VISIONS OF THE EMERALD BEYOND

"Visions of the emerald beyond" is the second album by the reformed Mahavishnu Orchestra, and thus the second to feature violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. Recorded in New York over a period of just 11 days, the album has a welcome diversity and energy which contrasts well with the first line up's work. Ponty more or less shares centre stage on equal terms with John McLaughlin, but it is arguably Gayle Morgan's contributions on keyboards (especially piano) and vocals which characterise the album. On "If I could see" she strikingly adds some unexpectedly angelic vocalising.

Admittedly, Ponty's virtuoso work on violin is compelling, and McLaughlin's guitar is predictably excellent (if rather sparse), but on songs such as the two part opener "Eternity's breath", Morgan provides the perfect foundations for their performances. On "Lila's dance" the delicate piano bookends belie the almost Hendrix like burst of guitar pyrotechnics which are at the core of the piece.

Personally, I could have lived without the brass arrangements which adorn many of the tracks. They add little to the overall quality, but give the album an unnecessary funky element.

The aforementioned diversity is especially noticeable on tracks such as "Pastoral" an almost classical violin based piece, and "Faith" which has more themes in the space of 2 minutes than most entire albums.

Those who expect Mahavishnu albums to simply be a vehicle for the talents of John McLaughlin should approach this album with some caution. For want of a better pun, he largely plays second fiddle to Ponty here. In all though, an enjoyable and reasonably accessible album which would have been so much better had the funk elements been suppressed.

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