CARLOS SANTANA / MAHAVISHNU JOHN McLAUGHLIN – Love Devotion Surrender (LP-1973)

Label: Columbia – KC 32034

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold / Country: US / Released: Jul 1973

Style: Jazz-Rock, Fusion, Free Improvisation

Recorded at Columbia Records CBS Inc., New York in October 1972 / March 1973.

Design [Album], Photography By [Cover] – Ashok

Photography By [Other Photographs] – Pranavananda

Liner Notes – Sri Chinmoy

Engineer – Glen Kolotkin

Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Santa Maria

Matrix / Runout (Side A Label): AL 32034

Matrix / Runout (Side B Label): BL 32034

A1 - A Love Supreme (John Coltrane) ........................................................ 7:48

A2 - Naima (Coltrane) ................................................................................. 3:09

A3 - The Life Divine (John McLaughlin) ...................................................... 9:30

B1 - Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord (Traditional) ............................ 15:45

B2 - Meditation (McLaughlin) ...................................................................... 2:45

Mahavishnu John McLaughlin – guitar, piano

Carlos Santana – guitar

Doug Rauch – bass guitar

Larry Young – organ

Jan Hammer – drums, percussion

Billy Cobham – drums, percussion

Don Alias – drums, percussion

Mike Shrieve – drums, percussion

James Mingo Lewis – percussion

Armando Peraza – congas, percussion, vocals

Love Devotion Surrender is an album released in 1973 by guitarists Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin, with the backing of their respective bands, Santana and The Mahavishnu Orchestra. The album was inspired by the teachings of Sri Chinmoy and intended as a tribute to John Coltrane. It contains two Coltrane compositions, two McLaughlin songs, and a traditional gospel song arranged by Santana and McLaughlin.

A hopelessly misunderstood record in its time by Santana fans -- they were still reeling from the radical direction shift toward jazz on Caravanserai and praying it was an aberration -- it was greeted by Santana devotees with hostility, contrasted with kindness from major-league critics like Robert Palmer. To hear this recording in the context of not only Carlos Santana's development as a guitarist, but as the logical extension of the music of John Coltrane and Miles Davis influencing rock musicians -- McLaughlin, of course, was a former Davis sideman -- this extension makes perfect sense in the post-Sonic Youth, post-rock era. With the exception of Coltrane's "Naima" and McLaughlin's "Meditation," this album consists of merely three extended guitar jams played on the spiritual ecstasy tip -- both men were devotees of guru Shri Chinmoy at the time. The assembled band included members of Santana's band and the Mahavishnu Orchestra in Michael Shrieve, Billy Cobham, Doug Rauch, Armando Peraza, Jan Hammer (playing drums!), and Don Alias. But it is the presence of the revolutionary jazz organist Larry Young -- a colleague of McLaughlin's in Tony Williams' Lifetime band -- that makes the entire project gel. He stands as the great communicator harmonically between the two very different guitarists whose ideas contrasted enough to complement one another in the context of Young's aggressive approach to keep the entire proceeding in the air.

In the acknowledgement section of Coltrane's "A Love Supreme," which opens the album, Young creates a channel between Santana's riotous, transcendent, melodic runs and McLaughlin's rapid-fire machine-gun riffing. Young' double-handed striated chord voicings offered enough for both men to chew on, leaving free-ranging territory for percussive effects to drive the tracks from underneath. Check "Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord," which was musically inspired by Bobby Womack's "Breezing" and dynamically foreshadowed by Pharoah Sanders' read of it, or the insanely knotty yet intervallically transcendent "The Life Divine," for the manner in which Young's organ actually speaks both languages simultaneously. Young is the person who makes the room for the deep spirituality inherent in these sessions to be grasped for what it is: the interplay of two men who were not merely paying tribute to Coltrane, but trying to take his ideas about going beyond the realm of Western music to communicate with the language of the heart as it united with the cosmos. After four decades, Love Devotion Surrender still sounds completely radical and stunningly, movingly beautiful.

(Review by Thom Jurek)

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LARRY YOUNG – Of Love And Peace (Blue Note LP-1966)

Label: Blue Note – BLP 4242

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album; Country: US - Released:1966

Style: Avant-garde Jazz, Hard Bop, Post Bop

Recorded At Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on July 28, 1966.

Design [Cover], Photography By [Cover Photo] – Reid Miles

Liner Notes – A. B. Spellman

Producer – Alfred Lion

Recorded By [Recording By] – Rudy Van Gelder

A1 - Pavanne (Morton Gould) . . . 14:17

A2 - Of Love And Peace (Larry Young) . . . 6:30

B1 - Seven Steps To Heaven (Davis, Feldman) . . . 10:19

B2 - Falaq (Larry Young) . . . 10:03

Larry Young – organ

Eddie Gale – trumpet

James Spaulding – alto sax, flute

Herbert Morgan – tenor sax

Wilson Moorman III – drums

Jerry Thomas – drums

Larry Young: ''Of Love and Peace'' eight scant months after his classic ''Unity'' (Blue Note, '65), organist Larry Young was back in the studio with a larger ensemble and a bolder concept. The title Of Love and Peace may stand in direct contrast to the music within; there may be plenty of love, but on this cacophonous album of barely-controlled chaos, there's precious little peace.

Augmenting the front line of trumpeter Eddie Gale, alto saxophonist/flautist James Spaulding and tenor saxophonist Herbert Morgan, Young opts for a two-drummer approach, with Wilson Moorman III and Jerry Thomas behind their respective kits. Of these players only Spaulding will be well-known to most fans of the period, having appeared on countless albums by artists as diverse as Sam Rivers, Stanley Turrentine and Wayne Shorter. But Gale and Morgan, in particular, are players deserving of more due. Gale is a brash player who, while never recording with him, shared the stage with Coltrane a number of times, mixing a hard bop edge with more avant leanings. Morgan, with the exception of Unity , seems to be Young's tenor man of choice, appearing on all of Young's subsequent Blue Note outings and demonstrating a big tone that was perfectly in keeping with Young's more extroverted and increasingly unpredictable work.

With its duple ï rhythm, "Pavanne" is aptly titled, but it's a dance like none you are likely to hear, with Moorman and Thomas creating a scarcely-contained maelstrom behind the front line, which improvises with reckless abandon over Young's anchoring keyboard work. With Young living up to his reputation as the John Coltrane of his instrument, he provides an open-ended modal backdrop for solos which stretch the boundaries of the harmonic centre. The title track is only marginally more relaxed, with Young creating a simmering layer under which the two drummers create a certain forward motion in an ostensibly free improvisation. Likewise, the closing "Falaq" balances momentum and liberty equally, with Moorman and Thomas creating, interestingly enough, the kind of polyrhythmic independence that Elvin Jones was capable of doing all by himself. Still, Morgan contributes a solo that is reflective of the time and, in no small way, influenced by the outer leanings of Sam Rivers, while Gale is telepathically linked to Young, building screams and wails that are in sharp contrast to Young's richly ascendant chords.

The odd man out on the disc might on first glance seem to be the reading of "Seven Steps to Heaven," but the way the front line plays with the familiar theme, snaking in and out of it with exuberance and a greater sense of adventure, only sets things up for Young's solo, which runs at breakneck speed before Gale enters and matches Young's elusive behaviour note-for-note.

Of Love and Peace may be marginally less of a classic than Unity , if only for its more radical yielding to an almost stream-of-consciousness approach; but it demonstrates how far Young's conception had developed in a few short months and, consequently, is an important document of a rapidly evolving artist.

_ By JOHN KELMAN



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LARRY YOUNG – Unity (Blue Note LP-1965)

Label: Blue Note – BLP 4221

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album; Country: US - Released: 1965

Style: Avant-garde Jazz, Hard Bop, Post Bop

Recorded At Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on November 10, 1965.

Design [Cover] – Reid Miles

Liner Notes – Nat Hentoff

Producer – Alfred Lion

Recorded By [Recording By] – Rudy Van Gelder

A1 - Zoltan (Woody Shaw) . . . 7:37

A2 - Monk's Dream (Thelonious Monk) . . . 5:45

A3 - If (Joe Henderson) . . . 6:42

B1 - The Moontrane (Woody Shaw) . . . 7:18

B2 - Softy As A Morning Sunrise (Hammerstein, Romberg) . . . 6:21

B3 - Beyond All Limits (Woody Shaw) . . . 6:02

Larry Young – organ

Woody Shaw – trumpet

Joe Henderson – tenor saxophone

Elvin Jones – drums

THE JAZZ ORGAN SHAKE-UP: LARRY YOUNG’S “UNITY”

If you happened to be a fan of the jazz organ sound in 1965, you knew exactly what to expect when you stepped into a club – greasy blues, ballads and jazz warhorses played at racecar tempos.

Unity changed that. In one elegant stroke. All by itself.

Embracing modal harmony and the freer, more open structures/language favored by the rising crew of post-bop musicians, Larry Young expanded commonly held notions of what was possible on the instrument; his brisk, restless, masterfully syncopated performances on this album brought the organ into the modern post-bop conversation.

The Newark-born Young started out like just about everyone who aspired to B3 greatness – contending with the towering presence of Jimmy Smith, the trailblazer who defined jazz organ. Young learned the basics, and developed a credible approach within the tradition – his recording debut, in 1960, shows a surprisingly individual take on the “grits and gravy” sound.

Fast forward a few years. By the time of this, his second Blue Note date, Young was determined to push beyond what had been done before, and was well-equipped, from a technique standpoint, to do that. He was conversant in free jazz, as well as the plateauing chord voicings used by John Coltrane’s pianist McCoy Tyner and the polyrhythmic roiling of Coltrane’s drummer, Elvin Jones, who is behind the kit on Unity. Young “got” the new jazz aesthetic, and used both unique chord voicings and basslines handled via footpedals to create his own sound for it. Young choreographed elaborate agitations, all by himself: Starting with a terse rhythmic motif behind a soloist, he’d knead and develop a phrase over an extended period until it sent the group’s efforts into collective frenzy. His secret weapons included perpetually oscillating, color-changing chords, and he used them with painterly precision, shaping dramatic peaks and valleys behind a soloist. Lots of organ demons dropped bombs at key moments; Young’s crisply executed devices arrived with galvanic force, their sophisticated harmonies suggesting thrilling and profoundly new pathways.

From the opening war-dance taunt of “Zoltan,” written by the trumpet player Woody Shaw, it’s clear that Young wants Unity to be more intellectually challenging than the typical Blue Note blowing session.

The melody, handled by Shaw and the tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, is a study in fits and starts. Young’s jabs land across and against the beat, hinting at – but never fully tipping into – anarchy. Henderson seizes this instantly, and within the first measures it’s clear that his notions of agitation align with Young’s; his spiraling lines fit uncannily into the terse offbeats from the organ. This isn’t solo dazzle – it’s a conversation between well-matched modernists.

Young’s own solos – particularly those on “Softly As in A Morning Sunrise” and the electrifying duet with drummer Elvin Jones on “Monk’s Dream” – contrast powerfully with the fast-talking daredevil approach popularized by Smith and emulated by every other organist. Young can do that – there are more than a few breathless extended runs here – but he mostly concentrates on wide intervallic leaps and fitful, unexpected changes in mood. And like all the great post-Coltrane soloists, he’s inclined to shift tactics at will: His choruses on “Monk’s Dream” hit outbreaks of dissonant tumult and sullen areas of introspection and points along the spectrum in between – at each stop, he executes with snapping intent, an audible sense of purpose.

Anyone who ever longed to shake up a set-in-its ways tradition can relate to Young’s attempt to update jazz organ. He started with a powerful idea, blending hard bop, Coltrane harmony and “new thing” rhythm on an instrument uniquely suited to such a mix. But that’s just the concept stage. What makes Unity such a landmark is the way Young involves these incredible players in his quest – they seize his vision, then work together (hence the title) to overhaul the status quo of the jazz organ world. It’s a shame Young died young (at 38, from complications of pneumonia), because as is unmistakable here, this bold musician had a lot of upheaval in him.

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JOHN McLAUGHLIN – Devotion (Douglas LP-1970 / Epic, Japan LP-1972)

Label: Douglas – KZ-31568; Epic – ECPN-34

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold; Country: US/Japan - Released: 1970/1972

Style: Jazz-Rock

Recorded at Record Plant Studios, New York City, February 1970.

Photography [Cover & Inside] – Ira Cohen

Photography [Liner Photographs] – Michael Margetts

Producer – Alan Douglas, Stefan Bright

A1 - Devotion . . . 11:25

A2 - Dragon Song . . . 4:13

B1 - Marbles . . . 4:05

B2 - Siren . . . 5:55

B3 - Don't Let The Dragon Eat Your Mother, Brother . . . 5:18

B4 - Purpose Of When . . . 4:45

John McLaughlin – guitar

Buddy Miles – drums, percussion

Billy Rich – bass

Larry Young – organ, electric piano

 John McLaughlin / Larry Young

John McLaughlin: Devotion Originally released in 1970 but re-released regularly since, Devotion is a hard driving, spaced-out, distorted hard-jazz-rock album featuring organist Larry Young, drummer Buddy Miles, and the little known bassist Billy Rich. This album was recorded close to the period when McLaughlin had been jamming with Jimi Hendrix, Young, Miles and Dave Holland. Terrible bootlegs exist of some of their jams, but bad sound quality and McLaughlin's guitar on the fritz make the bootlegs a ripoff.

Devotion was also sort of a ripoff. To this day, McLaughlin is angry about the way former Hendrix producer Alan Douglas mixed this record. Apparently, Douglas spliced bits of music together here and there that were not supposed to be connected. Despite this obvious problem, and the fact Douglas paid McLaughlin only $2,000 to record both Devotion and My Goal’s Beyond , this album is chock full of wonderfully ominous riffs and sounds. Devotion is an overlooked landmark album.

“Marbles" opens up the second side of album and is truly an early fusion masterpiece. The catchy hook is infectious. Years later, McLaughlin would employ the same riff often while with Shakti. You should also check out Santana’s cover version on his hard to find album with Buddy Miles, Live.

McLaughlin focuses more on tension and dynamics than on speed, and Larry Young plays mysterious and otherworldly chords. Miles keeps a constant thud-thud-thud churning throughout and Billy Rich effectively doubles McLaughlin’s themes. No slow ballads. No pretty melodies. This is just pure unadulterated jazz-grunge. Those familiar with the Mahavishnu Orchestra will enjoy picking out the passages that would later become signature tunes. Devotion is awfully messy at times, but you won’t mind cleaning up afterwards.

By WALTER KOLOSKY, Published: November 17, 2002 (AAJ)

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NICHOLAS and GALLIVAN with LARRY YOUNG – Love Cry Want (1972) - 2LP, 2010

Label: Weird Forest Records – WEIRD-35
Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Reissue, Limited Edition; Country: US - Released: 2010
Style: Fusion, Jazz, Psychedelic Rock, Experimental, Free Improvisation
Recorded in June 1972, Lafayette Park, Washington DC.
Mixed By, Mastered By – Ed Mashal
Remastered By – Weasel Walter
Package design by Aaron Winters

Nicholas – prototype guitar synthesizer, ring modulator, wind, rain, thunder, lightning, water, hi-tension wires and wailing dervish
Joe Gallivan – drums, steel guitar, moog synthesizer, and percussion
Jimmy Molneiri – drums and percussion
Larry Young – Hammond organ.

A1  Peace (For Dakota And Jason)  7:04
A2  Tomorrow, Today Will Be Yesterday  5:08
B1  The Great Medicine Dance  9:25
B2  Angels Wing  4:46
C   Ancient Place  10:08
D   Love Cry  15:06

Nearly 40 years after its creation, Weird Forest is proud to release (2010) this seminal jazz album for the first time ever on vinyl. The incendiary grooves captured in this wax defy description. It is not free, jazz, funk, fusion or fire music, it encompasses all of these sounds and then blasts far beyond them. Featuring the late great organist, Larry Young (Miles Davis circa Bitches Brew, Tony Williams Lifetime, etc). Beautifully packaged, Weird Forest-style, in a deluxe double-gatefold cover and remastered for vinyl by Weasel Walter, the Love Cry Want 2xLP is an essential document of a criminally unheralded group. Here's the scoop:

June 1972.

The times were filled with darkness and turmoil. This music, of loving, of crying, of wanting, makes a powerful statement. It is awash with the anguish of the times, yet it heralds the promise of better days to come.

Love Cry Want was a legendary jazz fusion group based in Washington D.C., and led by guitarist, Nicholas. This recording took place during a series of concerts in Washington, held across from the White House in Lafayette Park, and featured the late, great jazz organist Larry Young, who had just recorded the historic Bitches Brew LP with Miles Davis and had left the Tony Williams Lifetime and guitarist John McLaughlin to combine forces with Nicholas and drummer, Joe Gallivan.

This second incarnation of Love Cry Want featured the triumvirate of Nicholas, Gallivan, and Young performing some of the most important music in the history of jazz. No record company would release this music, which was ahead of it's time.

Nicholas, who pioneered the development of the first guitar synthesizer (in association with Electronic Music Laboratories) performs on the first prototype guitar 'synth' along with fellow musician, Joe Gallivan, who pioneered the development of the drum synthesizer with inventor, Robert Moog.

June 1972, Lafayette Park.

Richard Nixon was President. There was a nasty war going on in Vietnam, good people were rioting in the streets and cities were aflame. During this series of concerts outside the White House, President Nixon ordered aide, J.R. Haldeman, to pull the plug on the concert fearing that this strange music would levitate the White House. This is that music, remastered for this first time-vinyl release by Weasel Walter.

(AAJ, January 13th, 2010)

This is one crazy, brilliant record. A trio composed of the inventor/guitarist Nicholas, who only ever went by his first name, drummer and steel guitarist Joe Gallivan, and the late organist Larry Young yielded one of the most intense, freewheeling, and visionary records ever to come out of the '70s fusion era -- even though it took until the 1990s to get released. Nicholas played not only electric guitar, but a prototype synthesizer guitar (he and the Electronic Music Laboratories created and patented the synth guitar) and used a ring modulator as well, adding to the textural and sonic possibilities of Young's already groundbreaking organ sounds. Each of the six tracks here begins with a mode, a rhythm, or a riff, and spirals into the stratosphere. Funk is the motivator on "Peace," where Young plays rhythmic counterpoint to Gallivan, while Nicholas wails his ass off all over the place. On "Tomorrow, Today Will Be Yesterday," a beautiful, long, droning guitar passage that seems to have come out of Jimi Hendrix's "Still Raining, Still Dreaming" sequence form Electric Ladyland is colored, shaded, and deepened by Young's chromatic abilities while Gallivan's drumming brings the two principals so close they are almost indistinguishable. And so it goes for one of most engaging, startlingly accessible free jazz fusion romps in history. The live feel of the music here is underscored by the fact that most, if not all of it, was recorded at various concerts. Whatever; this is one of those long-lost classics that needs to be heard by every succeeding generation of rock musicians who believe jazz harmonics and rhythmic elements have nothing to offer them, and by hipsters who can claim they knew about this back in the day.

_ Review by THOM JUREK



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