effortlessly turned out, and needless to say is a gorgeous listen.  Burton is highlighted solo on the beautifully tender Jesus Maria, and the larger part of the rest of the album is in a mellow vein too.

One notable exception is the three-song medley of the second track, in which Metheny and Goodrick (the latter too often underrated, in the shadow of the former who'd become a superstar) bop along with a funky, rock-solid underpinning from Steve Swallow, who himself had the most direct connection to Carla Bley.  Bley herself of course would remain just ECM-adjacent until much more recently, so this flawless record would be key to highlighting her music on the main label.

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