John Mclaughlin, To the One

     This is one of the better jazz-rock fusion albums in my collection. And its on the more recent side coming out in 2011. I ordered this CD online a while ago, months and months ago. This is also McLaughlin's first recording with his band the 4th Dimension. Here's what it says on the CD cover: 
     "The inspiration behind this recording stems from two sources: firstly from hearing the recording 'A Love Supreme' by John Coltrane in the 1960's, and secondly from my own endeavors towards 'The One' throughout the past 40 years. Coltrane's recording marked me forever in two ways: musically and spiritually. This was a profound moment for modern music. Until this recording, 'spirituality' had been the domain of the great classical composers with their works known as the 'mass', and in the classical music from North and South India. With this one recording, Coltrane integrated the spiritual dimension into jazz. The advent of this record could not have come at a better moment for me. The musical and spiritual encouragement I obtained from this record was a determining factor in my life. By the release of this album, I had begun my search for the answers to the questions existence will pose to us all, sooner or later. This period of intense interior work was followed by periods of indolence, doubt and even plain laziness on my part. Fortunately, the call of my soul returned to my inner ear, and I began eventually to feel the blessings of the Infinite One once more. From time to time, I have had glimpses of the indescribable loveliness of the Infinite One. I have seen that we are all in the Infinite One. We can never be apart from the Infinite Oneness even though we may be unaware of this unity. The music on this recording is another tale from my life. About my love and affection for the wonderful people around me, both far and near, for the mysterious universe we live in, and in the end for the Infinite One. With peace and blessings to everyone. J.M"
     How can you even come up with a better message to your fans than this! Really inspiring words from the great spiritual guitarist. Its really quite great how McLaughlin loves Coltrane because I too, am a huge Coltrane fan. Coltrane was my hero too man! Anyways, McLaughlin has been searching musically and spiritually and it really shows on this record. So this is the first recording with McLaughlin's band the 4th Dimension and they are John McLaughlin on guitar, Gary Husband on keyboards/drums (sometimes on drums, sometimes keys, sometimes both on the same track!), Etienne M'Bappe on bass, and Mark Mondesir on drums when Husband isn't playing it. This is only the second time I've heard the album, but the first time I heard it I was absolutely blown away by the musical prowess and instrumental intensity. I was especially in love with the track 'Discovery'.
      The first track is my favorite and in my opinion the best track on the whole album. It's called 'Discovery', and it starts out with a swinging kind of funky keyboards and drums. And there's a head played by the guitar before John McLaughlin goes off into improvisatory sequences. The thing that I think makes this song so great is the rhythm section, the drums, bass, and keyboards are just so funky but it also has that kind of sophisticated sound of bebop jazz because of McLaughlin's guitar solo. The licks are just killing it man! He's a monster! And then Gary Husbands keyboard solo comes in. Then there's a bridge section where the drums kind of have their own little crazy part. Then the bass comes in for a solo and its fantastic. This guy, M'Bappe plays fretless bass, and fretless bass sounds amazing. I wish bassists in metal would use it, it really has a good sound. Then the head comes back in, ending the song on a high note while the drums goes off on rhythmic tangents. To me, this song is like a modern bebop, its jazz-rock but it has the sophistication of complicated jazz arrangements, like old school Dizzy and Charlie Parker.
     Next, is a more ballad type song called 'Special Beings', a very new age title for a song but the song name actually fits the song musically. The guitar tone in this one has more of a chorus effect than 'Discovery'. The tone is a little more like how Mclaughlin likes his guitar now, which is more of a chorus type thing similar to John Scofield. There's great keyboard playing from Gary Husband here. It actually reminds me of Herbie Hancock, his playing is very harmonically 'there', in the same way as Herbie's playing is. Even though the mood is more mellow on this piece, Mclaughlin still 'shreds', as the kids call it. This guy was like the OG shredder back in the 70's in Mahavishnu Orchestra and its amazing that he plays faster today at 70 years old than he did in his 20s. The thing that makes Mclaughlin's playing so great is his phrasing. He does interesting things with ordinary melodies, probably learned much of it from studying Indian classical music and playing with musicians from India. This guy isn't just a pentatonic runner. The bass line even plays a walking bass line on this song, making it have that kind of signature jazz feel.
     Next up, 'The Fine Line', sounds like a song that is super heavy and deep. It has this kind of melody that just screams emergency! But it still has a funky flavor to it with the rhythm section. This is another favorite track of mine on the album. Definitely one of the best tunes on the album for sure. There's a keyboard solo and then that haunting melody comes back in, it's really a blast to hear. The drums even have a solo part while McLaughlin is riffing on the theme's chords. After that McLaughlin plays some really killer guitar lines. Super fast. Super technical. Super jazzy. His guitar tone on this song is drenched with reverb, a slight bit of distortion, and chorus for sure. Some of his best tones. He sounds like a rock guitarist playing bebop jazz lines super fast. It's amazing. Also, I wanted to mention that this tune sounds very modern. By that, I mean that this song could have been written by guys in their 20's or 30's. It just sounds like they're young and hungry as a band. This band has continued today with the same kind of energy.
     'Lost and Found' sounds almost like a Pat Metheny song. It starts off with so much synthesizer running through, that all I can think about is Pat Metheny's first album with all the synth stuff by Lyle Mays. I believe McLaughlin is even using a guitar effect that makes his guitar sound like a synthesizer. I've heard the jazz guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel use a similar device to get this kind of tone on his guitar as well. I think its called a H.O.G. 2 or something like that, it basically makes your guitar sound like not a guitar, but something else entirely by giving you a bunch of options and tone settings. This song is kind of like an interlude in the album. It's short and sweet compared to the other tracks.
     The next track, 'Recovery' could be the younger brother of 'Discovery'. The drumming and rhythmic pulse is pretty much the same but the melody and guitar lines are different. This definitely shows off their more funk influences, especially Husband's funky keyboard jabs. There's even a nice kind of Moog synthesizer sounding solo. Although harmonically there's a million things going on in this song I would say the main important part is the rhythmic aspect. I really feel it and once you hear it you can too. It's a pulse that is so funky, I could almost dance. The guitar solo on this track is killer. With these kinds of solos by McLaughlin you never get tired of the acrobatics, the speed, and the sheer technical aspects of his guitar lines. Everything you hear sounds great. He seems to have endless ideas and variations, the mark of a true great improviser. He isn't Peter Brotzmann but he sure has created his own guitar style and musical style that nobody else comes even close to.
    Lastly, the final track is called 'To the One'. I would say again that this sounds similar to a Pat Metheny type thing where a synthesizer, in this case, a guitar synth is controlling the melody and the atmosphere of the song is kind of mellow, despite being at a fairly quick tempo, with fast drumming especially on the snare and cymbals. There's even some vocals at the end of this track, giving it that new age jazz vibe.
     Finally, this album reached number 27 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart and was nominated for the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. It has gotten great reviews online by many famous websites and publications. The tunes have memorable melodies and lines that keep the tunes flowing well with the improvisation. It isn't avant-garde but the music does have complicated arrangements and extensive improvisation. I would say of this era of John McLaughlin's guitar playing: that "This sounds like midi bebop jazz-rock". All the tunes seem to have a form to them and it works great with this band, they really sound like a good cohesive unit, rather than just a pick-up band. It's amazing that John McLaughlin still sounds amazing today, as good, if not better than he was when he was in his 20's and doing Mahavishnu Orchestra. Gary Husband surprised me playing keyboards because his usual gig is playing drums with guitarist Allan Holdsworth. Upon hearing this album again, I still think its a great album, one of John McLaughlin's best I've ever heard.