In Pas(s)ing (Vinyl) – Mick Goodrick

Mick Goodrick (1945-2022), hailed as “technically among the finest players around” by Downbeat magazine in their review of this album, was a subtle master on the guitar and an equally understated composer. Pianist Fred Hersch called “him the guitar whisperer, ” whereas John Scofield has noted how he “got to play with [Mick], which was a valuable learning experience—not to mention fun. I love his ECM album ‘In Pas(s)ing’, a special piece of work which fully holds up to today’s listeners.”

For “In Pas(s)ing”, the guitarist who greatly contributed to Gary Burton’s successful run of recordings for ECM in the 70s was joined by an A-list group of accompanists with John Surman, mainly heard on baritone saxophone here, bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer-legend Jack DeJohnette. Joining in airy, lyrical harmony, the four improvisors deliver a quietly eruptive session, full of discrete interplay and secretly memorable melody. Melody Maker called Goodrick a “composer and leader who is content to allow his music to pirouette gracefully on the spot, ” in their review of the album from 1979, expanding: “Of the current ECM-school guitarists, he seems to possess the best blend of traditional virtues with a modern conception. Fashionably unpushy, he nonetheless puts a signature on the music through his cool, singing amplified tone, firm but sparingly dealt backgrounds, and beautiful interplay with Surman.”

The album was recorded at Talent Studio in Oslo, in November 1978 and produced by Manfred Eicher. Re-issued as part of ECM’s Luminessence series, In Pas(s)ing arrives in a tip-on gatefold jacket with new liner notes by Joel Harrison and photos from the archive.