John Mclaughlin & the 4th Dimension in Hong Kong (麥克勞克林與第四空間在港)

The Concert Hall of the Cultural Centre turned electric last night. I don't mean it was lit by electric lights. It had always been so. Neither do I mean that sound from the instruments being played there was electronically amplified. I mean the atmosphere. And the cause of the charged atmosphere was an artist I have heard numerous times on CDs and seen in DVD's or on U-tube: John McLaughlin. But he didn't appear alone. He was joined on the stage by 3 other extremely talented musicians. On the electronic keyboard and drums was Gary Husband. To provide tangible chest-tremors from his powerful bass guitar was a black French musician Etienne M'Bappé and as vocalist and a fantastic drummer, we had the Indian Ranjit Barot. Together they made incredible music.


There was hardly a moment without sound, without music, save the void between certain notes before the next one or the next barrage of notes came on and the occasional introduction by John McLaughlin. We had a whole range of different compositions ranging from fusion rock, psychedelic jazz, tributes to jazz history, slow dreamy late night night-club gigs, electric blues to distant out of the world trancelike meditative pieces and virtuoso displays of the each of the instruments, lead guitar, bass guitar, electronic keyboard and drums and "oral" drumwork from the tongue of our Indian percussionist.  The music alternated between electronic frenzy, heavy rhythmic synchronized jazzy beats, soulful cries and the fireworks performed on the guitars/ synthesizers or the set of drums and cymbals.  At times, the lights, the sound, the instruments, the musicians seemed to have vanished before our eyes and ears: they have become merged into waves, moods, a unity in which nothing seemed to matter except the sound, undulating, hard hitting, trailing off, suddenly exploding, subsiding, exploring, contemplative with motifs repeating but always never quite the same and beginning again....It's difficult to describe. It's always difficult to describe. If music could be described in the dispassionate linearity of the the printed word, one following another, it would have lost its raison d'être. It was an unforgettable experience. I am so glad I was there to experience it.

For those not fortunate to be there, here's the programme we had:
Trancefusion
Riff Raff
Echos From Then
Wonderfall,
Call and Answer
Not Here, Not there
Guitar Love
Take it or leave it
Discover,
Special Beings
The Fine Line,
Lost and Found,
Recovery
To the One,
Abbaji (Fpr Alla Rakkha)
Raju
Maharina
The Voice
Inside Out
14 U
Five Peace Band

The Trancefusion 

Riff Raff 

Echos from Then 

Wonderfall 

Call and Answer 

Not here Not there 

Guitar Love 

Discovery 

Special Beings 

The Fine Line 

Lost and Found

Recovery 

To the One 

Abbaji 

Raju 

Maharina 

The Voice

Five Piece Band

 

Their Concert in France 2012