THE PROMISE

An essential John McLaughlin album from the 90's and my favourite one due to variety of styles and great musicianship. There are more traditional ones (post-bop), more acoustic based from the 90's but this one has a solid place, especially if you want to get introduced to this eclectic guitar player.

I expected "Django" to be linked to Django Reinhardt, however it has a duel of Jeff Beck and McLaughlin inspired by light blues moves with such jaw-dropping lightness, some feelings here remind me of Gary Moore. "Thelonius melodius" is a more traditional post-bop-fusion trip with Hammond and electric guitar whipping cream. Check out "After the rain" and "Live in Tokyo" for more Joey de Francesco/Dennis Chambers performance. "Amy and Joseph" is a quiet sublime track allowing to escape 100-notes/second speed. "No return" is a curious track with touches of electronica, dominant trumpet and quite restrained guitar, it has the typical 90's contemporary jazz flair. Those that like McLaughlin at his acoustic, go to "El Ciego" for hot speedy guitar playing. One of the best tracks and closest to fusion come with "Jazz Jungle" which could be called "Jazz Jam" since every player performs a hilarious solo music. I like saxophone and drums chops by Chambers. Fans of Shakti will be content to some extent by hearing "The wish" which is however quite restrained and accessible compared to the 70's output. "English Jam" is a short attempt at Mahavishnu sounding raw sound but not too convincing. "Peacock" is a great quiet electric or acoustic guitar track.