Reprinted from Green Man Review.
The first disc (from 1984) is a completely different band. Bill Evans plays saxophone, Mitchell Forman is on keyboards, Jonas Hellborg on bass, Danny Gottlieb drums while John McLaughlin leads on guitar. The first thing you notice is the intensity. It’s there, captured magnetically. No slow buildup, they just jump in. Screaming sax and rolling drums. Then McLaughlin lets loose with his trademark leads. How can he play so fast and so precisely and still maintain feeling in the music? He just does it. Even the writer of the liner notes has difficulty describing the music. “Complex rhythmic lines that spiral to states of trance are alternately bright and piercing or squelchy and dense.” He speaks of the “. . . shape-shifting, protean nature . . . classically inflected harmonies . . . rabidly funky pentatonic riff. . . .” And that’s it. The Mahavishnu Orchestra is all that and more. Whether interpreting jazz classics, or blending pop songs into original material, this is cutting edge music. McLaughlin plays his guitar in the traditional way, and through a Synclavier to turn the fretboard into a keyboard; he’s a master whichever way he does it.
The earlier concert on Disc Two is the band I saw. McLaughlin on guitar with Bob Knapp (flute/percussion), Steve Frankovitch (horns), Gayle Moran (organ, vocals), Jean-Luc Ponty (violin), Steve Kindler (violin), Carol Shive (violin), Marsha Westbrook (alto-violin), Phillip Hirschi (cello), Ralphe Armstrong (bass) and Michael walden (drums). McLaughlin plays a double neck guitar, and begins by duelling with Walden. Then he turns his attention to the string quartet. They are essentialy a string section, not soloists. Then, after nearly 14 minutes Ponty jumps in. He is every bit as masterful a player on four strings as McLaughlin is on six. Keyboards add colour, the rhythm section forms the bottom. This band sounds edgier than the ’84 perhaps, but they are equally powerful and tight as tight can be. Only two cuts from the ’74 concert appear, but they’re long ones (over 20 minutes each). Good sound, good video. Bonus tracks? Four audio only tracks and that’s it. But you don’t need anymore. Just like in concert — with the volume cranked– and on a decent sized screen, you’ll see (and hear) the power of the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
(Eagle Eye Media, 2007)
Comments