Class Trip (album)

Class Trip is an album by jazz guitarist John Abercrombie recorded in February 2003 and released by ECM on April 26, 2004. The quartet features violinist Mark Feldman and rhythm section Marc Johnson and Joey Baron.^[1]

Class Trip
Studio album by John Abercrombie
Released	April 26, 2004
Recorded	February 2003
Studio	Avatar, New York City
Genre	Jazz
Length	71:56
Label	ECM ECM 1846
Producer	Manfred Eicher
John Abercrombie chronology
Cat 'n' Mouse (2002) Class Trip (2004) Structures (2006)

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
All About Jazz	[2]
AllMusic	[3]
The Guardian	[4]
Penguin Guide to Jazz	[5]

John Kelman of All About Jazz commented, "His latest quartet release, Class Trip, delivers on that promise with an album that raises the bar even further, and never fails to make the leap."^[2]

The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 4 stars, stating, "Class Trip is quiet, thoughtful and about as remote from the current axis of American jazz guitar."^[5]

The AllMusic review by Thom Jurek states:

On Class Trip, the bandmembers come together fully and build on that concept with such beauty and grace that they sound as if they've been playing together all their lives. The sheer subtle intuition that guides these proceedings is breathtaking.... This band is concerned only with the articulation and expression of a musicality that lies not in the obviousness of its contributors' considerable musical gifts as jazz improvisers, but in the sheer nuanced elegance of an ensemble whose blurring of traditions under the rubric of improvisation makes the group not only compelling but brilliant. Abercrombie's compositions for this band are the most adventurous and graceful of his long career; as a unit, the quartet is a band without peers that plays a music whose challenge is only eclipsed by its accessibility and singular language.^[3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by John Abercrombie, except as noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Dansir"		9:31
2.	"Risky Business"		7:38
3.	"Descending Grace"		8:56
4.	"Illinoise"	Abercrombie Baron Feldman Johnson	5:35
5.	"Cat Walk"		7:55
6.	"Excuse My Shoes"		8:28
7.	"Swirls"		6:06
8.	"Jack and Betty"		3:39
9.	"Class Trip"		7:29
10.	"Soldier's Song"	Béla Bartók	3:02
11.	"Epilogue"	Abercrombie Baron Feldman Johnson	3:37

Personnel

• John Abercrombie – guitar
• Mark Feldman – violin
• Marc Johnson – bass
• Joey Baron – drums