Track Listing

1. Extrapolation
2. It's Funny
3. Arjen's Bag (Folow Your Heart)
4. Pete the Poet
5. This Is for Us to Share
6. Spectrum
7. Binky's Beam
8. Really to Know
9. Two for Two
10. Peace Piece

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #83119 in Music
• Released on: 1991-04-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

Customer Reviews

Pre-Mahavishnu McLlaughlin - A Gem!
I remember listening to this intriguing album when I was in college in the mid-70s. I didn't buy it until after John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra was familiar to me, even though this album predated that band by more than 2 years.

I liked this album 25 years ago. I like it now. Even though this was McLaughlin's first album as a leader, a lot of the elements that he would bring to Mahavishnu were part of his skills at this point: thoughtful compositions, a collaborative, tight band with outstanding players, able to thrive even over odd meters (time signatures), rubato time (no pulse at all), moments of great collective intensity.

There are other elements, too. McLaughlin shares the solo spotlight with the adventurous John Surman, a reedman well-known among musicians but not particularly well-known among the public. Surman shares the solo spotlight on baritone and soprano saxes. In fact, other reviews have suggested that Surman surpasses McLaughlin in the solo spotlight. However, that's not the real essence of this music. The essence of this music is the band's collaboration. McLaughlin and Surman are joined by Brian Hodges on bass and Tony Oxley on drums, all performing capably and sounding as if they had played many times with each other before.

This album is very important historically. The All Music Guide reports that it was recorded in January 1969, 8 months before McLaughlin's participation in Miles Davis' seminal B*tches Brew recordings and more than 2 years before his first Mahavishnu recording, the Inner Mounting Flame. I find comparing his playing on the three albums and hearing the development in his playing over those recording to be enlightening, as Mclaughlin become more electric and busier in his solo and ensemble playing and later, in his compositions.

The compositions on this CD are all McLaughlin's and most were not recorded again. They share almost an ethereal perspective, which like all improvised jazz, functions as a springboard into the solos. There's a good range of rhythms, tempos and dynamics. Total time is over 40 minutes.

McLaughlin's solos range from sparse deliberation to flashes of his future intensity to moments of great melodic beauty. McLaughlin is heard both on acoustic and electric guitar.

John Surman is a delight. Well in command of both his baritone and the soprano, he, too ranges between moments of fury and intensity and moments of great lyricism. Baritone and soprano sax, for a number of reasons, are an unusual double. Surman has unusual speed and range on his baritone, which is difficult because of the size and nature of the instrument. On soprano, while his sound tends toward the outside, there are still moments of great beauty in his note choices and tone. I am baffled that he never became a public star - he certainly had the ability to do it.

At times, I wonder if I "get" the free music. My perspective is from mainstream jazz, although I do occasionally enjoy freer music. Of the walls of notes by Surman, I wonder as to how many of them have the volitional aspect that Trane had with his sheets of sound, versus just "running the fingers". Sometimes, I "get" more of McLaughlin's solos than other times.

Still, this recording is a satisfying listen and does stand up to repeated listening. It does not sound dated in the least. In fact, due to the freer elements mentioned before, repeated listenings will enhance the enjoyment of the recording. Those freer elements will challenge many listeners. While I enjoy this music, I find that I enjoy the Inner Mounting Flame, the first Mahavishnu recording, slightly more.

I strongly recommend this recording for fans of the progressive jazz and fusion movements of the 70's, to fans of McLaughlin's work on B*tches' Brew, in the Mahavishnu Orchestra and later. Realize that his playing becomes more developed as his career progresses and realize that this recording will challenge and the listener will do well with this.

Beyond classic
I can't even tell you how many times I've listened to this record. It never wears on you. After you're done listening to everything else and want something that really digs deep, you always end up coming back to this. It is the definition of cool. It has a unique, simmering atmosphere that captures the spirit of the 1960s within an ultra-sophisticated progressive jazz format. John Surman's wild baritone is uncannilly brilliant while McLaughlin, having written all the compositions, plays it cool for contrast. The tunes are economically compact, forests of densely packed passion opening to the skies. "Binky's Dream" later metamorphosed into a Mahavishnu tune. The only other records I've heard that are on this level of cool while maintaining a rock edge are Dave Holland's "Extensions" and Miles Davis' "Filles de Kilimanjaro." Holland was originally scheduled to play bass on "Extrapolation," but had to leave England to join Miles. "Extensions" is his tribute to opportunity lost made some 19 years later with Kevin Eubanks filling the Mclaughlin spot. Holland did play with McLaughlin and Surman on "Where Fortune Smiles," quite a different record than this one, though only a year apart. It is an amazing avant-garde cacaphony of everyone playing at the same time and making a wall of noise unheard of before or since. It makes Mahavishnu sound tame. I don't think that's available anymore, but that's strictly for when you want something completely different. "Extrapolation" is for everyday healing.

remarkable.
No need to make this review long-winded. This album contains a gentle mood of soulfullness like no other I have experienced. It is a just plain beautiful extroadinary fantastic delicate album...

Listen to "Arjen's Bag" on a cold winter day... it is remarkable.