(summary Logix)They’re calling this latest album by the implausibly youthful 73-year-extinct guitar tornado John McLaughlin the work of “the Mahavishnu Orchestra of the 21st century” – a reference to the cult band McLaughlin formed in the 1970s to blend jazz,Indian music and high-energy electric fusion. His nine years with the 4th Dimension quartet – featuring the British pianist Gary Husband, bass guitarist Étienne M’Bappé and percussionist Ranjit Barot – maintain also had plenty of flying guitar breaks, or anthemic themes,chattery Indo-scat and pin-sharp unison licks, but Black Light’s emergence in October heralded a new maturity and even a scarce spaciousness. Here Come the Jiis sounds like Eric Clapton’s Layla played at warp speed, or develops in flawlessly snappy riffing over a cymbal fizz like chips frying; Being You Being Me is a graceful rock ballad with eloquently hooty keys effects from Husband; 360 Flip mixes drum-and-bass grooves with a synth sound like Marcus Miller’s Miles Davis collaborations; and the brooding Gaza City movingly eschews technical histrionics entirely. It’s not just a guitar buff’s album,but 4th Dimension’s best work yet.
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Source: theguardian.com