Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A few cautionary notes, 13 Jul 2004
Anyone considering buying this set at the kind of price it retails at must be a serious McLaughlin fan. Just as McLaughlin deserves almost unqualified respect for his role in British and world jazz history, so his admirers need to know that when they are paying for a fairly premium-priced 17 CD set, they are getting respect from the record company. So this brief review sets three relevant aspects for you to consider. It takes as given McLaughlin's excellence. Across the entire set he does not disappoint, and this box is a genuine career retrospective. There are some notable highs - including for my money, the Shakti material, and the wonderful duets with Paco Pena; but the Heart of Things material is also superb. I could go on in this vein, but take it as read that with the exception of John Abercrombie, I don't place McLaughlin behind any jazz guitarist of the 20th century. So, cautionary notes. Firstly, and most seriously. Are you really getting 17Cds? Realistically, I think not. In terms of how well-filled the CDs are, you are actually getting about 12 CDs. Some of the concerts run into two CDs, when with the most minimal judicious editing, they could have fit onto one. The set includes a 'bonus' CD. OK, Warners, does that mean that you are treating us to it? I don't think so. It runs to something like 17 minutes, and consists of two tracks. I don't necessarily mind short CD timings on new releases (Thieves and Poets comes in at just over 40 minutes from recollection). But on 'historical' material, especially when there is no disclosure on a sealed box, it is, well, a little unfair. Secondly, if one takes as a benchmark the CBS Miles Davis reissues (usually just about 6 CDs), with their utterly magnificent supporting material, sizeable booklets crammed with information, opinion, and superb photography, then a trick has been missed here, to celebrate and place McLaughlin, as an exciting artist in a fantastically vibrant tradition. I would only award the accompanying booklet 2 out of 10. It has the timings and so on, and identifies the groups, but that's about it. Was McLaughlin consulted? Try to get a look inside the box before you buy; you'll see what I mean, or you may form an entirely different view. Thirdly, and a much more minor point; just be aware that the earliest set of Mahavishnu material is not the classic Birds of Fire line-up, but a much larger gathering, somewhat along the Apocalypse lines. I don't want to put anyone off superb music-making. But neither do I think that Warners, or any other record company, does anybody any favours by producing major historical retrospectives while they are on auto-pilot, thinking only about their bottom line, and emptying the pockets of those of us who love music, and are prepared to pay premium prices for quality product.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good set ...but somewhat overpriced, 18 Jun 2009
This monumental compilation features all the artist's concerts at the Montreaux Jazz Festival spanning the years 1974 through 1999. Featuring:
Shakti in July 1976 & 1977 (three discs)
John McLaughlin & The One Truth Band in July 1978
John McLaughlin & Chick Corea in July 1981
Mahavishnu Orchestra in July 1974 & 1984 (Four discs)
John McLaughlin & Paco DeLucia in July 1987 (two discs)
John McLaughlin & The Free Spirits in July 1993 & 1995 (three discs)
John McLaughlin & The Heart Of Things in July 1998
& John McLaughlin & Remember Shakti in July 1999.
The last disc is a bonus CD containing two tracks one featuring McLaughlin performing with Santana in July 1993 'Canto de Xango' & another with McLaughlin & Paco DeLucia in July 1996 'Frevo'. 17 CDs packaged in two CD books. Includes 50-page hard cover book with liner notes & many b&w photos.
MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA-July 7, 1974 Convention Center Montreux
With: John McLaughlin (guitar), Bob Knapp (flute, percussions), Steve Frankovitch (horns), Gayle Moran (organ, voc), Jean-Luc Ponty (violin), Steve Kindler (violin), Carol Shive (violin), Marsha Westbrook (alto), Phillip Hirschi (cello), Ralphe Armstrong (bass), Michael Walden (drums)
CD 1
1 Power Of Love (5:54)
2 Wings Of Karma (21:43)
3 Smile Of The Beyond (23:25)
CD 2
1 Vision Is A Naked Sword (26:04)
2 Hymn To Him (28:29)
3 Sanctuary (17:27)
SHAKTI-July 6, 1976 Montreux Casino
With: John McLaughlin (guitar), L. Shankar (violin), T.H. Vinayakram (ghatam, mridangam), Zakir Hussain (tabla)
CD 3
1 Joy (13:29)
2 India (22:47)
CD 4
1 Natia (? )
2 Kriti (4:10)
SHAKTI-July 8, 1977 ? Montreux Casino
With: John McLaughlin (guitar), L. Shankar (violin), T.H. Vinayakram (ghatam, mridangam), Zakir Hussain (tabla)
CD 5
1 La Danse Du Bonheur (11:29)
2 India (23:46)
3 Get Down And Sruti (28:38)
4 Joy (8:52)
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN & THE ONE TRUTH BAND -July 19, 1978 Montreux Casino
With: John McLaughlin (guitar), Stu Goldberg (keyboards), L. Shankar (violin), Tom Stevens (bass), W. "Sonship" Theus (drums)
CD 6
1 Meeting Of The Spirits (16:57)
2 Friendship (11:48)
3 Two Sisters (5:38)
4 Mind Ecology & Do You Hear The Voices We Left Behind (27:51)
5 Phenomenon Compulsion & Hope (8:16)
CHICK COREA & JOHN MCLAUGHLIN -July 15, 1981 Montreux Casino
With: Chick Corea (piano), John McLaughlin (guitar)
CD 7
1 La Baleine (9:21)
2 Waltze (8:42)
3 Romance (10:24)
4 Sketches (9:33)
5 Turn Around (10:43)
6 Thelonius Melodius (8:43)
7 Beautiful Love (dedicated to Bill Evans) (6:31)
MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA -July 18, 1984 Montreux Casino
With: John McLaughlin (guitar), Bill Evans (saxophone), Mitchell Forman (keyboards), Jonas Hellborg (bass), Danny Gottlieb (drums)
CD 8
1 Radio Activity (9:43)
2 Nostalgia (11:13)
3 East Side West Side (14:19)
4 Clarendon Hills (9:53)
5 Blues For L.W., It's The Pits & Living On The Crest Of A Wave (13:42)
CD 9
1 Jozy (13:28)
2 Pacific Express (21:06)
3 Mitch Match (7:47)
4 Mitch Match (reprise) (6:09)
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN & PACO DE LUCIA -July 15, 1987 Montreux Casino
With: John McLaughlin (guitar), Paco de Lucia (guitar)
CD 10
1 One Melody & My Foolish Heart (9:09)
2 El Panuelo (6:12)
3 Spain (10:11)
4 Chiquito (8:45)
5 Florianapolis (11:37)
CD 11
1 Frevo (7:55)
2 David (10:58)
3 Sichia (7:04)
4 Guardian Angels (6:31)
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN & THE FREE SPIRITS -July 4, 1993 Stravinski Auditorium
With: John McLaughlin (guitar), Joey DeFrancesco (organ, trumpet on "When Love Is Far Away"), Dennis Chambers (drums)
CD 12
1 Thelonius Melodius (7:04)
2 Matinale (16:18)
3 When Love Is Far Away (5:52)
4 Nostalgia (7:16)
5 Mother Tongues (13:50)
6 1 Nite Stand (4:35)
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN & THE FREE SPIRITS -July 18, 1995 Stravinski Auditorium
With: John McLaughlin (guitar), Joey DeFrancesco (organ, trumpet), Dennis Chambers (drums)
CD 13
1 Tones For Elvin Jones (9:21)
2 Matinale (20:18)
3 Sing Me Softly Of The Blues (7:55)
4 The Wall Will Fall (14:28)
CD 14
1 After The Rain (5:58)
3 Mother Tongues (20:50)
3 Old Folks (6:33)
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN & THE HEART OF THINGS -July 11, 1998 Stravinski Auditorium
With: John McLaughlin (guitar), Gary Thomas (saxophone, flute), Jim Beard (keyboards), Matthew Garrison (bass), Dennis Chambers (drums)
CD 15
1 Seven Sisters (14:05)
2 Social Climate (9:47)
3 Mr. D.C. (12:53)
4 Tony (7:21)
5 Acid Jazz (12:53)
6 Jazz Jungle (9:40)
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN - REMEMBER SHAKTI -July 8, 1999 Miles Davis Hall
With: John McLaughlin (guitar), Zakir Hussain (tabla), Uppalapu Shrinivas (mandolin), V. Selvaganesh (Indian percussions)
CD 16
1 5 In The Morning, 6 In The Afternoon (16:51)
2 Ma No Pa (11:16)
3 Anna (14:30)
4 Finding The Way (20:15)
5 La Danse Du Bonheur (4:50)
BONUS CD -CARLOS SANTANA with JOHN MCLAUGHLIN
July 4, 1993 Stravinski Auditorium
With: Carlos Santana (guitar), Alex Ligertwood (vocals), Chester Thompson (keyboards), Myron Dove (bass), Walfredo Reyes (drums), Armando Peraza (percussions), Raul Rekow (congas), Karl Perrazzo (timbales). Guest artist: John McLaughlin (guitar)
1 Canto de Xango (6:12)
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN & PACO DE LUCIA -July 8, 1996 Stravinski Auditorium
With: John McLaughlin (guitar), Paco de Lucia (guitar)
2 Frevo (9:00)
The Mahavishnu Concerts are the same ones which have seen the 2 DVD release a couple of years ago.
Claude Nobs and McLaughlin made a decision to not re-master or clean up the original source tapes. While this is called "brave" of McLaughlin in the liner notes, it was also probably cost effective. Because of this decision, some of the earlier concerts suffer from on-stage mishaps and some sound inadequacies and annoying clicks that either happened at the time of the recording or existed on damaged source tapes. The sound gets better as the concerts get newer, but audiophiles should be made aware of the sound issues. the sound is darn good. Like the previous reviewer has said some of the playing times on these discs are on the short side and often could have been fitted onto less disc space with some editing. Even though the sound is not up to todays standards and recorded live from personal sources it is still darned good and far better than bootleg standard.
Sadly a couple of Mclaughlin's Montreaux concerts could not be included because the other performing artists did not give consent (ie Al Di Meola)Even so this is a good retrospective of Mclaughlins career at the Montreaux festival over the years.
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~ Chick Corea
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~ Trio of Doom
![Allan Holdsworth And Alan Pasqua - Live At Yoshi's [2007] [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51mdJfy2G3L._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
~ John McLaughlin
