js When “After the Rain” first came out in the mid 90s, its all-star lineup of McLaughlin, DeFrancesco and Elvin Jones certainly brought a lot of attention, especially since it was McLaughlin’s first jazz record in quite a while. The choice of tunes furthered interest as this looked to be bit of a Coltrane tribute with Trane’s great drummer, Elvin Jones, on board to boot. The playing from all three members is great, with Jones being somewhat subdued and Francesco stealing the show with lightning fast runs that pile on top of each other creating sheets of sound. Unfortunately though, the production and sound quality are rife with problems making this promising CD loose much of its potential.

By the time of this CD, much of the jazz world, including the new young acid jazz crowd as well as the equally new and young neo-bop crowd, had eschewed plastic digital electronics in their recordings and were aiming for a more real and gritty retro “Blue Note” type sound. Unfortunately McLaughlin didn’t get the memo and the sound of this CD is more suited for bland 80s fuzak, not hot aggressive hard bop. McLaughlin’s guitar sound is thin and overly processed and Elvin Jones drums are buried by a digitally enhanced high end cymbal sound. All three players are swamped with phony digital reverb and recording “plates” more suited for stadium rock bands, not small jazz combos.

Despite the production problems, there are some nice tunes on here. “Afro Blue”, with its rhythmic changeup, seems to inspire Joey and Johnny to some of their best solos and “Ecuentros” has some interesting exotic Spanish Phrygian chord progressions. Elsewhere on this CD, several bluesy numbers allow DeFrancesco to show that he is the new king of the Hammond B3.

M.Neumann Ace guitarist John McLaughlin gave his nimble fingers a well-earned rest for this session, recorded live in the studio over two days in October 1994. Joining him were Joey DeFrancesco on Hammond organ and the legendary Elvin Jones behind the drumkit: not exactly your typical power trio (note the lack of a bass player).

The performances, as you would expect, are above criticism: McLaughlin has rarely played a wrong note over his long and varied career, and his skills are evenly matched here against two seasoned veterans. But the music itself is hardly what anyone would call challenging, and likely wasn't meant to be. At its best the album offers little more than a reliably polite reading of various cocktail-lounge instrumentals, hard to appreciate without a tested jazz palate.

And the production isn't exactly ideal. The smooth-as-silk style of Elvin Jones' drumming favors a ride cymbal that tends to smother other frequencies in a steady hiss of white noise. And McLaughlin's electric guitar is often pushed into the background mix by his own somewhat muted audio settings.

In the end there isn't much to be said about a collection featuring a tune ("My Favorite Things") lifted from "The Sound of Music", maybe the high water mark of wide-screen Hollywood schmaltz. Fans who share McLaughlin's passion for pure jazz will find much to admire here, but anyone looking for something a little more cutting-edge is aiming for disappointment.