JOHN MCLAUGHLIN — After the Rain (review)

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN — After the Rain album cover Album · 1995 · Hard Bop Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
js
When “After the Rain” first came out in the mid 90s, its all-star lineup of McLaughlin, DeFrancesco and Elvin Jones certainly brought a lot of attention, especially since it was McLaughlin’s first jazz record in quite a while. The choice of tunes furthered interest as this looked to be bit of a Coltrane tribute with Trane’s great drummer, Elvin Jones, on board to boot. The playing from all three members is great, with Jones being somewhat subdued and Francesco stealing the show with lightning fast runs that pile on top of each other creating sheets of sound. Unfortunately though, the production and sound quality are rife with problems making this promising CD loose much of its potential.

By the time of this CD, much of the jazz world, including the new young acid jazz crowd as well as the equally new and young neo-bop crowd, had eschewed plastic digital electronics in their recordings and were aiming for a more real and gritty retro “Blue Note” type sound. Unfortunately McLaughlin didn’t get the memo and the sound of this CD is more suited for bland 80s fuzak, not hot aggressive hard bop. McLaughlin’s guitar sound is thin and overly processed and Elvin Jones drums are buried by a digitally enhanced high end cymbal sound. All three players are swamped with phony digital reverb and recording “plates” more suited for stadium rock bands, not small jazz combos.

Despite the production problems, there are some nice tunes on here. “Afro Blue”, with its rhythmic changeup, seems to inspire Joey and Johnny to some of their best solos and “Ecuentros” has some interesting exotic Spanish Phrygian chord progressions. Elsewhere on this CD, several bluesy numbers allow DeFrancesco to show that he is the new king of the Hammond B3.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Green Puma / Tropical Dandy Jazz Related Rock
THE LINK QUARTET
Buy this album from MMA partners
Vinny Golia Quintet : Can You Outrun Them? 21st Century Modern
VINNY GOLIA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Bow Code Fusion
SAMPO HIUKKANEN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Anthem For No Man’s Land Jazz Related Improv/Composition
ANDREAS SCHAERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Cabaret Eclectic Fusion
MARIUS NESET
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

Paper Plane Pilot
MIKE DE SOUZA
js· 113 minutes ago
Green Puma
THE LINK QUARTET
js· 117 minutes ago
Heavy Cream
SAMPO HIUKKANEN
js· 4 hours ago
Sunday afternoon
FURIO DI CASTRI
snobb· 17 hours ago
Harmônicos
FABIANO DO NASCIMENTO
js· 1 day ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed