The Elysian Fields

Here's another Nigel Kennedy Quintet tune from the Very Nice Album (Amazon.com).

This one, unlike the earlier ones, is not a live performance - it's a studio promo video. There's vocals here - not sure who does them [I checked: soul vocalist Xantoné Blacq, according to a review!], but he's definitely having fun with this one. It should definitely get wider exposure than it will amongst fans of R&B, funk, Afro-Cuban, and jazz fusion.

John McLaughlin: Floating Point

I was really trying to resist reviewing this, on account of having his 2006 release in the bedside stack waiting for a review. To be fair, its only been there a week or so, but I've had it since 2006...

There are definitely some similarities between the two recordings - there's overlapping personnel, and there's a similar mix of his Eastern interests (see his Shakti or the Mahavishnu stuff) with a more traditional jazz.

Perhaps the most surprising thing is this doesn't really stand out as a guitarists record. The last track - Five Peace Band - comes the closest to a guitar driven tune, and even then, as I started typing this out, Hadrien Feraud breaks out into a bass solo section. Not a guitar-driven record at all, just some really good jazz.

On all the tracks, John plays a guitar synth, and that helps keep the guitar sound down - especially since on half the tracks he plays only guitar synth; the other half he plays both. Still, the lead instruments are likely to be the soprano sax, bamboo flute, or semi-wordless vocals.

While I've heard some lamenting amongst certain circles of guitarists about the long period John set down his electric guitar and played only Marielle (apologies, I can no longer link directly to it; the link goes to the Wechter custom gallery, where photos of Marielle can be found) - and I'm not one of them; not only do I love his acoustic stuff (especially his Concerto for Guitar & Orchestra "The Mediterranean"), but I've played Marielle, and it's flat-out the single best guitar in the known universe and 9 out of 10 unknown universes. Still, I think those anti-acoustic folks should be happy that he's playing the electric once again. Even if he's letting other brilliant and talented musicians spend time in the spotlight.

 

Return to Forever: Romantic Warrior

This falls into the same category as Weather Report and the Mahavishnu Orchestra - all three 70's jazz-rock fusion groups featuring musicians I really admire, all three groups I'd not actually heard until relatively recently.

Return to Forever is completely populated by luminaries - with Stanley Clarke on bass, Lenny White on drums, Al Di Meola on guitar, and Chick Corea on keyboards. Al Di Meola - along with John McLaughlin, Robert Fripp, and John Scofield - was one of the few guitarists who influenced me greatly based on a very small sampling on a Soundpage and an article or two in Guitar Player. Whereas the other guys did song(s) on their Soundpages, Di Meola gave a private lesson, and it simply blew me away. I had the pleasure of meeting Chick at the NAMM show in L.A. back in 1988, and he had more of an inspirational presence on me in that short conversation than I picked up from most of my Berklee teachers.

So other than a past history with the performers, this recording doesn't have the power and familiarity with me as it does with folks who came across it when it was first released. I'm hoping that it will have some of that effect on Justin, with his own keyboard playing. It's certainly encouraging to me to hear this - it's the kind of music that makes me want to play more.

I look forward to many repeat listenings where I can further enjoy what it has to offer. In the few listenings I've given it, I'm already starting to sing along with some of the melodies. These are good songs, not just vehicles for stellar musicianship.