js “Devotion” is an odd one in the John McLaughlin discography, known as John’s ‘psychedelic rock’ album, there are a lot of things that happen on this LP that don’t show up on any later outings. Apparently controversial producer Alan Douglas had been hosting jam sessions with John, Jimi Hendrix, Larry Young, Billy Rich and Buddy Miles. When Jimi left us for another galaxy far away, the sessions continued without him. Eventually Alan made his own mix of the sessions without any input from McLaughlin, and the result was this album. John does not care for this album, especially Alan’s mixes. There is so much on here that is not typical for John; the way songs meld into each other, the psychedelic production, the double tracked guitar solos and the overall murky lack of precision. Production wise this album is the opposite of John’s later albums, but truth be told, this album sounds great, even if some of the music is somewhat simple by McLaughlin standards.

Most of these tracks are easy one and two chord modal jams, but both John and Larry Young play some great solos on these basic platforms. The best guitar solos go down on side one, with McLaughlin’s double tracked guitars often battling each other, or intertwining in complimentary ways. Larry should have been given more solo space, but he does come through big time on the bluesy “Siren”. Kudos to Larry also for his very spacey use of the B3 drawbars as he builds walls of tamboura like shifting hallucinogenic backgrounds. This is another place where Douglas’ skills shine as his production brings out the best in Larry’s unique technique. Another track worth mentioning is the last half of “Don’t Let the Dragon Eat Your Mother”, on which John’s mystical guitar figures sound like an outtake from “In a Silent Way”. On some of the more fusion leaning tracks, the bluesy Buddy Miles seems a bit out of his element. It would have been interesting to hear Billy Cobham or Tony Williams in his place. As a jazz album, many may find “Devotion” lacking in substance, but as a psychedelic rock album, it ranks with the best.

js John McLaughlin, much like his contemporary and sometimes band mate, Chick Corea, started his career with a very distinctive style, only to abandon that approach and tone things down for the rest of his career. Interesting to note that both were influenced by guru types when they changed their way of playing. “Extrapolation” is McLughlin’s first album as a leader and features a young guitarist willing to take crazy chances while plying with a fierce intensity that never totally returns on subsequent albums. Don’t get me wrong, John had many more great performances and recordings throughout the rest of his career, but he never again played with the freedom and abandon he does here. This McLaughlin has a rough approach that is both avant-garde and rootsy at the same time, especially compared to the po0lished sheen of many of his later albums.

The music on “Extrapolation” is all McLaughlin originals that combine bop, blues, free jazz, RnB and Indian music. Besides John, the next star of the show here is the versatile and energetic drumming of Tony Oxley, who is right at home playing anything from bluesy grooves to all out free onslaughts. John Surman’s gnarly baritone fit’s the gritty music perfectly as he adds his solos that combine RnB riffing with soaring free jazz. Brian Odges is an anchor on bass, and his well recorded input adds strength to the mix. Many of the tunes are very short and eclectic ranging from ballads to avant-garde bebop, but the best tracks are the longer ones where the band is given time to build their intensity. Listen to John’s intense note bends influenced by Indian music. Along with dropping the freer tonality, McLaughlin never recorded as much in that style again. Indian note bends have always been a part of his playing, but on this first album he merges this with a soulful blues flavor that adds so much bite to his solos. Some of John’s subsequent work with Miles Davis also features his earlier approach to the guitar.

snobb Living legend English guitarist John McLaughlin is a man responsible for probably best ever recorded guitar fusion album. His early interest to Indian music (and culture in general)is well documented on "My Goal's Beyond"(1971) and more significantly on early Shakti albums which were again excellent examples of Indo-fusion.

Don't be fooled by the name though - the newest work, credited to McLaughlin as leader, "Is That So?", is not in the league of both above mentioned masterpieces.To be honest, "Is That So?" in reality is first of all vocal album of prolific Indian singer and films soundtrack composer Shankar Mahadevan. Being a cult figure in India, he's almost unknown in Western world, so crediting his album to McLaughlin as leader is understandable marketing trick for American label AbstractLogix,who released the album just a week ago.

Then,under the cover we have what we have. Shankar Mahadevan sings six lyrical songs,ballads of sort, under minimalist accompaniment of McLaughlin processed guitars and even more minimalist licks of another Indian,former Shakti tabla player Zakir Hussain.

Fortunately, all music doesn't sound as Bollywood soundtrack. It is more rooted to Indian traditional sound, but it is still first of all singer's album. McLaughlin guitars sound processed using computer,is liquid,rhythm-less and hardly differs from what could be produced using inexpensive synths. Tabla's soloing is most livable and most attractive element of all music, but we don't get a lot of it. Harmony-less Indian music without rhythmic component after some time sounds same again and again, at least for Westerner's ear.

Quite a weird release,it will hardly attract McLaughlin guitar work's fans or even Shakti early albums lovers. Maybe Shankar Mahadevan singing followers will find it interesting though.

J-Man Though it is often regarded as an album recorded under the leadership of guitarist John McLaughlin, Where Fortune Smiles is more truthfully an equal collaboration between McLaughlin and saxophonist John Surman. Recorded in 1970 and released the following year, this is an ambitious free-jazz release that hardly resembles the style of fusion that McLaughlin is most renowned for. With its loose structure and dissonant melodies, Where Fortune Smiles may not be an album for everybody, but it's still an interesting purchase for curious jazz collectors.

As I've previously mentioned, Where Fortune Smiles should not be looked at as a John McLaughlin solo observation, and maybe even viewing it as a collaboration between McLaughlin and Surman is a bit unfair. Although all of the tracks are credited to the aforementioned musicians, the compositions are so loose in their structure that the direction of the music largely depends on where the soloist decides to take the piece and how bassist Dave Holland and drummer Stu Martin decide to hold the song together. It's a challenging listen for sure, especially if you're not well-versed in free jazz, but each track still has a distinct melody to latch onto. The solos are consistently enjoyable, with Karl Berger's frantic vibraphone work stealing the show for me. The man's playing is simply outstanding, and the other musicians deliver great performances as well.

Some of the tracks here - namely, "Glancing Backwards", "New Place, Old Place", and "Hope" - are totally off the wall jam sessions, but there are some more mellow tracks to break up the madness with "Earth Bound Hearts" and "Where Fortune Smiles". The former features some nice soloing from John Surman, and the latter has some great melodic playing from both John McLaughlin and Karl Berger. While I wouldn't call either of them particularly standout tracks, they serve as effective breaks from the dense and highly improvisational nature of the other tunes.

On the whole, it's a bit tough to recommend Where Fortune Smiles since it is such an improvisational and difficult listen, but I don't think avant-jazz aficionados would regret picking this one up at all. While I personally demand a bit more structure from my jazz music, I still found plenty to enjoy here. Where Fortune Smiles is a cool little album from a quintet that I wish recorded more material, and while it may not be essential, it's a nice bridge between free jazz, post-bop, and fusion.

Abraxas It's rather sad or dissapointing to realize that such great artists run out of fuel with time. It's the case of hundreds, many of the grand 60s and 70s rock bands suffered from it, and also jazz musicians (and equally happens to painters, film directors, etc)

Not everyone is a Picasso or, for jazz sake, a Miles Davis, that with each new stylistic period they turn things upside down and make something of their own.

John McLaughlin is one of my favourite guitarists, his early solo work that meandered through free jazz and psychedelia was superb, while with Mahavishnu and Shakti he was breathtaking. Then the mid 70s came... not everything was lost, but you could clearly notice territories being walked again.

And now we are in 2012. What happened? I'd say production values changed, what's the sound of those drums? He's hitting inflated bags. The keyboards are digital as if we were still in the 80s and buried in the mix. I don't know why, but John since Industrial Zen or maybe even before, decided to add a very artifical distorted sound to his guitar that sounds like.. emm.. samey? undistinguished? The bass is there, doing a billion things, slapping and complex lines, but it sounds like in those various 80s fusion albums that just don't have bite.

In definitive, unquestionably, you hear the talent and the experience of these guys, John is a legend. And no, this is not pop or commercial music, he didn't sell his soul to the devil. But still, I really don't notice where's John's mind and spirit in this. He's having fun, playing energetic fusion, but sounds like plastic, nothing much to digest or even taste.

This probably sounds more interesting live, where the drums have a warm sound, while the rest get a chance to improvise and free their minds. If you don't mind if John isn't doing anything remotely new and that the sound is probably the laziest use of 2000s technology, then check this out; he still has the chops.

js Abstract Logix’s New Universe Festival of 2010 was probably one of the more significant fusion concerts in recent history, and it is all captured in excellent form on this concert video. Many of the top names in current fusion are here and what a great varied and colorful approach they all bring to this music that will always be associated with its 70s roots. Ranjit Barot fuses fusion with Indian flavors and orchestral music, Human Element bring back the beautiful noise and chaos that has been absent since the early days of jazz-rock, Wayne Krantz takes on the modern NYC flavor with his harsh jarring free funk, Jimmy Herring plays sentimental, sometimes delicate, progressive rock flavored fusion, and of course the great John McLaughlin rounds it all up with high speed post bop mixed with funk and contemporary fusion. Every single performance is top notch and very convincing in letting us know that there is still plenty of life left in this sometimes maligned genre.

The music on here is great, but the video itself is even better. Its amazing how far concert videos have come over the years. This one is clear as a bell and features lots of accurate close-ups of the musicians as they display their virtuoso skills. They say that fusion is a musician’s music, if that is the case, then this video is a great learning tool for the aspiring player. Much of the footage on here goes right to the source and features the musician’s hands as they work their scales and fret boards. Any aspiring fusionist can pick up a lifetime of high speed licks and extended technique by studying this video and even stop-starting it it frame by frame. Long gone are the days of vague camera angles from way far away and pointless shots of musicians grimacing while they play, this video is all about accuracy and showing you exactly how this music goes down. This is a spirited and enthusiastic concert and highly recommended for fans of modern fusion.