1984's Mahavishnu was supposed to mark the return of drummer Billy Cobham to John McLaughlin's side. Although the reunion ended badly behind the scenes, the record did manage to display some of the historic interplay these musician's had shared in the past. The album does suffer from a lack of focus which could be blamed on McLaughlin's new guitar synthesizer, which he tended to use too much. Many times the listener is not aware John is even playing because the damn synth didn't sound like a guitar at all ! But again, John was in the forefront of the technology at the time and his indulging can be forgiven. He would eventually find his voices on his acoustic-synth trio outings.

Mahavishnu consisted of Miles' sax man Bill Evans, outrageous bassist Jonas Helborg, brilliant keyboardest Mitchel Forman and an ever-developing Danny Gottlieb, replacing Cobham on tour, on drums. This band would not realize its full potential until Adventures In Radioland.

Still, Mahavishnu offers "Clarendon Hills", a tune penned by Evans, which is a full-out sonic attack which is among the best compositions McLaughlin has ever recorded. Katia LaBeque, ex-girlfriend of John McLaughlin and wonderful pianist, once again adds her talents and very effectively so on the Indian piece "When Blue Turns Gold" which brings the album to a droning close. For those of you able to obtain this record, remember... "Too dark. Use flash".

Walter Kolosky
smsi@attbi.com

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