John McLaughlin, Electric Guitarist - John McLaughlin

Nov

12

John McLaughlin, Electric Guitarist - John McLaughlin

≡ Category: 1970s, Fusion, Music Reviews, Worth A Listen |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

WORTH A LISTEN

Rating:

After disbanding Shakti, John McLaughlin took stock and reaffirmed his love for the electric guitar with John McLaughlin - Electric Guitarist, using a large roster of musicians he had worked with in the past to realize his disparate visions.

Truth to be told, it is not a triumphant return for the most part.

The best tune is the first, New York On My Mind. True to form, McLaughlin creates something entirely new, a sort of New York soul meets Mahavishnu. It truly is soulful, the most emotionally romantic thing McLaughlin had ever done up to that point. But he couldn’t have pulled it off without his band mates on this tune.

Stu Goldberg gives a glowing background on organ and electric piano for the verses. On the rapid fire cadenzas, who better than Mahavishnu alumni drummer Billy Cobham and violinist Jerry Goodman to execute the complex tutti passages?

The only other tune that sticks out is Do You Hear The Voices That You Left Behind? That’s mostly because of the kickass musicians behind McLaughlin: Chick Corea on piano and mini-moog, Stanley Clarke on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. It’s a swing tune, and the band swings it’s ass off. Corea’s wonderful in his guest solo spot on mini-moog. I’m not so sure about McLaughlin’s approach. His choked notes and nervous vibrato seem more constipated than anything else. It just doesn’t work for me.

The rest of the album is even more misbegotten.

Honestly, I can’t recommend John McLaughlin, Electric Guitarist as a whole, but the leadoff tune is fantastic and well worth downloading.

There’s another option, too. There’s a McLaughlin sampler appropriate enough called The Best of John McLaughlin which has New York on My Mind on it, as well as another great tune, The Dark Prince, again the only truly worthwhile cut on another mediocre McLaughlin Release, The One Truth Band. Picking up the sampler is probably your best option to obtain the best tunes from John McLaughlin, Electric Guitarist and The One Truth Band.