John McLaughlin & The 4th Dimension: Black Light
Author: Stuart Nicholson
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Musicians: |
Ranjit Barot (d, konnokol, v) |
Label: |
Abstract Logic |
Magazine Review Date: |
October/2015 |
RecordDate: |
date not stated |
In 2006, McLaughlin released Industrial Zen. Some tracks roared and were a welcome antidote to a lot of tepid jazz-rock fusion, a hangover from smooth jazz, which had begun to be passed as electric jazz. Although no one knew it at the time, 4th Dimension would become McLaughlin's regular working band. Who would have thought it? With Remember Shakti and numerous other projects bubbling away, his jazz-rock days seemed far behind him. But with his energy and enthusiasm, the band became airborne, going out on to the world's touring circuits two and three times a year. The musical centre of gravity, however, was less easy to define. Every album had a couple of standout tracks, but others seemed to be pushing in different directions that blurred the overall personality of the band, and of course there were always other projects going on at the same time – Floating Point, for example, a jazz-rock album with Indian musicians that put a new spin on the whole electric jazz genre. But then came The Boston Record in 2013, an album of much greater focus than previous 4th Dimension sets. Here was a promise the best was yet to come and Black Light shows evidence of how the music is more precisely tuned as the individual talents of the band members coalesce around a collective group sound. Standout tracks include ‘The Jiis’, ‘Panditji’, ‘Gaza City’ and a rare outing nowadays on acoustic guitar on ‘El Hombre Que Sabiac’, the album's standout track. No wonder critics have dubbed 4th Dimension the Mahavishnu Orchestra of the 21st century.
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