Abercrombie had debuted as a leader in his own right on the ECM label in 1974 with a trio comprising DeJohnette and Jan Hammer on keyboards (who a matter of months before had been a member of the Mahavishnu Orchestra); that LP, Timeless, was an album of its time, of fire and passion, but elegance too, replete with exciting and wholesome jazz improvisation while revealing a more lyrical side of Hammer not heard in Mahavishnu which has stood the test of time.

Gateway, by contrast, is a more laid-back affair, with four of the six tracks composed by Holland. These tend to be functional, to set tempi and keys, and in the main adhere to the ‘time no changes’ principle (keeping the time, ignoring chord changes), with no preset harmonies. However, the guitarist’s playing, while never lacking for spontaneity, is the product of an acute musical mind and while, to all intents and purposes, this music is open; Abercrombie somehow follows a preordained compositional trajectory. It is this structural strength in his improvisations that gives this music its strength and universality, reaching beyond the jazz audiences into musically curious rock fans.

Although Abercrombie uses 1970s electronic effects (there’s a fuzzbox on two tracks, a reminder of the broader musical context from which these collaborations emerged), the album eludes sounding ‘dated’ and has been returned to again and again over the years by succeeding generations as they become aware of this music, sufficiently often to secure Gateway’s reputation as one of the great classic jazz trio albums.