Recording of the Week, John McLaughlin, 'Liberation Time'

To some, British guitarist John McLaughlin needs no introduction; from his work with Miles Davis on seminal fusion releases like In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew to the wild electric music of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, as well as a long list of recordings with his own band, the jazz fusion veteran is one of the most recognisable voices to come out of the ‘70s period of jazz. His output’s been consistently prolific ever since that initial fruitful period, with his recent releases since signing to US label Abstract Logix often featuring his ‘4th Dimension’ band which itself is composed of well-versed players from other bands. McLaughlin’s last release, 2015’s Black Light, was followed in 2017 by the announcement that he’d be retiring from touring. However, with a small handful of collaborative and live albums releasing between then and today, it was clear that McLaughlin wasn’t done with music altogether. With Liberation Time, his first studio recording as bandleader in 6 years, McLaughlin proves he’s not lost his creative zeal. Written in the Autumn of last year, Liberation Time is his response to this chaotic past year - though as he puts it in the liner notes, McLaughlin experienced something of a ‘creative explosion’ when faced with his prolonged isolation. It can be said that limitations breed creativity, after all.

The recording process of Liberation Time also found itself affected by these newfound limitations; although the 4th Dimension band as we know them do make an appearance, the rest of the recordings were made by a rotating cast of musicians from around the world, hand-picked by McLaughlin, allowing for the guitarist to curate his ensemble as much as he pleased - among his collaborators is British saxophonist Julian Siegel, whose recent opus Tales From the Jacquard landed in our Recording of the Week segment a couple of months ago. Nonetheless, you’d be forgiven for believing that Liberation Time was recorded live in the studio - though the band aren’t able to go totally free-form in their performances, they manage to pull off the improvisational passages with convincing ‘live’ energy that many listeners likely wouldn’t hear the difference. While this is very much the case on the opening ‘As the Spirit Sings’, the benefit of the band choosing to record remotely to a metronome means that the more structured moments like the introduction of ‘Right Here, Right Now, Right On’ are incredibly locked-in, though the track does explore some more fiery post-bop flavours later on. Much of the record may be standard fare for modern jazz sounds, but Liberation Time also includes a couple of short piano interludes in the form of ‘Mila Repa’ and ‘Shade of Blue’ - ‘musical poems’, as McLaughlin puts it - bookending the aforementioned ‘Right Here, Right Now, Right On’.

One of the first tunes to be written for the record was ‘Lockdown Blues’, and it’s more upbeat than you might expect for a blues tune. Originally written and performed only back in June 2020, the track served as part of a campaign McLaughlin was championing for out-of-work musicians in the US at the height of the pandemic. Offering some silky smooth lead guitars against the frenetic opening chorus, the tune quickly opens up as the band play around with some killer improvisation. Recorded with the original 4th Dimension band, it’s clear to see why McLaughlin keeps these guys close at hand even when choosing to work with other musicians, the trade-offs between musicians another excellent example of this simulated live-jamming on the record.

With the amount of time McLaughlin has poured into his instrument, as expected he’s on absolute top form throughout the record, and though he’s not quite as lightning-fast as on some Mahavishnu recordings, it’s clear he’s not lost his edge even approaching eighty years of age. While I’m sure plenty of folks are understandably tiring of ‘pandemic records’, Liberation Time feels like a positive, affirming anticipation for the end of these times. Rather than adding to the misery of pandemic-induced isolation, John McLaughlin offers us a means of igniting the people's spirits.