Customer Reviews

Floating Point

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Well into his 60s the illustrious John Mclaughlin is as creative as ever. Having made music history with Miles Davis, Lifetime, Mahavishnu, Shakti he never rests on his laurels but continue to explore and expand his musical universe.

And in many ways is this new release a mixture of everything from his past yet given a new twist. Sounding most of all like the criminally underrated 80s version of Mahavishnu Orchestra, not least thanks to John's widespread use of the guitarsynth.

The album is recorded in India with a host of talented (mostly young) Indian musicians - some of which, like John himself, also participates on the highly interesting "Miles From India" tribute-album. The core on all tracks consiting of the excellent and rather Trilok Gurtu like drummer Ranjit Barat, percussionist Sivamani, the rather discreet Louiz Banks on keyborards and the stunning young French bassvirtuoso Hadrien Feraud. While McLaughlin's claim that he is the 'new Pastorius' might be slightly exaggerated, Feraud is none the less a formidable force on the low
end.

On each track except "Maharina" these are supplemented by a host of guest soloists, all young Indian supertalents except for the fine, lyrical sopranosax of George Brooks. All of them showing the stunning ability of Indian musicians to combine the virtuosic with the profound and the
spiritual. The fluteplaying of Shasanti on "Off The One" and Naveen Kumar on "1 4 U" simply breathtaking.

It's not Indian music like (Remember)Shakti, but jazz-world-fusion, or rather uniquely McLaughlin music. Not just great and inspired improvisations and solos, but also complex, moving and well-crafted compositions. And all of it infused with a tangible feeling of plain Joy. Endning on a very high note with a beautiful exchange between Niladri Kumar on electric sitar, sounding so much like McLaughlin in his younger days and the maestro himself.

As every McLaughlin-release in recent years, this is quite simply an important musical event.

John McLaughlin's recordings are a reflection of his changing interests and pursuits. However, his playing has been a constant throughout his career, ever setting new standards of creativity and excellence. "Floating Point" presents McLaughlin's most lucid and musically interesting improvisations so far. His playing is highly chromatic and yet, at the same time, very bluesy. This recording is a good companion to "Industrial Zen" and has a very similar sound. There were some complaints in other reviews about the drummer. I found the drums to be very exciting and clever. This is an excellent recording by a guitarist whose style and taste have steadily improved with age.

"This may be by far the most exciting album I've ever made"(paraphrased) What was he thinking? This does not even come close to his best work. I've been a JM worshipper for decades, but unless I'm missing something this is a mediocre performance. It's missing the fire he had on Industrial Zen. This cd sounds like a casual jam session to me.

I bought this album around the same time as Miles From India.In fact a lot of the musicians on this album play on that one as well.But unfortunately that is where all comparisons come to an end.

Miles From India works and you can plainly hear that one every track.This one unfortunately does not.

To begin with there are absolutely no new ideas in the music.It is without any definition and sounds patchy.Mclaughlin's guitar sounds exactly like Luiz Banks synthesizer.Ranjit Barot and Sivamani on percussion duties, whip up a unholy racket that dominates the proceedings.The other guest musicians seem to wonder in, contribute the mandatory raga riff and wonder out...

John Mclaughlin is a legend.Of that there can be no debate.Perhaps John needs a long break; to rejuvnate himself and his music.In the mean time I think he should stay away from producing such rubbish.

Here is hoping that he will surprise us all with the next album.

Till then...just stay away from this one.


PS- My copy of the CD also contains the DVD of the making of the album, it is even worse than the CD.

I have no idea what happened to the guitarist known as John Mclaughlin. It seems as if his compositional skills have gone the way of the dodo. All that is left are generic compositions that, while maintaining technical merit completely lose the true essence of what this man once was. What was he you ask? One of the baddest guitar players to have ever lived. How is it that this is the same man that made classic albums such as The Inner Mountain Flame, Between Nothingness and Eturnity, Que Alegria, Lifetime, The Promise, The Mediterranean, My Goals Beyond, Belo Horizonte, Friday Night In San Francisco is now putting out albums like this? A BIG part the problem is how he is recording these days. He records every instrument in a seperate room and at different times and then mixes them together. Part of the thing that makes "Jazz" music so special is the interaction that the players have with one another. Well, with the record and splice together method that John is using that type of interaction is impossible. John do us all a favor and just get back to playing Jazz. You have removed yourself so far from the Jazz idiom that it seems as if you are playing muzak now. He should just grab his guitar get an amp (not that laptop that he's been paling out of for years) and get three, four or perhaps five guys in a room TOGETHER and just wail! Michael Brecker use to do this (Tales From the Hudson, Pilgrimage) and Pat Metheney does it (Trio 99, Question and Answer, Like Minds) when he doesn't play with The Pat Metheny Group. Maybe John is suffering from what I call "George Lucas Syndrome" which means that he has obtained such a high level of statis in the musical world that all he has around him are a bunch of Yes Men. AKA- people who tell him that everything he does is wonderful. No one had the guts to tell Lucas that Star Wars Episodes I-III sucked and no one had the guts to tell John that this isn't the way to go. I still gave this album two stars because it's John and he has devoted his life to making music, but in all honesty if this album didn't have his name on it I'd probably give it no stars.

John you're better than this!

This album takes awhile to fully sink in (there's a lot going on), but I personally enjoy it more than Industrial Zen, even though it is in the same general sonic ballpark. It sounds more cohesive, to me. Working with a mostly Indian group of musicians in a 'fish out of water' jazz context seems to have inspired McLaughlin, since he plays some wonderful solos on this album.

Having said that, this is much more of a 'textural' album than a balls-out guitar album. If you want Mahavishnu-style intensity, get the live recording from the 2007 4th Dimension tour--that features a much more intense John McLaughlin than you'll find here. On Floating Point, John's solos are full of melodic invention, wonderful use of space, and yes, plenty of finger-twisting difficulty. But it's not going to tear your head off and isn't supposed to. Besides, didn't he already tear our heads off sometime around 1973? :)

The one downer on the album for me, as a guitarist, was John's choice of guitar synthesizer sounds. Unlike on Industrial Zen, John uses the guitar synth mostly just for solo parts (don't worry, he also recorded several of the solos with regular guitar sounds), leaving the synth background parts to keyboardist Louiz Banks. However, the synth sounds that John uses are too soft and indistinct to work in such a heavily percussive atmosphere as this album--to the point that many of his synth solos don't stand out very well against the background and don't have equal force when he's trading solos with other musicians. In quieter moments, his guitar synths do a lot better.

Had I produced this session, I would have had John try out more percussive, brighter synth sounds (which I admit can be problematic and glitch-prone to use with a guitar controller), or more likely mixed in real guitar sound along with his synthesizer sounds to provide more body and "snap." This seems like a technical point, but it really does impact my enjoyment of this otherwise splendid album, unfortunately.

I suppose it's unfair to constantly expect John McLaughlin to reprise the fire of his first Mahavishnu album, but I do, and he constantly lets me down. I bought this CD because I hoped that the Indian musicians involved would spur him to some of his old youthful passion. Well, the Indian musicians certainly play with verve here, but McLaughlin mostly phones his performance in. His playing feels like he's reading it off a chart--while he's reading the newspaper. And the guitar synthesizer only makes this effect more pronounced. McLaughlin chooses sounds from the synthesizer that are flutelike, but without even the attack of a real flute. Every edge, every trace of timbre is removed, which also removes any edge or rhythmic propulsion from the playing. A guitar is played with steel strings and a plectrum for a reason--its percussiveness gives the music a jump factor--and an electric guitar should sound electric, with the meat and rich timbre of an overdriven speaker. McLaughlin's technique has always been exceptional, but he used to use it to reach as high as he could, pushing the envelope of what was possible. Now, unfortunately, he has perfected his technique, and he uses to pursue perfection. He almost never gives the sense of reaching, or taking chances, or of just getting carried away by the feeling. There are places on this CD where things do heat up, and the band throughout plays with real energy, particularly the drummers. If only McLaughlin played with the fire of his sidemen, we'd have a recording worth reckoning with.

By the time most musicians reach the age of 66, they've usually either settled into a comfortable and rigid format or retired altogether. But ever the restless and youthful spirit, the sextagenarian McLaughlin continues to show more musical vitality than most musicians one-third of his age. Hot on the heels of an amazing tour with his new fusion quartet, the 4th Dimension (which I was lucky enough to see), comes his new album "Floating Point". Boasting a lineup of the creme-de-la-creme of Indian musicians, most relative unknowns in the Western world, "Floating Point" picks up where 2006's "Industrial Zen" left off, melding the past of music with the present (imagine a sweet jazz ballad as played by Aphex Twin, a paradoxical idea realized in "Off the One") to create something indelibly futuristic and unmistakably McLaughlin. Drummer Ranjit Barot, sounding like an unholy hybrid of Dennis Chambers and Zakir Hussain, sends an electric undercurrent running beneath the affair, making sure he keeps his bandmates "afloat" through the labyrinth of colorful compositions John has produced here. Mr. McLaughlin himself has never sounded better than he does here. His liberal use of guitar synths, while it might disappoint many six-string fanatics, allows him to explore a much more lyrical approach to his playing with fuller tone and a rich sustain usually afforded only to brass and reed players; and, indeed, even at its most complex, this album is delightfully melodic and catchy. Hadrien Feraud, the young French bass virtuoso who made his McLaughlin debut on "Industrial Zen" before joining 'The 4th Dimension', returns to support an incredible lineup of Indian musicians including Barot, keyboardist Louiz Banks and percussionist A. Sivamani, as well as a host of amazing guest musicians who bring a thick air of ethnicity to the proceedings with such instruments as bamboo flutes and electric sitars, just to name a few. Merging western harmony with the Indian classical system, the results can sound simultaneously like ragas as much as Western jazz-fusion. Far from conflicting, though, the sounds complement each other beautifully.
Now, one little counter-caveat. I've noticed other reviewers complaining about the "smooth jazz" aesthetic present on the album. Don't be fooled. While the album is unusually downtempo for John (which I think is a good thing; I like when my favorite musicians vary their musical approaches) and the atmosphere is definitely "smooth", it is as far away from the world of Kenny G and "Weather Channel" backdrops as the cover art suggests. Still, you might say that this is John McLaughlin's "chill-out" album. Or perhaps "smooth jazz + quantum physics" would make a better banner. But my point is: If you love music at all, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Floating Point.

I was initially very dissappointed in the large amount of guitar synth used throughout Floating Point. However after having listened to Floating Point for the last couple of weeks I have grown to love it more and more. Eventhough I still do not like the sound of the guitar synth I am now enjoying the cd tremendously. Raju, Off the One, Inside out, 5 Peace Band are exceptional. Abba'Ji, despite its lack of "real" guitar is also very good. The slide guitar, sitar and electic mandolin players on Floating Point are kick-ass... I hope to hear more from them in the future with John. Ranjit Barot on the drums is very unique and exciting. The interplay between him and the percussionist is wonderful and they provide strong, interesting but unorthodox grooves which I enjoy. I hope John will work with Ranjit Barot in the future. (Hey John how about working with drummer JoJo Mayer?? another fantastic drummer..very tasty) Hadrien Feraud on bass is always a joy...what a monster player! And John's playing is stellar and tasty of course. The song The Voice I have somewhat mixed feelings about. Shankar M.'s singing is incredible and I hope he works with John more. However everytime the Guitar Synth comes in after Shankar M.'s singing the intensity level drops. If John had chosen to play either acoustic or electric guitar on this tune it would have been an incredible and goose-bump inducing tune. Anyway as it is I still enjoy it very much but mainly because of the singing and the strong composition. The weakest tune for me is "1 4 U".
All in all a very strong and unique new cd from John McLaughlin. I hope we will see more from this cast of players with John in the future. Also check out the great companion dvd Meeting of the Minds which will make you enjoy the music even more.

john, please dont resort to this type of shlock, i mean realy, this sounds like that same impotent garbage that bob james puts out, all be it ,more chops,but at least 3 of the songs are getting close to that over produced smooth psuedo jazz , god i long for the days that john puts together an album with some bite,i mean the last album was a step in the right direction, but this is a travesty,and for him to pump this up like this is a slap in the face to a true mahavishnu fan, extrapolation, my goalsbeyond, shakti,miles albums ,lifetime,you name it. this guy may be the most important jazz rock guitarist of all time ,dimeola in recent years has produced much better quality music, it realy is a shame that john has degraded himself so much,now if you like over produced slick neofusion thats easily digested, then have at it ,you'll revel in it.ughh!/ update aug 2008- can you believe down beat gave this album 5 stars, i listened again, i just dont see it, at least two thirds of the album didnt do anything for me.