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John McLaughlin and Remember Shakti: The Believer
by Walter Kolosky
Will the real Remember Shakti please stand up? On its first live release, Remember Shakti was a serious-minded, bottom-ended, soul-searching ensemble. This time out, Remember Shakti raises its pitch. McLaughlin has an excellent foil in young electric mandolinist U. Shrinivas, who has created a whole new vocabulary for the instrument. Tabla player Zakir Hussain has his foil as well. V. Selvaganesh is featured on the kanjira, a tambourine-like instrument on which he can create sounds that would make some trap ...
Continue ReadingJohn McLaughlin and Shakti: Shakti
by Walter Kolosky
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. ...
Continue ReadingJohn McLaughlin: The Promise
by Walter Kolosky
Some highly respected music critics criticized this 1996 effort as a hodge-podge of musical ideas with no central theme. However, they are mistaken. Clearly the thematic nature of this outing was the diversity of the music itself. The original tunes are compositionally strong, and the playing throughout is purposeful and exquisite. McLaughlin has gathered several of his friends--who happen to occupy the higher echelons of music--for The Promise 's musical journey through genres ranging from the all-out bombastic fusion of ...
Continue ReadingJohn McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, Paco DeLucia: Passion Grace & Fire
by Walter Kolosky
Never has an album been so justly deserving of its title. In 1983, the guitar super trio of John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola and Paco DeLucia followed up their phenomenal live acoustic album Friday Night in San Francisco with this masterpiece of a studio recording. The prevailing opinion at the time was that the raw excitement of the original live recording could never be matched in the recording studio. Delightfully, the Trio answered all those who had questioned its potential with ...
Continue ReadingJohn McLaughlin and Shakti: Natural Elements
by Walter Kolosky
Shakti was really the world's first World Music super group. The only problem was that no one knew it yet! The group's live performances were mesmerizing, but Columbia couldn't give the albums away. Natural Elements, from 1977, was the third and last Shakti album. It offered a more cohesive and structured presentation in terms of themes and shorter tunes. The group attempted to make the music more accessible by including pleasing hooks and some humor, but there was no chance ...
Continue ReadingJohn McLaughlin: Music Spoken Here
by Walter Kolosky
Finally available from Wounded Bird Records, 1982's Music Spoken Here features the same line-up as the previous year’s Belo Horizonte. MSH is a little rougher around the edges than the earlier effort. This may be seen as an improvement to some, as the music is a bit wilder. But to others, the compositions may seem a bit weaker. However, make no mistake about it: this is a fine album with much to offer. “David" is the highlight of ...
Continue ReadingJohn McLaughlin: My Goals Beyond
by Walter Kolosky
Technically, the acoustic guitar playing on 1970's My Goals Beyond does not approach the skill exhibited on most of John McLaughlin's recordings. Flubbed notes pop up here and there, and although this album is famous for McLaughlin's “solo" renderings of such classic tunes as Mingus' “Good-Bye Pork-Pie Hat," Bill Evans and Miles Davis' “Blue in Green" and his own wonderful composition “Follow Your Heart," Mclaughlin actually pre-recorded the chords and soloed over them.However, no small amount of flubbing ...
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