City Hall Records Catalog

Independent Record Distribution since 1973
News Upcoming Releases WaxToWatch OnSale Artists Labels Genres Related Contact  
Cityhall > Catalog >Liberation Time Site Map | Prev ¦ Next
Artist: Mclaughlin, John
Title: Liberation Time
Format: LP
Label: ABSTRACT LOGIX
Catalog Number:65
Barcode:700261486369 itemnumber=1000125065
Price: $29.98  (All prices include domestic shipping.)
Genre: JAZZ
Release Date: 8/20/2021
Availability: Not Currently In Stock
Return Eligibility: NON-RETURNABLE
Additional Musical Category Notes:
 


Show Cart View Cart Or Checkout

With his newest album, Liberation Time, McLaughlin draws from one of humanity's most fraught, uncertain epochs to produce music that gracefully reflects the uncertainty, vulnerability, and slowly awakening joy of our times. A direct response to the mandated restrictions imposed by the spread of Covid-19, the album is -- unusually for McLaughlin's recent projects -- not the work of one fixed ensemble. With physical proximity no longer a prerequisite, McLaughlin drew upon decades of experience as a bandleader to select musicians best suited to each composition. "As the Spirit Sings" introduces the album by contrasting churning rhythmic tension (stoked by drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and bassist Sam Burgess) with McLaughlin's soaring guitar figures -- all underpinned by Gary Husband's subtle, supportive piano. The knotty post-bop figures of "Right Here, Right Now, Right On" mark one of the most jazz-inflected performances McLaughlin has laid down in some time, featuring Nicolas Viccaro (drums), Jerome Regard (bass), Julian Siegel (tenor saxophone), and Oz Ezzeldin (piano). The sense of brotherhood that bonds McLaughlin's current 4th Dimension ensemble (McLaughlin, Husband, bassist Etienne Mbappe, and drummer Ranjit Barot) is on full display during "Lockdown Blues," a playful refraction examination of blues tropes first released last summer to benefit the Jazz Foundation of America. With vaccination campaigns now in full effect and a more promising tomorrow coming into view, Liberation Time's title track can be felt as visceral anticipation -- a rousing glimpse into an unbound future rich with possibilities. And while much of Liberation Blues revels in the sort of spontaneous interplay that has been denied by Covid restrictions, some of the album's most touching moments feature McLaughlin alone at the piano -- an instrument he has not recorded on since his 1973 collaboration with Carlos Santana, Love Devotion Surrender. Liberation Time is a product of its times, and yet it looks both forwards and backwards -- at once drawing upon memories of better days yet reaching for a new dawn. Looking back at the album's transcontinental sessions, McLaughlin concludes, "The wonderful thing about music is that you put the headphones on and you are all in the same room."

Track Listing
 1. 
[5:22] As the Spirit Sings - John McLaughlin - Vinnie Colaiuta - Sam Burgess - Gary Husband

 2. 
[5:13] Singing our Secrets - John McLaughlin - J.M. “Kiki” Aublette - Roger Rossignol

 3. 
[7:19] Lockdown Blues -John McLaughlin - Gary Husband - Etienne MBappe - Ranjit Barot

 4. 
[2:29] Mila Repa - John McLaughlin, piano

 5. 
[7:26] Right Here, Right Now, Right On - John McLaughlin - Nicolas Viccaro - Jerome Regard - Julian Siegel - Oz Ezzeldin

 6. 
[1:33] Shade of Blue - John McLaughlin, piano

 7. 
[7:57] Liberation Time - John McLaughlin - Gary Husband - Sam Burgess

Additional Technical Information Available For This Album
Release Format: LP         
All text and graphics © 2000-2010 City Hall Records,San Rafael,CA - All Rights Reserved
This page was last updated: 10/10/24