Woooo the gonna get to see the John McLaughman thread!!!!!

shatners basoon

So anyone else going to see Mclaughlin tomorrow? Want to hype it up a bit?
To be honest though I'm finding it hard to get excited as was at the Hague Jazz Festival last week and i'm dreading having to take another bus to Dublin to travel but heck it should definately be worth it. Little idea of what his band are like though they seem pretty decent from the snippets i've seen of them on youtube. Might try get into them tonight or something!

Really wish he was still playing with Shakti though- i'd take the bus ten times over to see them!

(note: the mclaughman is a nickname i just gave him for little-no reason)

Velvet Vocals

I'm so... SO..... SOOOOOO JEALOUS!!!
I want you to not tell me how good it was.... but then I need to know! I heard about it too late and didn't get tickets! I'm sick!

Desmo

shatners basoon wrote: »

So anyone else going to see Mclaughlin tomorrow? Want to hype it up a bit?
To be honest though I'm finding it hard to get excited as was at the Hague Jazz Festival last week and i'm dreading having to take another bus to Dublin to travel but heck it should definately be worth it. Little idea of what his band are like though they seem pretty decent from the snippets i've seen of them on youtube. Might try get into them tonight or something!

Really wish he was still playing with Shakti though- i'd take the bus ten times over to see them!

(note: the mclaughman is a nickname i just gave him for little-no reason)

Rumour has it he will do a number with the Dubliners and that Sinead O'Connor is a big fan and is going to be there.

My favourite song is "The Cross at Drumshanbo"; it always makes me very emotional; I saw him do that with Mahavishnu in Altamont in 72 at an outdoors gig. Billy Cobham was wearing an Aran Sweater in 40 degrees of sweltering heat.

Desmo

Desmo

That was abso****inlutely bl***ing brilliant.
I thought he was about 60 but looked like he was maybe early 50s. It turns out he was born in 1942. He wore the sun tan, big hair, snow white jeans and snow white runners and played standing up. Last 2 times I saw him, he sat down and played a flat top. This was like a return to Mahavishnu. It was rock drum kit, electric guitar, electric bass and electric keyboards and was electrifying. The music was almost like a rock gig except the guitarist played with Miles Davis. Best gig in 2 years for me.

Setun

Right, anyone who talks about how brilliant this gig was gets banned

I wasn't there... damnn yeh

Hermy

This was for me a very, very disappointing gig. I last saw John play with the Free Spirits in Cork in the nineties so I was really looking forward to his return. However, I was left scratching my head as the gig unfolded. McLaughlin is an unbelievably fast player but listen to Inner Mounting Flame or Passion, Grace, Fire or Live at the Festival Hall and you can hear that he is much more than just a fast player. Yet last night all I could hear was the same lightening-fast phrase repeated over and over again from the opening number to the last tune before the encore. I have never heard McLaughlin play like that before, on either live or studio recordings, and I am left utterly dumbfounded as to why he would put so little effort into a gig. Did he really believe that all we wanted was a few crowd-pleasing guitar pyrotechnics and that we would all go away happy? The only highlight for me was when the drummer, having been left out in the cold for most of the night, was allowed to cut loose on a solo that really brought the whole show alive. The percussion discussion which followed was amusing to begin with, particularly the antics of Gary Husband, but it went on for too long and was reduced to farce well before it’s conclusion. I won’t comment on Di Piazza as I’m not a fan of his but does anyone know the reason for Hadrian Feraud’s absence.

Desmo

Hermy wrote: »

This was for me a very, very disappointing gig. I last saw John play with the Free Spirits in Cork in the nineties so I was really looking forward to his return. However, I was left scratching my head as the gig unfolded. McLaughlin is an unbelievably fast player but listen to Inner Mounting Flame or Passion, Grace, Fire or Live at the Festival Hall and you can hear that he is much more than just a fast player. Yet last night all I could hear was the same lightening-fast phrase repeated over and over again from the opening number to the last tune before the encore. I have never heard McLaughlin play like that before, on either live or studio recordings, and I am left utterly dumbfounded as to why he would put so little effort into a gig. Did he really believe that all we wanted was a few crowd-pleasing guitar pyrotechnics and that we would all go away happy? The only highlight for me was when the drummer, having been left out in the cold for most of the night, was allowed to cut loose on a solo that really brought the whole show alive. The percussion discussion which followed was amusing to begin with, particularly the antics of Gary Husband, but it went on for too long and was reduced to farce well before it’s conclusion. I won’t comment on Di Piazza as I’m not a fan of his but does anyone know the reason for Hadrian Feraud’s absence.

He broke a finger.
I saw him twice in early 90s sitting down with a flat top (Trilok Gurtu and Kai Eckhardt in one band; cannot remember the second band. If you compare the gigs, these earlier ones were much more intellectual and "fancy". I did not go to compare him to anything last night. I treated it like a rock gig which is what it effectively was. As such, it was a great night out. I have been listening to his records since the early seventies in a dozen incarnations and last night was the least intellectual of anything I have heard by him. I still enjoyed it; he is a legend, even when playing in a rock band.

shatners basoon

Gotta agree with you there that it was very much more the rock side of fusion. Thoroughly enjoyed it myself though i couldn't argue too much with Hermy's criticisms. Though to be honest i always thought his playing on the slower stuff was pretty poor (plus what the hell was with using the wammy bar after every phrase?), that being said i would never have considered him as much of a melodic guitarist. Obviously he is capable of creating good lines but he's certainly not subtle and does rely a lot more on his blistering technique; i think this is supported by the fact that none of his solo stuff is particularly good. His stuff with Shakti is probably his best actual playing (i'm told they're reforming actually, anyone shed any light on this?) as it lets him put his intensity to good use with beautiful sounding scales.

Surprised you were so disappointed though as i found the gig wonderfully intense which is exactly what i expected from it - proper fusion! Thought Hijacked (Piazza's main piece) was excellent even if he did sound a bit too much like McLoughlin on the bass. The last track (before the encore) was definately the highlight. Saw Billy Cobham last week at the Hague Jazz festival (playing with Level 42 of all bands?!) and he really disappointed. This guy was very similar to Cobham when he was great and it was fantastic to see. Though i did see Weckl at the Hague and well he blows them both out of the water! Husband was great to watch too and that battle was highly amusing though i agree that they could have shortened it by about half a minute or so.

What did people think of Nielson?
I've seen him twice before (playing with Eric Revis - where he was good but used a quite bizarre talk effect on his guitar which was hilariously off putting - pretty much the same effect that Husband used last night which begs the question of whether he gave it to him!, and with Jamie Oehlers where his holdsworth style playing on a strat didn't suit the gig at all). Its obvious that he is a very good guitarist but he's always seemed that bit uncomfortable to me, last night i thought he was very messy. Played solo on a spanish guitar (sounded a bit like egberto gismonti) for those who weren't there but he did do a pretty good version of moondance. THink he plays better with the moustache though

Desmo

shatners basoon wrote: »

Gotta agree with you there that it was very much more the rock side of fusion. Thoroughly enjoyed it myself though i couldn't argue too much with Hermy's criticisms. Though to be honest i always thought his playing on the slower stuff was pretty poor (plus what the hell was with using the wammy bar after every phrase?), that being said i would never have considered him as much of a melodic guitarist. Obviously he is capable of creating good lines but he's certainly not subtle and does rely a lot more on his blistering technique; i think this is supported by the fact that none of his solo stuff is particularly good. His stuff with Shakti is probably his best actual playing (i'm told they're reforming actually, anyone shed any light on this?) as it lets him put his intensity to good use with beautiful sounding scales.

Surprised you were so disappointed though as i found the gig wonderfully intense which is exactly what i expected from it - proper fusion! Thought Hijacked (Piazza's main piece) was excellent even if he did sound a bit too much like McLoughlin on the bass. The last track (before the encore) was definately the highlight. Saw Billy Cobham last week at the Hague Jazz festival (playing with Level 42 of all bands?!) and he really disappointed. This guy was very similar to Cobham when he was great and it was fantastic to see. Though i did see Weckl at the Hague and well he blows them both out of the water! Husband was great to watch too and that battle was highly amusing though i agree that they could have shortened it by about half a minute or so.

What did people think of Nielson?
I've seen him twice before (playing with Eric Revis - where he was good but used a quite bizarre talk effect on his guitar which was hilariously off putting - pretty much the same effect that Husband used last night which begs the question of whether he gave it to him!, and with Jamie Oehlers where his holdsworth style playing on a strat didn't suit the gig at all). Its obvious that he is a very good guitarist but he's always seemed that bit uncomfortable to me, last night i thought he was very messy. Played solo on a spanish guitar (sounded a bit like egberto gismonti) for those who weren't there but he did do a pretty good version of moondance. THink he plays better with the moustache though

I prefer Nielsen with the moustache meself alright :-).
I remember seeing him solo with the same guitar in Cabinteely House in a high ceilinged roomw with 20 people and he was great; relaxed, accomplished, wonderful arrangements of jazz standards and his own compositions etc. Last night was a very tough job. It also looked like he broke one of his nails on the very last big strum of the night. Something finger nail sized flew from his picking hand and he grimaced.

Setun

Hermy wrote: »

This was for me a very, very disappointing gig. I last saw John play with the Free Spirits in Cork in the nineties so I was really looking forward to his return. However, I was left scratching my head as the gig unfolded. McLaughlin is an unbelievably fast player but listen to Inner Mounting Flame or Passion, Grace, Fire or Live at the Festival Hall and you can hear that he is much more than just a fast player. Yet last night all I could hear was the same lightening-fast phrase repeated over and over again from the opening number to the last tune before the encore. I have never heard McLaughlin play like that before, on either live or studio recordings, and I am left utterly dumbfounded as to why he would put so little effort into a gig. Did he really believe that all we wanted was a few crowd-pleasing guitar pyrotechnics and that we would all go away happy? The only highlight for me was when the drummer, having been left out in the cold for most of the night, was allowed to cut loose on a solo that really brought the whole show alive. The percussion discussion which followed was amusing to begin with, particularly the antics of Gary Husband, but it went on for too long and was reduced to farce well before it’s conclusion. I won’t comment on Di Piazza as I’m not a fan of his but does anyone know the reason for Hadrian Feraud’s absence.

Actually just wondering if you could elaborate on DiPiazza performance?? I'm just interested to hear what others think of him.I was at SJP last year and he was the electric bass tutor. I can see that technically he's an incredibly slick player, but there was something about his style that just didn't grab me.

shatners basoon

Desmo wrote: »

I prefer Nielsen with the moustache meself alright :-).
I remember seeing him solo with the same guitar in Cabinteely House in a high ceilinged roomw with 20 people and he was great; relaxed, accomplished, wonderful arrangements of jazz standards and his own compositions etc. Last night was a very tough job. It also looked like he broke one of his nails on the very last big strum of the night. Something finger nail sized flew from his picking hand and he grimaced.

Come to think of it he played with that guitar for the Revis gig too and i though he played quite beautifully. Maybe the stress of supporting such a legend without the possible safety net of other musicians got to him or that he was too eager to impress or something. Noticed the nail alright too, thought it was a chip off the guitar at first when i considered how hard he was beating it with his flamenco style chops! Figured it was a nail though, possibly an artificial one.

Regarding DiPiazza it'd be hard to criticize him too much considering he was filling in and reading the music as he played but he didn't impress me too much to be frank. He's obviously incredibly gifted technically (like mcLaughlin on the bass) and gets a very nice tone (I often hate electric bass solos as i think they sound like electric fart noises ) but he seems to rely a bit too much on his flashy technique and speed to try to hit as many notes as possible using the usual runs as opposed trying to craft anything in particular with the right notes at the right time. I'm probably being a bit harsh here though as I saw Stanley Clarke, Tony Grey and Richard Bona play last week who all blew me away and i can't help but compare them.

So basically he was good in the context of the gig in that he can play very fast and technically which is what the gig was all about!

stevejazzx

kinda dissapointed i missed the gig..I've come to really like mclaughlin but he takes lot of listening to, but he is so real and so pure an improviser for me, his fast lines are actually very thoughtful..almost coltrane-esque...
his best work has to be with paco de lucia, the two of them playing frevo rasguedo on fnsf is frigthening but there is a rare dvd of them in germany that I have where they play spain by chick corea and it fuc*ing amazing..I mean mclaughlins are ridiculous, he plays outside so well..

steve

shatners basoon

I wouldn't argue about his ability to play fast and intelligently but i have to say that his playing wasn't at its best that night, though at times he did show flashes of what he can really do. There's no question that he's one of the greatest living guitarists.

Have a version of them doing spain alright, brilliant stuff. Trying to arrange that song for solo guitar at the moment, really getting into Chick's older stuff, Now he Sings, Now he Sobs is absolutely brilliant!