Chick Corea And John McLaughlin - Five Peace Band Live ***

As Corea readily acknowledges, back in the 1970s McLaughlin’s famed Mahavishnu Orchestra provided the inspiration for Corea’s then acoustic Return to Forever to go electric (a transition that was documented when Universal had a serious commitment to jazz back in 1996 with Return to the 7th Galaxy: Return to Forever on the Verve label). Here were two high flying bands playing to arena rock audiences, and collaboration between the leaders seemed a no-brainer. But it has taken a while – well, almost 40 years since the two protagonists appeared together for the first time on In A Silent Way – for the summit meeting to be arranged. Forward looking rather than dabbling in the past (except for a Miles tribute performed as a McLaughlin/Corea duet with ‘In A Silent Way/It’s About That Time’ and ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’) plans to revisit their distinguished jazz-rock pasts in the form of an RTF and Mahavishnu classic were shelved in favour of mainly contemporary material.

Standout track is ‘Hymn to Andromeda’ which, while featuring all the band members, gives Kenny Garrett (also a Miles alumnus) a good crack of the whip with a solo that at times is inspirational. McLaughlin’s Indian influences show through on ‘Raju’ and ‘New Blues, Old Bruise’ while Corea’s Spanish heart is to the fore with ‘Senor C.S.’ Moving easily between “electric fusion” and “acoustic jazz,” McBride’s ability to contribute virtuoso performances on both electric and upright basses deserves praise since few bass players have his facility on both instruments. When he digs in on the old Jackie McLean blues line “Dr. Jackle” after a discursive Corea introduction and an abstract exposition of the theme it is no wonder he is talked about as a young master. Stuart Nicholson