Billy Cobham, Colin Towns & hr-Bigband - Meeting of the Spirits (A Celebration of the Mahavishnu Orchestra) (Remastered) (2016) [Hi-Res]

There's been a rush of Mahavishnu Orchestra related projects during the last two years. First there was Mahavishnu keyboardist Jan Hammer playing Mahavishnu music with guitarist Jeff Beck in Europe. Then there was the Jeff Richman-produced tribute album, Visions Of An Inner Mounting Apocalypse. There is the ongoing success of the Mahavishnu Project band and its VishnuFest. And just this month, Hammer shows up on the new album from drummer Billy Cobham.

There's plenty more too. The recent release of the wonderful A Meeting Of Spirits album from the brilliant keyboardist Gary Husband. A cover of the Mahavishnu classic, "Thousand Island Park," from keyboard wizard Mitchel Forman on his new Perspectives disc. And just a few weeks ago, the pairing of Cobham and Mahavishnu violinist Jerry Goodman, who had not played together in over thirty years, for a performance of Mahavishnu music with the hr-Bigband at the Berlin Jazz Festival. Up next will be a DVD of a performance from the second version of the Mahavishnu Orchestra at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1974.

We've been lucky so far. Those who have chosen to interpret this engaging, but very challenging, music have produced work worthy of Mahavishnu's legacy. This new disc from Germany's hr-Bigband (a performance broadcast live on German radio earlier this year) is no exception. The hr-Bigband's manager, Olaf Stotzler, had been looking for someone who would take the music and crash through barriers with it—and in English arranger/composer Colin Towns he found him.

Initial exposure to the Mahavishnu Orchestra could sometimes be overwhelming. The original band's complex time signatures, most evident in Cobham's masterful drumming, could be confusing to musicians and audiences alike. But if you stuck with them, you'd likely find yourself locked into the groove. Towns and the hr-Bigband have taken this dimension even further. There are main themes being performed while sub-themes and sub-sub-themes are being played simultaneously. At first it's almost too much—until you remember the spirit of the original band. To take this music out, you need to take it out. Only then do you find yourself immersed in the arrangements and lost in lofty thought.

Cobham revisits his past with fervor. His drumming remains a dominant, driving force. Time has passed and he takes more reflective solos, but his support playing is still powerful and compelling. The band itself is full of accomplished musicians who seem to understand the nuance—even if it is bombastic—of the music. Martin Scales' guitar captures the essence of the original sounds without attempting to mimic them. The horns and keyboards provide their version of swing for music in which sometimes the swing is implied. It's a full-bodied sound with all the power you'd expect from a big band. Yet the players are at home too in quiet sections of great beauty. To be able to carry off that latter aspect of the Mahavishnu music, as required by Towns' arrangements, is key to any successful interpretation of these tunes.

The way the album has been edited creates what could be considered one long composition, seamlessly formed of movements from the first and second Mahavishnus. This imbues a sense of building tension which is released on the final cut, "Meeting Of The Spirits," and through the joyous yelps of an appreciative crowd, whose enthusiasm throughout is part of the listening experience.

Mahavishnu's guitarist, John McLaughlin, who wrote some of the liner notes, never expected to hear his compositions played by a big band. The music on this CD, he says, is a revelation to him. Meeting Of The Spirits successfully presents Mahavishnu music in a way you'll never have experienced it before.

Martin Scales, Guitar
Peter Reiter, Piano, Electric Piano, Keyboards
Harry Petersen, Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute
Johannes Enders, Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute
Christian Jaksjø, Trombone
Günter Bollmann, Trombone
Peter Feil, Trombone
Axel Schlosser, Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Martin Auer, Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Thomas Vogel, Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Tobias Weidinger, Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Heinz-Dieter Sauerborn, Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute
Oliver Leicht, Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute
Rainer Heute, Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinet
Manfred Honetschläger, Bass Trombone
hr Bigband
Thomas Heidepriem, Bass
Billy Cobham, Drums

Tracklist:
01. Billy Cobham, Colin Towns & hr-Bigband - Hope (01:55)
02. Billy Cobham, Colin Towns & hr-Bigband - Birds of Fire (06:23)
03. Billy Cobham, Colin Towns & hr-Bigband - Miles Beyond (04:40)
04. Billy Cobham, Colin Towns & hr-Bigband - Resolution (04:19)
05. Billy Cobham, Colin Towns & hr-Bigband - Cosmic Strut (03:42)
06. Billy Cobham, Colin Towns & hr-Bigband - Dawn (09:08)
07. Billy Cobham, Colin Towns & hr-Bigband - Eternity's Breath Parts 1 & 2 (06:41)
08. Billy Cobham, Colin Towns & hr-Bigband - Sanctuary (09:54)
09. Billy Cobham, Colin Towns & hr-Bigband - Celestrial Terrestrial Commuters (03:18)
10. Billy Cobham, Colin Towns & hr-Bigband - You Know, You Know (05:20)
11. Billy Cobham, Colin Towns & hr-Bigband - One World (11:47)
12. Billy Cobham, Colin Towns & hr-Bigband - Meeting of the Spirits (06:58)