''Characters'' is a solo album by guitarist John Abercrombie, recorded in May 1977 and released on

ECM Records ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) is an independent record label founded by Karl Egger, Manfred Eicher and Manfred Scheffner in Munich in 1969. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a variety of recordings, and ECM's a ...

in May of the following year.ECM discography
accessed September 12, 2011

Reception

The

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

review by Robert Taylor stated: "Abercrombie makes excellent use of space within both his compositions and solos. Upon the first listen there may not appear to be very much here; however, this music needs to be absorbed over several listens to appreciate Abercrombie's brilliance."Taylor, R
AllMusic Review
accessed September 12, 2011 ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...

'' gave the album 3½ stars, stating, "''Characters'' was Abercrombie's most overt manifesto and calling-card, a demonstration of styles and moods and, even at this point in his career, influences too." ''

The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' called the album "a tremendous solo display of Abercrombie's acoustic/electric guitar and mandolin playing."

Track listing

Personnel

* John Abercrombie – electric guitar, acoustic guitar,

electric mandolin The electric mandolin is an instrument tuned and played as the mandolin and amplified in similar fashion to an electric guitar. As with electric guitars, electric mandolins take many forms. Most common is a carved-top eight-string instrument fi ...

References

{{Authority control ECM Records albums John Abercrombie (guitarist) albums 1978 albums Albums produced by Manfred Eicher