Whereas just about every other genre of the late '60s and early '70s is now revered, jazz-rock remains deeply unfashionable. That hasn't deterred Summers, who has made a string of albums that combine his love of jazz virtuosity with his appreciation of rock dynamics. Earth & Sky is classy, all-instrumental stuff. But it also displays all the reasons why, Pat Metheny apart, jazz-rock fusion has been in the doldrums since the days of McLaughlin and Hancock. The suspicion of showing-off is never far away as tunes get buried in layers of noodling. Music to admire rather than love.
Whereas just about every other genre of the late ’60s and early ’70s is now revered, jazz-rock remains deeply unfashionable. That hasn’t deterred Summers, who has made a string of albums that combine his love of jazz virtuosity with his appreciation of rock dynamics. Earth & Sky is classy, all-instrumental stuff. But it also displays all the reasons why, Pat Metheny apart, jazz-rock fusion has been in the doldrums since the days of McLaughlin and Hancock. The suspicion of showing-off is never far away as tunes get buried in layers of noodling. Music to admire rather than love.