McLaughlin has been playing acoustic guitar with Indian percussionist
Trilok Gurtu and a succession of bassists. Initial results were fast and
furious, but dry and cerebral as well. Live at the Royal Festival Hall
captured this band just as it was rounding the corner in 1990.
Que Alegria catches it heading into the straight-away.
McLaughlin has learned to tell stories again, taking you on a journey
beyond his prodigious technique. He revisits "Belo Horizonte" from an earlier
album but reinvents the theme with deft interplay between the guitar and
bassist Dominique Di Piazza. Di Piazza follows in the tradition of
string-popping, post-Jaco Pastorius bassists, althought his energy is needed
on workouts like the title track.
"Reincarnation" is a radically reworked version of the same theme from
McLaughlin's 1986 Adventures in Radioland on Relativity. Althought not
overtly Indian, "Reincarnation" recalls Shakti with its introspective mood.
McLaughlin ruminates on the modal chords, building and dismantling
themes at will, mixing flamenco technique with Indian phrasing and trading
off with bassist Kai Eckhardt, who also lets loose a gorgeous, mournful solo.
"Reincarnation" is one of the few songs where Gurtu plays tabla. Most of
the time he concentrates on his hybrid drum kit, which he plays sitting on the
floor, getting organ trio vamps on "Baba" and fusion energy on "Hijacked".
On both, McLaughlin plays his MIDI guitar setup, sounding like an organ one
moment, a synthesizer the next. On "Mila Repa" and "3 Willows", McLaughlin
exhibits a melodic gift he hasn't polished in years.
John McLaughlin turned 50 this year and the second half of his century
already looks promising.