JOHN MCLAUGHLIN - John McLaughlin: The Montreux Years - CD

LABEL: BMG

CAT NO: 4050538719789

BARCODE: 4050538719789

Tracklisting:

1. ‘Radio Activity’ (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1984)
1980s edition of Mahavishnu Orch with Bill Evans, Mitchell Foreman, Jonas Hellborg and Danny Gottlieb

2. ‘Nostalgia’ (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1984)
1980s Mahavishnu

3. ‘Acid Jazz’ (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1998)
Heart of Things band with Gary Thomas, Jim Beard, Matt Garrison and Dennis Chambers

4. ‘David’ (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1987)
with Paco De Lucia

5. ‘Florianapolis’ (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1987)
with Paco e Lucia

6. ‘Sing Me Softly of the Blues’ (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1995)
Free Spirits with Joey De Francesco and Dennis Chambers

7. ‘El Hombre’ Que Sabià (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 2016)
4th Dimension Band

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN
– John McLaughlin: The Montreux Years

CD

Montreux Jazz Festival and BMG today announce the next instalment in The Montreux Years series with “John McLaughlin: The Montreux Years”, to be released on Friday, 04 March 2022. Curated and compiled by John McLaughlin, the album is a collection of his finest performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival between 1978 and 2016. Beautifully restored and mastered, the recording will be available in multi-format configurations, including superior audiophile heavy weight vinyl, CD and on streaming services, in superlative HD audio.

Ranked in Rolling Stones magazine’s list of ‘100 Greatest Guitar Players of All Time’, John McLaughlin became a long-time friend of the Montreux Jazz Festival, having played at the iconic Swiss festival many times. The performances in this new collection are curated from six shows between 1978 to 2016 with the various ensembles of ‘The Mahavishnu Orchestra’, ‘The Heart Of Things’, ‘The Free Spirits’, ‘The 4th Dimension’ and his fellow virtuoso and close friend Paco de Lucia.

Encapsulating McLaughlin’s time at the festival, “John McLaughlin: The Montreux Years” opens with the 1984 track Radio Activity by the Mahavishnu Orchestra, which McLaughlin reformed in the 80’s for the release of the album “Mahavishnu’’. Fans of the jazz fusion pioneer can immerse themselves in the superb and classic material that defined McLaughlin’s career, which includes the track Acid Jazz from the album “The Heart of Things”. Further exploring McLaughlin’s impressive repertoire, “John McLaughlin: The Montreux Years” includes the tracks Sing Me Softly Of The Blues from 1994’s “After the Rain” and “El Hombre Que Sabia” from McLaughlin’s studio album “Black Light”.

Launched in 2021, ‘The Montreux Years’ is the embodiment of the spirit of the Montreux Jazz Festival and the legacy of its much-loved founder, Claude Nobs. Nobs refused to compromise on quality or settle for anything other than the best and this ethos lives on in the superb quality of the recordings compiled in ‘The Montreux Years’. Mastering has been performed by Tony Cousins at London’s iconic Metropolis Studios, incorporating MQA to capture the original sound of the special live performances. Like previous releases of the series “John McLaughlin: The Montreux Years”, will be accompanied by exclusive liner notes by McLaughlin himself and previously unseen photography.

* McLaughlin embarks on a European tour in March with his 4th Dimension Band who then play in Ireland at the NCH, Dublin (26 May).