With Overpass, Marc Johnson makes a decisive and intriguing contribution to ECM’s solo bass tradition. Johnson’s experiments with the bass and its potential as a lead voice began during his tenure with the Bill Evans Trio, where his nightly solo feature on “Nardis”, Miles Davis’s tune, inspired him to new ideas. “Nardis” is revisited on this new studio album recorded in São Paulo, Brazil, alongside Alex North’s “Love Theme from Spartacus” (another Evans Trio favourite), Eddie Harris’s “Freedom Jazz Dance” and five Johnson originals including “Samurai Fly”, a recasting of “Samurai Hee-Haw”, which Marc previously recorded for ECM with his Bass Desires band and with the John Abercrombie Trio.
