John Mclaughlin

Liberation Time

John Mclaughlin (guitar, guitar synth, piano), Julian Siegel (tenor sax), Étienne M’bappé (bass), Gary Husband (drums, piano), Ranjit Barot (drums, konokol), Vinnie Colaiuta, Nicolas Viccaro (drums) et al

Abstract Logix Records ABLX065

British guitarist John Mclaughlin’s new release is a ‘direct response’ to the restrictions placed on him by the Covid-19 pandemic. Lockdown created an explosion of music in his mind, he says. Unusually for Mclaughlin, the album is not the work of a single fixed ensemble. Across seven stunning pieces, a large cast of virtuosic jazz rockers pitch in alongside his regular sidemen. Everyone recorded their parts separately (from Cairo to Los Angeles), strongly exhorted by their leader to extemporise freely around his outline for the tunes.

It’s been 50 years since the Yorkshire-born visionary created the groundbreaking and hugely popular jazz rock group, Mahavishnu Orchestra; with his blistering, note-packed shredding on electric guitar and Vinnie Colaiuta’s thunderous drumming on the opening track, ‘As The Spirit Sings’, the years simply roll back. ‘Right Here, Right Now, Right On’ is another standout,

Julian Siegel’s tenor sax bringing angular hard bop lines into the rock mix. A further treat in an altogether startling programme, Mclaughlin himself plays piano on two, more reflective, pieces. Eighty next year, the fusion guru is on the form of his life. ★★★★★