Track:
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| 1. Trilogy | | | | | |
| 2. Sister Andrea | | | | | |
| 3. Dream | | | | | |
Between Nothingness And Eternity is a landmark album for a number of reasons.
It is, of course, the final album by the first incarnation of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, John McLaughlin's legendary jazz-fusion ensemble. Arguably the most influential group of the genre besides that of Miles Davis, the MO released two stunningly impressive studio albums in addition to this live work -- only in Shakti did McLaughlin again reach the heights scaled by this unit. Although McLaughlin used the Mahavishnu name for further group ventures, it wasn't quite the same thing -- Apocalypse and Visions Of The Emerald Beyond were good albums, but subsequent releases under the McLaughlin/Mahavishnu name could be painfully disappointing (check out Mahavishnu or Adventures In Radioland if you don't believe me ... and the reports I've seen of Inner Worlds aren't exactly glowing either).
This album may also have been the logical conclusion (and therefore the dead end) of this particular brand of jazz-fusion performance. Long extended compositions with long extended solos could be magic in the hands of the masters, but the popularity of the genre invariably inspired a series of less talented imitators. The decline of jazz-fusion has been chronicled in various outlets, and there's no need for me to add too much to the assault. Let us say, however, that Between Nothingness And Eternity has at least as much appeal to fans of "flash" as to fans of "music". While I can appreciate the first guitar solo on "Trilogy", I have to conclude that it probably did more harm than good. Perhaps there was a reason why McLaughlin created the more classically-inspired Apocalypse after this release, and then returned to shorter fusion compositions on Visions Of The Emerald Beyond -- there simply isn't much further that he could have gone in this direction without becoming redundant.
Whatever damage it may have contributed to in the long run, however, Between Nothingness And Eternity is a landmark work for another reason as well -- it's extremely good. As live fusion albums with rock-band arrangements go, it may very well be the best of its type (Zappa never quite did a live album entirely devoted to this sort of music, so there's no competition from his side). As mentioned above, extended solos by the masters aren't anything to shy away from; and, while I wouldn't recommend this as the ideal introduction to the Mahavishnu Orchestra, I would suggest that it complements The Inner-Mounting Flame and Birds Of Fire extremely well.
The album begins with two ten-minute tracks, the first of which is the appropriately titled "Trilogy". The entire performance (recorded in Central Park, by the way) is commenced by the solemn sounding of a gong -- giving more the impression of an advanced ritual than a typical American concert performance. This then leads to the first part of the trilogy -- a fairly laid-back fusion passage that soon develops into a more elaborate trade-off between McLaughlin & Hammer (with the former taking the more dominant role). I must admit that I was not overly enthralled with this guitar part the first time that I heard it; even now, I wouldn't quite rate it with the best of McLaughlin's career -- the subsequent entropy of fusion is mapped out here, even if it's independent value is still fairly high.
The second part of the trilogy is somewhat akin to the first -- everybody goes back to the beginning, and Goodman appears as the dominant "voice" on this particular number (with Hammer providing birdsong effects from his Moog, for some never-quite-explained reason). Cobham's backing role is particularly notable in this section -- the man's reputation is not unfounded. The switch to the third section is rather abrupt -- out of nowhere, the band suddenly switches to a more fast and aggressive fusion passage; after a brief violin lead, McLaughlin comes forward with a solo that easily obliterates any concerns the listener may have had about the first guitar lead (for a few minutes, at least). The subsequent ritualized development/repetition of the lead riff is an impressive feat -- one of those rare cases where a group can hammer away on a motif without dulling the overall impact (it seems to go on forever, and that's not necessarily a bad thing). Finally, the group reverts to the original theme at the end (as per most tracks of this sort, it makes much more sense after the journey has been completed).
One might be a bit apprehensive about a track written solely by Jan Hammer, given some of his later ventures (and I'm not even thinking about the Miami Vice years ... check out "Ethereggae" from John Abercrombie's Night for an example of his writing habits gone horribly wrong). As it is, the actual composition of this song is a tad on the prosaic side -- a blues-jazz opening section performed by the entire group; followed by solos; followed by a fade-out. This, however, is a case of a performance outdoing any limits in the composition (probably due to the fact that the solos take up the bulk of the track, timewise).
The blues-jazz intro (which is fairly good on its own terms, if nothing too special) quickly fades into a background setting, with a rather prominent "space" left empty for a few seconds -- it doesn't take to much grey matter to realize that a guitar solo is on its way, and McLaughlin does not disappoint in what follows (a tricky solo it is, too, with quite a few surprising twists here and there). After reaching a crescendo on his own, McLaughlin then outdoes himself with an even better solo over the entire group's performance. After this, Goodman's violin solo makes its appearance -- a bit more flashy than the guitar part, this is still a fairly impressive number (even if it doesn't develop as well as McLaughlin's part). After Laird briefly teases a bass solo, Hammer then bursts forth on his own with a fairly wild Moog performance. By this time, the main theme of the song has also improved to the point of perfectly complementing the solo performances (and let's not forget to credit Cobham's stellar performances in the background ... though, for reasons of posterity, it may have been a good idea not to have thrown in a drum solo).
Already, we clearly have a substantial album on our hands. But what happens next transcends even that.
"Trilogy" and "Sister Andrea" are very good performances. But they pale in comparison to "Dream", an amazing twenty-minute number that easily rates among the best material that McLaughlin has ever released. To give a blow-by-blow description of the work's development would be more prosaic of a treatment than this number deserves. I can say, however, that the combination of mood and musicality is sublimely mixed here -- from the quasi-psychedelic murkiness of the introduction (with individual performances slowly emerging from the mix), it's obvious that we're dealing with music that's meant to affect as well as impress. And I can also mention that the mid-song jamming on the "Sunshine Of Your Love" bass line isn't nearly as awkward as the very idea may sound. One particular highlight of this track is the final guitar solo, just as the track seems to be trailing off into its unformed beginnings -- a final burst of energy prior to the ceremony's end. The sounding of the gong afterwards underscores the nature of the performance once again. I cannot emphasize this enough -- this is a very impressive track, and deserves the attention of anyone interested in this sort of music.
Between Nothingness And Eternity is the sort of album that fits equally well with analytical listening and sonic enrapture. Those who can fit in both should be doubly rewarded.
Newer Mahavishnu fans should buy the studio albums first, but this is still highly recommended.
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 4 Jun 1998)