Belo Horizonte - John McLaughlin

Mar

18

Belo Horizonte - John McLaughlin

≡ Category: 1980s, Essential, Fusion, Reviews |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING

Rating:

It’s extraordinary how many times John McLaughlin has reinvented himself. What’s even more impressive is how, from the late 60s up until the early 80s, he would often invent a new genre and would produce a classic example on his first attempt. Extrapolations (a unique strain of post bop), My Goals Beyond (world fusion), Inner Mounting Flame (fusion with brainbusting time signatures), and Shakti with John McLaughlin (Indian/Western fusion) are only the most significant examples. And then, at the dawn of the 80s, McLaughlin did it again.

Using mostly French musicians, McLaughlin sprang Belo Horizonte on the world, a very European sounding electric fusion with acoustic guitar at the center of it all. He pretty much flummoxed the public and the critics, one of whom opined that the record “smelled Spanish,” probably because of the focus on acoustic guitar and one duet with Flamenco guitarist Paco De Lucia. Because the music is so pretty and bouyant, many critics dismissed it as lightweight. That’s their loss.

On Belo Horizonte, McLaughlin has surrounded himself with wonderful musicians, including drummer Tommy Campbell and classical pianist Katia Lebeque (although this is not her first fusion gig). They inspire him to some of his most joyful and exuberant playing ever. McLaughlin’s technique is in excellent form as he executes dazzling run after run, negotiating rapidly shifting chord structures with ease. The songs themselves have more of a tendency toward major key tonality than usual on a McLaughlin record, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t complex.

Together with the same group’s followup, Music Spoken Here, this was McLaughlin’s last great burst of innovation.