John McLaughlin and Shakti: Shakti (1976)

John McLaughlin and Shakti: Shakti (1976)

I remember quite clearly walking through the aisles of the Sears record department in 1976 checking to see if there was a new Mahavishnu Orchestra album. What stared back at me from the Mahavishnu bin was a very strange looking album cover. John McLaughlin had longish hair and a tight, confident smile, and he was holding the oddest-looking acoustic guitar I had ever seen. It had an extra set of strings attached in a crooked fashion across the sound hole. The information on the back cover made matters even worse. I remember wondering who this Raghavan guy was, and what the hell was this mridangam that he was playing? I'm still not truly sure what a mridangam is, but I am quite sure I love Shakti.

McLaughlin had abandoned the electric Mahavishnu Orchestra and put together a band featuring some of India's greatest young musicians, thus dooming his popularity. Together with McLaughlin, tabla master Zakir Hussain, violin virtuoso L. Shankar, and ghatam player T.S. Vinayakaram made up Shakti. Although not a core member of Shakti, the previously mentioned Raghavan also joined in on the previously mentioned mridangam. With names like that and 30 minute long tunes, Shakti did not get much airplay in the U.S.

Shakti was recorded live at South Hampton College in New York State, and the live audience is truly a part of this performance. One can only imagine what they were expecting before the concert. McLaughlin had earned his fame as Mahavishnu. He was the king of the electric guitar. Instead, he appeared on stage with the acoustic Shakti, sitting down Indian style. The drones started humming. This had to be bizarre. 'Pass the joints. Quick!' However, several minutes into the first piece, Shakti had the crowd in its hands.

Blistering guitar runs, unison playing among all the players, and mesmerizing percussion duels make Shakti one of the most exciting live recordings around. Shakti created as vast a fusion as could be imagined at the time. The musicians were introducing World Music, albeit with a wild jazz abandon, twenty years before anyone else even attempted such a thing again.

McLaughlin was speed-bending notes and strumming those extra sympathetic strings which had been positioned on his guitar. Shankar's Far Eastern violin matched McLaughlin's guitar in call and response after call and response. And without a doubt, the album's high water mark is the culmination of an absolutely riveting percussion duel between Hussain and Raghavan resolving the oddly-titled 'What Need Have I for This? What Need Have I for That? I am Dancing at the Feet of my Lord. All is Bliss. All is Bliss'. It appears the audience shared in a group musical orgasm at that moment.

According to Jeff Beck, McLaughlin's playing with Shakti was as good as any player could hope to do. The original Shakti never sold a lot of records. But today they are seen as one of the true pioneers, and their current reunion version is at long last commercially viable.

A special note to guitar speed freaks: this album contains the fastest guitar playing John McLaughlin ever recorded.

Related link: John McLaughlin Reviews @ All About Jazz .

Track Listing: Joy; Lotus Feet; What Need Have I For This- What Need Have I For That- I Am Dancing at the Feet of My Lord- All is Bliss-All is Bliss;

Personnel: John McLaughlin- guitar; Zakir Hussain- tabla; L. Shankar- violin; R. Raghavan- mridangam; T. S. Vinayakaram- ghatam

John McLaughlin: Trio of Doom (2007)

John McLaughlin - Trio of Doom (2007)

John McLaughlin (Guitars)

Jaco Pastorius (Bass)

Tony Williams (Drums)

Tracks

1 Drum Improvisation

2 Dark Prince

3 Continuum

4 Para Oriente

5 Are You The One Are You The One

6 Dark Prince

7 Continuum

8 Para Oriente

9 Para Oriente

10 Para Oriente

This release may have its detractors due to the very short playingtime, not much more than 35 mins of effective music. But what we get is absolutely fabulous, with all three supermusicians in topform. The liner notes hints at Jaco Pastorius beginning to have some psychological problems, but sure isn't audible in his playing.

One could have feared an unmusical clash of ego's, but in fact the respect between this three giants seems so great that it's a lot more like a super-fusion version of Cream, with all three instruments and all three musicians having equal weight in the furious jamming.

We get their entire set from Havana, for the first time ever, starting after a fine drumintro with what's actually the highlight of the whole release, a monstrous version of "The Dark Prince" with a very inspired McLaughlin-solo. Followed by a beautiful "Continuum" with John adding some fine chordal colours under Pastorius' beautiful soloing. The precedings ending on a bit of a bum note though, with a rather disjointed jam, only to be recognized as "Are You The One?", when McLaughlin plays the theme at the very end. A version far from the grandeur of the original on "Electric Guitarist" with Tony, John and Jack Bruce.

So far it's been a very good year for Jaco Pastorius fans, with this gem and with the wonderful DVD with Weater Report "Live At Montreux".

The whole project has been supervised and produced by John McLaughlin and as one would suspect the sound his absolutely top-class.

Another fine Legacy-release.

Larry Coryell: Spaces (1970)

Larry Coryell
Spaces

Vanguard (79345)
USA 1970

Larry Coryell, guitars; John McLaughlin, guitars; Miroslav Vitous, bass; Billy Cobham, drums; Chick Corea, electric piano

Tracklist:
1.  Spaces (Infinite) — 9:16
2.  Rene's Theme — 4:06
3.  Gloria's Step — 4:29
4.  Wrong is Right — 9:00
5.  Chris — 9:31
6.  New Year's Day in Los Angeles -- 1968 — 0:20

total time 36:42

Larry Coryell's Spaces is an excellent early fusion album that tends to go overlooked. Recorded in late 1969 but not released until 1974, Spaces features Coryell surrounding himself with some top talent: John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham (both later of Mahavishnu Orchestra) and Miroslav Vitous (later of Weather Report). Chick Corea joins the group on electric piano for one track, "Chris."

Truth be told, this sounds more like jazz than jazz-rock. Only the great title track has rock rhythms; the rest of it is "rock" mostly by virtue of the electric guitars (which nevertheless are set to a minimal amount of distortion). It's difficult for me to discern which guitarist is playing at any particular time, although the liner notes indicate that Coryell does the majority of the soloing. Miroslav Vitous was an excellent choice of bassist for this kind of music and he demonstrates his versatility by playing with a bow on some passages. "Chris," on which Chick Corea sits in, is another hightlight. Corea's electric piano is primarily used for atmosphere while Coryell and McLaughlin engage in some of their most diverse playing on the record, drawing on a wealth of influences in their quick-picked passages. "Renee's Theme," a tribute to jazz guitar legend Django Reinhardt, is consistently cited by fans of the album as a favorite. Somewhat different in character from the rest of the pieces, it's a fleet-fingered acoustic guitar duet with head-turning speed and precision.

It's the interweaving guitar improvisations of Coryell and McLaughlin that make Spaces such an interesting, distinctive album. I think it is one of Coryell's best releases and it makes for a good first pick when starting to explore the guitarist's large catalog.