The Mahavishnu Project, The Mahavishnu Project Live Bootleg

Is it any good? Yes, perfect thank you. The Mahavishnu Project majestically manages to avoid the pitfalls of a tribute / cover band by staying true to the structure of the music and capturing the essence of the idea, the spirituality, but cutting loose where appropriate to give the personal slant with new solos to explore, instead of just knocking out the familiar well trodden originals.

Gregg Bendian's snare cracks and cymbal crescendos do as good a job as Billy Cobham ever did propelling Stephan Crump's basslines ever onwards. The bass is possibly better than Rick Laird's, more contemporary, those little smudges, blips and rolls that modern bassists employ to derive greater expression than the linear stompings of their predecessors.

The guitar has a bit more gravel in it than the John McLaughlin rigs, panning in and out of exact same sound but again, the guitarist Pete McCann is also a modern man and therefore in addition to his McLaughlinesque soloing, he also skilfully integrates thrash phrasings, metal licks and stinging funk rhythm into a vocabulary fuelled by an advantageous further thirty years of musical history.

Todd Reynolds' love of the upper register is enough to set rear neck hairs on end with a pirouette and salsa twist. Either his violin has a ten foot long neck or he's got a ladder to get up there, or perhaps he's standing on Jerry Goodman's shoulders? More interesting twists; sometimes a country swing or chunky chords, and of course superb unison playing with the guitar.

Steve Hunt deviates the furthest from his alter ego, tastefully employing some synthetic mood effects that Jan Hammer would never have had available in yesteryear, but his solos are articulate and independent of McCann's 6-string devilry. This is acute and unnerving because it redefines leadership. At least in the early recordings Hammer always seemed to look to McLaughlin for inspir(it)ation when it came to his solos. It sounded good to recapitulate on what the guitarist had just played, a way to learn the trade, but a parallel voice such as Hunt's is here might have sounded more intelligent.

The sound suffers a little from being recorded live, but once you've jacked up the volume beyond the limitations of your eardrums (earphones are good for this and for maintaining speaking terms with neighbours), it ceases to matter. Collectively, the band benefit from modern mixing and recording. The postproduction overly used on the original albums had the undesired effect of diluting the density of instruments. Pulling the lead out of the mix with volume and echo or panning stretched the interplay to its limits. Here, all is left in place, as played, as heard. The result is a wholesome beast that bludgeons its way through all in its path. Stand aside, there's a steamroller coming!

So is there an abominable irony here? Is The Mahavishnu Project better at playing this music than the Mahavishnu Orchestra? Well it's close, "almost" in fact. The ensemble is possibly tighter playing the pieces from the first two albums. The Mahavishnu Project have probably had more studio rehearsal in contrast to the Mahavishnu Orchestra's rite of passage played out on the unexpectant stages of the US, Europe and eventually Japan (three major tours plus shorter sojourns, over 70 documented gigs in their short 2 1/2 years doesn't actually sound like much until you think that's an average of a few every month, playing demanding music, in addition to personal practice, rehearsal, recording and other professional commitments). Things were only really beginning to truly gel later at the time of the live album and the lost studio album.

Does the music sound better for modern innovations? It certainly doesn't sound any worse for being 30 years old, but can it carry contemporary phrasings? The energy would seem sufficient to drive the music through however it is being played. As long as the earnestness and spiritual yearning is maintained then the intended concept rings true. These guys are certainly not afraid to tackle the music head on.

What saves the legend of the original line up is down to subtleties. Billy Cobham's hi-hat flutter is sorely missed. Rick Laird's unfussed, stoical bass was an appropriate anchor for the others to hang on to in the sonic twister. McLaughlin's imagination and beliefs, technical prowess and harmonic understanding combined to give us some of the greatest ever guitar playing and such sublime solos. Jerry Goodman's violin was always recognisable. A haughty wisp to the rhythmic line, and Jan Hammer's testosterone oozing through manic moog runs, sometimes in front, often behind. What saves the legend of the original line up is that they were the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

So, all you need to do now lads is have a bit of plastic surgery. A nip and a tuck, a dreamy smile and no one would ever know the difference.

Think you know the music of the Mahavishnu Orchestra? Think again.