John McLaughlin Trio the power of three..
1988-08-30
John McLaughlin- guitar
Jonas Hellborg- bass
Trilok Gurtu- drums and percussion
Nightstage, Cambridge, Mass.
August 30, 1988
(2 shows)
performance quality: A- to A, hot stuff
recording quality: B to B+
sources: master and 1st gen. audience tapes
lineage 1st show: Naka. CM 100 microphones > Sony D-5 cassette deck >
master cassette (Maxell MX metal) >
my cassette (Track 5 only, from D-6/Maxell XLII-S master) >
naka. 125 cassette deck > soundforge 4.5 >
FLAC 6 > torrent.
2nd show: Sony 1 point stereo microphone >
Sony D-6 cassette deck >
master cassette >
my cassette (both 90 min. Maxell XLII-S) >
naka. 125 cassette deck > soundforge 4.5 >
FLAC 6 > torrent.
setlist: 1st show 86:40
1: introduction and tuning
2: blue and green
3: florianapolis
4: are you the one?
5: goodbye pork pie hat (from 1st gen.)
6: mother tongues
7: encore
2nd show 75:54
1: introduction and tuning
2: trilogy
3: passion love
4: blues for L.W. (Lech Wolensa)
5: ? (spliced)
6: mother tongues
7: ? (encore)

Due to a McLaughlin trio flurry a few months ago here on the dime I've decided to add a couple of mine.
The 1st show is mostly from my master, except track 5 which I cut on mine so I got it complete from a 1st
gen copy of a different source. So the 1st set is complete, the second one is missing a few seconds
(maybe as much as a minute or 2) at the tape flip. Both are fine shows, the second visit for Hellborg
and McLaughlin to Nightstage (yes, I also have the whole 1st 2 sets of 87, all 3 hours of it!) which
is a great place with a nice sound system and room acoustics. 1st set recorded 1st row of balcony,
almost dead center from stage, second from the floor. I think the encore songs are duplicated and so
is Mother Tongues but they did several different songs in second show so I decided to put it all in 1
torrent. I do agree with Ricola that this is McLaughlin's hottest of his trio projects of 88-92 era
with Gurtu. I only saw the 1st show, but I think the late one was shorter due to curfew constraints.
This is for all you dimers who like McLaughlin. He is one of my favorite guitarists and did nothing
to hurt that image in this show (or the next night in Chatham, Mass.) there is a fair amount of crowd
noise, mostly between songs and in the form of enthusiastic appreciation. Both shows are in nice venues.
If you like McLaughlin, Hellborg and/or Gurtu, you'll want to hear both of them.
Do not sell these recordings.
Trade freely and losslessly.