In the past two weeks two important guitarists have died. Walter Becker of Steely Dan passed away today at 67. His style has been described as rock with jazz inflections. John Abercrombie died August 22 at 72. He's been called a fusion guitarist but in the last years of his career he said he was returning to his roots, as a jazz player.
In this conversation from 2009, which was not intended for air but was just an exploratory interview for pull quotes, Abercrombie talks about how he got started and offers insights into his musical mind as he comments on the tracks from the ECM release, Wait Till You See Her.