| Abbey Road Quartet | |
| Type: | Studio |
| Artist: | Wadada Leo Smith |
| Cover: | Abbey Road Quartet WLS.jpg |
| Released: | 2009 |
| Recorded: | August 2008 |
| Studio: | Abbey Road Studios |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Label: | Treader trd014 |
| Prev Title: | Spiritual Dimensions |
| Prev Year: | 2009 |
| Next Title: | The Blue Mountain's Sun Drummer |
| Next Year: | 2010 |
Abbey Road Quartet is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith released in 2009 via Treader label.[1] [2] [3]
A reviewer of Soundohm stated "These quartet recordings feature the improvisational skills of trumpeter Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith, guitarist John Coxon, keyboard player Pat Thomas and drummer Mark Sanders - an ensemble that convened at Abbey Road Studios last year to commit these five pieces to tape. Wadada takes the lead, perhaps most staunchly reminding you that this is, at heart, a jazz album thanks to his florid, lyrical phrasing. The relationships formed between the instruments are an immediate source of intrigue, forming plenty of complex exchanges, throughout which Coxon - who also assumes a producer's role - puts in some sterling textural work, on 'For Mongezi Feza' laying down precise feedback formations that at times are reminiscent of Thurston Moore's most incisive and restrained outings."[4] Marc Medwin of All About Jazz added, "Transparency is ever-present, especially on the sultry but pointillistic "For Mongezi Feza," where Smith runs scales and injects shards into what sounds like Thomas playing a celeste. Even when the music heats up, there's a welcome calm to it all where so many improvised sessions turn fiery."[5]