Cuneiform Rec. The Mahavishnu Project : Return to the Emerald Beyond (US,2007)***'
John McLaughlin was a very dedicated and disciplined musician who had his own guidance, an Indian guru, who gave him a spiritual name to go with him, which made John decide to start a group and project under the name of Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Their first album, a jazzfusion-rock album with the electric energy of let’s say Hendrix, was nothing like anything ever heard before, and caused a thrill, also amongst lovers of the slowly developing progressive music genre. It still is a remarkable and enjoyable album that continues to surprise after all these years.
Unfortunately much of the jazzfusion-thrill was soon going to feel like an overexposed technicality for the public. Leading into an over-emphasised technical mastering, leaving no space to breath, after the moments of having taken the breath away first, this was soon going to give a too elite feeling to the new pop genres, as the positive idea for having a “progressive” music soon was ready to fail and turn against itself, leading to almost the opposite, a raw realness, the punk movement…
In this whole change that was destined to happen, John McLaughlin had his own evolution.
In the repertoire of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, the band’s live energy remained most noticeable, without showing well a second chance to give the same compact highlight of its start, but it developed more improvised ideas, and created its own area like a genre or a method on its own. In that way I am sceptical to the birth of a tribute band, but Mahavishnu Project within the meaning of such a "genre" with skills was very spontaneously developed to its own standards, with mostly further development of live energy, that continued to give life, starting from the point where the last band had left off in the late ‘70s ; John McLaughlin improved.
As a live concert it has all the elements that were there, melodic at times, very genre-like, with little surprises but with some very good moments of increased energy thanks to individual improvisation skills.
With such a big band for the album, a second drummer wouldn’t have been wrong, and could have made it even better. Also, with doubling its ambition and time for a studio album as well would have even given an extra surprise to it, something which didn’t happen yet.
As a live band there surely is a development which has a professional starting point that succeeds to convince enough in that way I hope it will get an extra continuation. For a further development of the band, for a possible studio project, I hope that the band will give also opportunities of breathing energy into it, before falling into the melodic mistakes of late progressive music, and the neo-progressive genre that continued this.
In some way it still is mostly the nostalgia and love for the music that keeps this music very alive. I am waiting for the next creative step that adds also a strange element to be able to go to the next level of a creative challenge.
Most of this album was based upon the compositions from the latest Mahavishnu Orchestra album, a fundament which was never performed live in its full core, until now..
PS. When the group Mahavishnu Orchestra ceased to exist, John MCLaughlin continued first with much renewal with his Indian Shakti group.
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