Lenox Avenue Breakdown
- Arthur Blythe (Columbia)
Blythe. a saxophonist who's done time with drummer Chico Hamilton's group and the New York jazz scene, is the most interesting player of the instrument around. Where most saxists make the choice of the kind of music they want to play and seldom, if ever, stray to other styles, Blythe's sound is an engagingly eclectic mixture that he bonds together with the self-assurance and personality of his playing.
When last seen and heard in concert in San Diego. guitarist McLaughlin had assembled a unit called the One Truth Band, and from the evidence, there was little reason to feel hopeful. The performance was atrocious. a poorly mixed and badly played din of electronic flash. with McLaughlin and the band undertaking a pointless, random cacophony of speedy riffs that never jelled. The concert lacked even the callous cleverness McLaughlin has become known for. Well, surprise. Electric Dreams, the One Truth Band's 'first release with McLaughlin, is everything their concert wasn’t. The six musicians - McLaughlin. L. Shankar on violin, Stu Goldberg on keyboards, Fernando Sanders on bass, Tony Smith on drums and Alyrio Lima on percussion - have consolidated their skills into a fully integrated unit and display a distinct musical identity.
McLaughlin,the principal composer here, has taken on a new maturity as a composer as well. Where much of his writing in the past seemed to be little more than tricky unison parts. employing Indian and neo-classical modes with little substantive guts underneath the dizzying dexterity, Electric Dreams material cuts a wider swath. The band's unified character gives the variety of approaches -Basie blues, poly-tonal funk, Coltranish chases - a coherence that last year's recipe hodgepodge, Johnny McLaughlin. Electric Guitarist, lacked. Unlike Electric Guitarist, a session where McLaughlin employed different musicians on each track, Electric Dreams has a central character. This album is by recipe hodgepodge, Johnny McLaughlin. Electric Guitarist, lacked. Unlike Electric Guitarist, a session where McLaughlin employed different musicians on each track, Electric Dreams has a central character.
The high points on the album are many, but especially exciting is "The
Dark Prince," a Coltrane stretch of expanded ' bop where McLaughlin fuses
the melodic sense and chordal strategies of Dolphy and Parker with the cardiac
arrest tempo of his Mahavishnu period. Though the purist elements of the jazz
audience might dismiss this tract as mere facile Clash and showboating for its
own sake. McLaughlin’s solos are nonetheless crisp. concise. elegantly phrased
and to the point. The closing guitar keyboard shootout between he and Goldberg is an enthralling example of
two musicians pushing themselves to their respective creative limits. "Miles
Davis " (so named. as a return compliment to the trumpet player who named
one of his songs "John McLaughlin" on his Bitches Brew is heart burn with musical notation after a delicious but over-spiced
meal. It’s at this point where I turn off the music and walk into the sunlight
of the spirit.
(Originally seen in the UCSD Daily Gaurdian.)
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