DEVOTION

Predating his participation on the stellar Tony Williams`Lifetime McLaughlin applies his apprenticeships with various artists during the `60s to practical use on this unusual early electric exploration.

The tripped out tracks heard here are nothing like McLaughlin did before or after and can be compared to a lot of the acid induced music which was emerging in the late sixties and early seventies with loud guitars and dragged out tempos. With the exception of the more upbeat "Marbles"( which was later covered by Santana) don`t expect the speed and grace of the Mahavishnu Orchestra or the technical virtuosity heard on his 1969 masterwork " Extrapolation". If his name wasn`t on the record sleeve one wouln`t even think this was McLaughlin on the fretboard even though it did have a somewhat of a free form jazz concept. I first heard the album after I had gone through some of his work with Miles Davis as well as Tony Williams`Lifetime`s album Emergency and it lterally blew me away. No acoustic guitars to be heard here! Devotion also features the fuzzed out organ of Larry Young, who McLaughlin would later hook up with on a couple of Tony Wiliiams`Lifetime records, and the drumming of ex-Hendrix drummer Buddy Miles.

I own an original vinyl copy on the obscure Douglas label and this is the way to hear this phenomenal recording raw and in your face. It was perhaps more of an experiment than anything for McLaughlin who, with the exception of his Mahavishnu Orchestra project and the beautiful outings he had with Shakti, was ( and still is ) artistically restless and as a result his output through the years has remained relatively inconsistent. You might want to give this Mclaughlin solo work a test drive beforehand especially if you have been into his more jazz oriented work. Add ½ star to 3.