John McLaughlin - After The Rain (1995)

In the early '70s John McLaughlin was one-third of the supergroup Lifetime with drummer Tony Williams and organist Larry Young. This particular CD from 1994 matches him with drummer Elvin Jones and organist Joey DeFrancesco, but the music has little in common with Lifetime. Instead many of the tunes can be considered to be tributes to John Coltrane; Jones's participation certainly reinforces that connection.

McLaughlin, back on electric guitar after several years sticking almost exclusively to acoustic, is in top form on such numbers as "Take the Coltrane," "My Favorite Things," "Crescent," and "Afro Blue." The improvising is advanced and colorful with DeFrancesco keeping the proceedings swinging, and even if the results are not quite classic, the collaboration is somewhat unique.



Tracks:

01 - Take The Coltrane
02 - My Favorite Things
03 - Sing Me Softly Of The Blues
04 - Encuentros
05 - Naima
06 - Tones For Elvin Jones
07 - Crescent
08 - Afro Blue
09 - After The Rain

Personnel:

John McLaughlin - guitar
Joey DeFrancesco - Hammond B-3 organ
Elvin Jones - drums