John McLaughlin’s U.S. Farewell Tour Captured on “Live in San Francisco”
Last year, jazz and fusion guitar legend John McLaughlin performed a tour of the U.S. that he says was his final outing in the States. The “Meeting of the Spirits” tour saw him exploring his past work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in a different setting with his band the 4th Dimension featuring drummer Ranjit Barot, keyboardist Gary Husband, and bassist Etienne M’Bappé. Even more amazingly, he invited fellow guitarist Jimmy Herring and his band the Invisible Whip on the outing. The Invisible Whip includes drummer Jeff Sipe, keyboardist Matt Slocum, multi-instrumentalist Jason Crosby, and bassist Kevin Scott.
The end of each night brought them all together for a mighty nine-piece orchestra that performed Mahavishnu classics. Luckily, one of the performances was captured and is now available as an album. Live in San Francisco includes the songs “Meeting of the Spirits,” “Birds of Fire,” “Be Happy,” and more. They include M’Bappé and Scott playing alongside each other.
Live in San Francisco is available now on CD and as a digital download (iTunes and Amazon MP3).
Live in San Francisco Track List:
- Meeting of the Spirits
- Birds of Fire
- A Lotus on Irish Streams
- The Dance of Maya
- Trilogy
- Earth Ship
- Eternity’s Breath Part 1 & 2
- Be Happy
