Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » John McLaughlin: Belo Horizonte

475

John McLaughlin: Belo Horizonte

By

View read count
John McLaughlin: Belo Horizonte
Shame, shame, shame on Warner Brothers for not releasing 1981's Belo Horizonte on CD until more than 18 years after it went out of print! Belo's original claim to fame was that McLaughlin played acoustic and the rest of the band played electric—apparently a new technological breakthrough! (The fact was announced loudly by a big sticker on the outside of the record cover). Ironically, this claim remains actually quite dubious, as throughout much of the album everyone plays acoustic anyway!

With that marketing nonsense out of the way, Belo features some of the best compositions John McLaughlin has ever written. It also showcases some of the most unbelievable acoustic guitar playing ever put onto record. "Stardust On Your Sleeve" should be required listening for anyone who wants to know what a brilliant guitarist can do with his instrument. It is an outstanding piece that ranks among the higher moments of guitar history. This is not hyperbole. McLaughlin is literally able to bend time. Missing this tune would truly deprive you of a great pleasure in your life.

Tommy Campbell on drums and Katia LaBeque on piano and synthesizer both stand out from the crowd. On tunes ranging from the acoustic/electric Weather Report-like "One Melody" to the completely joyful "La Baleine," the pure sound of McLaughlin's guitar is a revelation and the presence of LaBeque gives the music a slight classical feel. Guest star Paco DeLucia joins in for good measure.

The Translators, as the band was to become known on the road, also included Francois Couturier on keyboards and Jean-Paul Celea on acoustic bass. Both have a strong European jazz following based upon their own releases, but here they clearly provide solid support. The joy that exuded from this band made its live performances among the most exciting of all of McLaughlin's bands over the years.

Wounded Bird Records has recently re-released Belo Horizonte. A thousand thanks should go out to that company for rescuing so many jazz-fusion classics.

Related link: John McLaughlin Reviews @ All About Jazz

Track Listing

Belo Horizonte; La Baleine; Very early; One Melody; Stardust on Uour Sleeve; Waltz for Katia; Zamfir; Manitas D'Oro

Personnel

John McLaughlin- guitar; Katia LaBeque- piano and synthesizers; Francois Couturier- Fender Rhodes; Jean-Paul Celea- acoustic bass; Paco De Lucia- guitar

Album information

Title: Belo Horizonte | Year Released: 2002 | Record Label: Wounded Bird Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.