[Review] John McLaughlin/Dave Holland/John Surman/Stu Martin/Karl Berger: Where Fortune Smiles (1971)
John Surman, Stu Martin and a talented trio of saboteurs raise a musical tempest.
Kronomyth 2.5: The last mclaugh.
I’m not a big fan of free jazz because, as a listener, it rarely clicks. There are some happy accidents along the way, sure, and the rush that comes from hearing talented musicians tap into the primal energy of spontaneous creation, but it rarely adds up to anything. Where Fortune Smiles, to my surprise, clicks a lot of the time. The opening Glancing Backwards is hung upon an actual theme that appears several times in the music, first from John McLaughlin and John Surman, later from Karl Berger. Using that short theme from Surman as their launching point, the quintet plays the hell out of the whole thing; midway through, I expected Dave Holland’s fingers to fall off and Stu Martin’s drumkit to explode. The intensity doesn’t let up for nine minutes and, yes, I was transfixed the whole time. What follows are shorter pairings, essentially musical conversations between McLaughlin and Surman (Earth Bound Hearts) and McLaughlin and Berger (Where Fortune Smiles) that are thoughtful and easy to follow. The messy side of free jazz emerges on the noisy New Place, Old Place (the perfect time to get up and make a snack) and the aimless shredding of Hope (as in, “I hope this is over soon”). I would tell you that the first side of Where Fortune Smiles is some of the best free jazz I’ve encountered. Apparently, I’m not alone in my assessment, as the album has been reissued several times over the years, and not simply because of McLaughlin’s considerable cachet. There is a beauty in chaos that defies reason even as it defines what it means to be human. In a world where AI is distilling everything down to an algorithm, fortune may yet have the last laugh.
Original elpee version
A1. Glancing Backwards (John Surman) (8:54)
A2. Earth Bound Hearts (John McLaughlin) (4:15)
A3. Where Fortune Smiles (John Surman) (4:01)
B1. New Place, Old Place (John McLaughlin) (10:24)
B2. Hope (John McLaughlin) (7:19)
The Players
Karl Berger (vibraphone), Dave Holland (bass), John McLaughlin (guitar), Stu Martin (drums), John Surman (sax). Produced by McLaughlin, Surman, Berger, Martin & Holland; engineered by Dave Baker.
The Pictures
1975 reissue: Art direction by DFK/David Krieger. Cover art by Don Brautigam.
The Plastic
Released on elpee in 1971 in the UK (Dawn, DNLS-3018) and Japan (Pye, UPS-524-Y) with gatefold cover.
- Re-issued on elpee in 1975 in the US (Pye, PYE 12103) with different cover.
- Re-issued on compact disc in 1993 in the UK (Beat Goes On, BGOCD191) and Canada (One Way, OW 29312).
- Re-issued on compact disc in 2017 in the EU (Esoteric, ECLEC 2605).
- Re-issued on 180g vinyl elpee in 2019 in the US (Tiger Bay, TB6416).
