Free Spirits
John McLaughlin- electric guitar
Joey DeFrancesco- Hammond B-3 organ and trumpet
Dennis Chambers- drums
Charles Hotel Ballroom
Cambridge, Mass. U.S.A.
April 10, 1994 (Sunday)
(complete 7:00 first show)
runtime: 90:59 (6 songs, 1 band intros track, no interrupted songs)
recording quality: B+ (2 quiet songs a bit hissy, rest is great!)
performance quality: B+ (1st half hour A, last half hour before
encore A, a bit of a lull in between and in encore.)
source: master audience tape
lineage: Naka. CM-100 microphones >
Sony TC-158 cassette deck (dolby off) >
Maxell XLII-S cassette (C-100) >
soundforge 4.5 (to WAV) > FLAC 6 > torrent.
It's John McLaughlin. It's a Boston area show, and it's
from glasnostrd19. So how many steps is it? Three, of course,
and it's part of glasnostrd19's Jazz Masters Series. Masters
of jazz from master audience recordings. Certified clipless/pegless
glitchless/gapless and a complete set by Glasnost Radio Productions.
The 1st 30 minutes of this concert were played on the Glasnost Radio
program (WCUW Worcester 91.3 FM) to help promote the Free Spirits
Cambridge 3/96 shows, which were very hot. This one was pretty hot too.
This is a You are There production, because when it's a John McLaughlin
concert, where the hell else would you wanna be but there?!
comments:
everyone seems to have that one artist they can't seem to hear
enough of. For some it's Led Zeppelin, or the Rolling Stones or
the Who, in my case it happens to be John McLaughlin, because
only Miles Davis and Jethro Tull come anywhere close to the
aproximately 12-13 hours worth of original songtime worthy of
induction into the "Glasnost Radio Hall of Fame" for musical excellence.
(once heard from time to time on my radio program). John has made it
with more different bands (5) than anybody except Bill Bruford (Gong,
BBB, Cloud About Mercury, Yes, King Crimson, and U.K. with his services
all got the nod). I plan to seed one from each such band that I can
with John, because I have a few that need to be heard, and this is one
of those. The only ones I must leave out of this are Tony Williams
Lifetime (NOT the "ego" lifetime referred to in someone else's torrent
here on Dime- that's after both John and Holdsworth were long gone.)
and Miles Davis 1970 because I wasn't recording yet then. This is a
complete set, thanks to using the C-100, by now I had finally figured
out (much like Weather Report) a 90 min. cassette + McLaughlin concert=
a cut recording (usually). the 1st 30 min. rip, then they get mellow
and I don't like the Joey trumpet thing much, although he does play it
rather well. The encore seemed really sappy, but the rest of this show
save for another number in the middle of the show, has some fine high
energy and playing by all three. I met John after his 1996 concert at
this same location, and told him that Shakti is the greatest acoustic
band I've ever heard (this about a year before Remember Shakti formed)
and the original Mahavishnu Orch. is the greatest electric band I've ever
heard and please release some more live Mahavishnu Orch.! He said he
didn't think there would be much interest. I also said that Dennis Chambers
is the best drummer he's had since Trilok Gurtu, and between Chambers, Tony
Williams, Gurtu and Billy Cobham, John gets Glasnost Radio honors for the 4
greatest drummers ever to play with the same great guitarist. I don't
know if everyone who sees Dennis Chambers gets a display in ferocious
drumming like what I got (twice), but many have. My 96 recording has
some problems, despite the same equipment being used, but it was a burnfest
for Dennis and John. This 94 one was when the deck was still healthy, and one of
my 10 best recordings. No problems at all. A little background noise in
Joey's quiet essentially solo encore, and the other quiet song in mid-show,
but not much at all in the rest of the show. Just after "when love is far
away" a woman gasps and chokes, apparently from an olive or cocktail
ingredient going down the wrong chute, and near enough so you can hear it
(just a momentary scare, someone helped her unchoke herself quickly and
she was OK.) All instruments (including the quiet trumpet parts) come
through like you're right there, up close. It's a you are there production,
the only place I want to be at a John McLaughlin concert. The 1st one I saw
was in 1972, this was number 15 or so. I've only seen one show of each
post-Maha. tour (except 2 of Hellborg/Gurtu 3 which I did record and 5
w/orig. Maha. and no recordings.) I'll be kicking myself for the rest of
my life for that. If you're from far away from Boston and wonder how John and
his company play here, I hope to answer your question, and I really think you
will like the answers. If you're from near Boston, you probably already know
this is a John McLaughlin appreciative kind of place, and John seems to know it.
All of my Mclaughlin from master seeds are in front of packed houses. That does
have a positive effect on him. This was one of my first masters using Naka.
CM-100 microphones- the same ones used for many shows by the legendary Doctor
of Stud Muffin Productions fame ( he used them with his D-5 before he got Nak.
CM-300's.) I think these mikes worked very well, you get the bass and the highs
and all in between, more than with most mikes I've recorded with. This is almost
as good as a soundboard recording, I think, except the 2 quiet songs- I boosted
them a little so they could be heard but would have been better off boosting them
at the concert instead (then there'd be less noise on them, but the loud parts
would be peg city then I couldn't up this thing at all, so what's a guy gonna do?
Limiter. I've tried that a couple of times too, but never with McLaughlin.)
I don't like many trios of any kind, but it's hard to find any McLaughlin without
plenty of kick to it, and Dennis Chambers is the 4th Glasnost Radio Hall of Fame
drummer (at least!) to play with John. It won't take long at all to hear why in
this set (or the Cambridge 96 shows. They have some speed fluctuation problems,
Otherwise a nice recording, and a great 3 hours plus of hot music but...
No speed problems at all in this one.)
I want this one to sound the best it can, and have not used any EQ or noise
reduction at all in the mastering or remastering process. Just a little tender
loving ICPVR (individual clap peak volume reduction) between the songs.
(none was needed during the music).
If you like the Free Spirits, you will want to hear this one. It is in
a ballroom, which is meant for eating and dancing in, but I never saw
anybody dancing, or complaining, at either the 94 or 96 Cambridge shows.
This is my best Free Spirits recording, and also a fine performance. John did
not play Boston with the Free Spirits, instead just across the Charles River,
very near Harvard Univ. campus. I invite you to share in the spirits of electric
freedom. A few months after this show, the Free Spirits recorded an official live
CD in Tokyo, Japan 94 which is also quite nice. I have that. This is similar,
but not at all the same music.
Do not sell this recording.
You can't put a price on spirits.
Trade freely and losslessly.
Keep Free Spirits free.