Recorded in 1991, Que Alegria featured the trio with a new bass player, Dominique DiPiazza. And what a bassist he is! Facile and energetic, yet subtle and melodic. His two-minute solo "Marie" is beautifully inspiring and one of the highlights of this album. McLaughlin revisits his classic "Belo Horizonte" and conjures up some more evocative memories with a new acoustic rendition of "Reincarnation". Que Alegria features some of the strongest music McLaughlin has put out and its melodies are quite infectious. This is especially true of the overlong title cut. (McLaughlin will never get much radio-play with a ten-minute cut. At least not in the U.S.). DiPiazza really excels on the title cut. It is quite an unusual piece in that its main theme and melody is assigned to the bass. It is a pure tour de force.

The dominant themes of Que Alegria can be found in its melodies. Whereas Live at the Royal Festival Hall was dominated by its rhythms, this album reverses the trend with strong coherent head arrangements and theme oriented explorations. "Mila Repa" is the sleeper. It's hauntingly beautiful melody and slow and determined path are true high points.

The clarity of the digital recording adds greatly to the thrill. This is one of John McLaughlin's best albums.

To see this particular band live was a real treat and if you are lucky enough to be able to obtain some video of the group performing, you will realize the truth of it.

Walter Kolosky
smsi@attbi.com

Walter Kolosky is a businessman and jazz fan who lives in South Natick, MA, USA