McLaughlin Monday #19 – Orchestral Maneuvers in the Mediterranean?
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Track:Mediterranean Concerto, 1st movement
McLaughlin showed his fascination with orchestral arrangements way back in the Mahavishnu Orchestra days (2nd and 3rd incarnations), most notably on the “Apocalypse” album. Back then he was working with a young Michael Tilson Thomas, who risked the wrath of the classical world by collaborating with the controversial jazz fusionist on that ambitious project.10 years later, with a successful career already well under way, Tilson Thomas teamed up with McLaughlin again to help the latter realize a lifetime ambition of composing, performing and recording his own complete orchestral work for classical guitar. The resulting CD, featuring McLaughlin as the soloist backed by the London Symphony Orchestra, was finally recorded in 1988, three years after it’s first public performance, where the Los Angeles Philharmonic did the honors – not sure if any good quality recording of this exists, or indeed if this YT post is from that concert....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYnRb-lFx_AFull of Mediterranean flavor, McLaughlin plays crisply throughout and sounds quite at home in the classical soloist role. The concerto is accompanied on the CD by several studio pieces with Katia Labeque on keyboards, but McLaughlin stays with the classical guitar for these too.More classical musings can be found on the recent “Thieves and Poets” CD, but for me, the Mediterranean concerto stands out as a brave undertaking that shows a different side to this excellent guitarist.Enjoy. 
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