Excellent addition to any Jazz-Fusion music collection.
Though this fitfully inspired yet always intelligently musical record is an electric album, McLaughlin is more often heard on acoustic guitar in something resembling his electric manner, along with more pronounced classical and flamenco influences.
A 60 minutes documentary film Shakti Timeless, which tells the story of the indo-western music group Shakti. Formed in 1975, the group pioneered a groundbreaking and highly influential musical East-meets-West approach. In the 70s, the group, whose name means creative intelligence, beauty and power, consisted of legendary British jazz guitarist John Mclaughlin, North Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain and violinist L. Shankar and ghatam (percussion) player T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram, both of whom hail from South India. Together, they created a fluid and organic sound that managed to successfully combine seemingly incompatible traditions.
The album was very well received, winning the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album!
Chick Corea and John McLaughlin share one of the great pedigrees in the music of the 20th century: they were both key sidemen on Miles Davis' seminal albums In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew. They have played together since those heady days, as a duo or as sit-in guests. Five Peace Band was Corea's idea of putting together a dream band to play all kinds of jazz, and he approached McLaughlin. Corea chose the other members in saxophonist Kenny Garrett, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, and bassist Christian McBride…
The startling thing about My Goal's Beyond is that it points the way toward two directions McLaughlin would take in the future – exploring Indian music and the acoustic guitar – and this while he was in the thick of the burgeoning electronic jazz-rock movement. The first half is a John McLaughlin acoustic guitar tour de force, where he thwacks away with his energetic, single-minded intensity on three jazz standards and five originals (including one genuine self-penned classic, "Follow Your Heart") and adds a few percussion effects via overdubbing.
Pianist Bill Evans was one of guitarist John McLaughlin's early heroes so this Evans tribute seemed like a logical idea. Sticking to acoustic guitar, McLaughlin is joined by four other guitarists (along with the acoustic bass guitar of Yann Maresz) to create an unusual instrumentation that often sounds as full as a keyboard. The leader arranged ten of Evans's compositions and his own "Homage" for a largely introverted set of music that has a strong classical feel. McLaughlin lets loose a few times but more mood and tempo variations would have kept this from being such a sleepy and overly respectful session.