Jeff Beck - Wired (1976)

Whilst purely instrumental albums can be a little tiresome to non-musicians, Jeff Beck’s mid 70’s releases featured him at his peak and surrounded by musicians of the highest calibre. On Wired Beck begins a long-lasting collaboration with ex-Mahavishnu Orchestra keyboardist Jan Hammer, with ex Orchestra drummer Michael Walden also making an appearance alongside funk session bassist extraordinaire Wilbur “Bad” Bascomb.

The album veers between jazz-fusion and funk and opens with the long-time Beck collaborator Max Middleton-penned Led Boots which is a strong fusion piece with well-syncopated drum pattern and is one of the shining moments of the album. The album then moves into blander funk territory with Come Dancing albeit with some nice Hammer Moog twiddling throughout but I personally always prefer Beck playing a more attacking style of guitar as opposed to light chord chopping.

Goodbye Pork Pie Hat is a much talked-about number from this album and, whilst a notable piece from Jazz pioneer Charles Mingus – and a much covered piece by other such luminaries as Joh McLaughlin, for example – is a very mellow piece with Beck providing extremely bluesy melody and soloing throughout.

Head for Backstage Pass is a showcase for the funky soloing of Bascomb and Beck is back to chopping but the piece really gets going towards the latter half with a good solo from Beck. Blue Wind is a strong piece with a good question and answer style riff between Beck and Bascomb but is a little repetitious.

On a very mellow footing Wired then moves to Sophie which is really mellow lounge-fusion fayre at the outset that then shifts-up a couple of gears to a fast-paced fusion piece with some great keyboard soloing from Hammer before dropping back to the opening melody and then moving back uptempo: it showcases a very good use of compositional light and shade which is an essential ingredient with instrumental albums in particular to hold the interest.

A funky keyboard intro Stevie Wonder would be proud of ushers-in Play With Me featuring good harmonic interplay with Hammer and Beck and some nice drum flourishes from Walden who wrote the piece.

Wired closes with some acoustic playing from Beck on an introspective-sounding piece Love Is Green, also written by Walden, accompanied by piano and sounding quite like the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s mellower moments minus the rapid guitar flourishes of Mclaughlin. It’s a strong, albeit too short, track to end the album and one of the few on the album to evoke an emotion in the listener.

I’ve never been overly blown-away by Jeff Beck, whilst not doubting his musical credentials his style never quite grabbed me but Wired is a strong album featuring a jaw-dropping array of top-class musicians and, as you’d expect from such an illustrious lineup, produces some outstanding musical moments. However, compared to other fusion albums around at the time – stuff form Collosseum II and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, for example – I’m not certain that it really had enough standout moments to hold a listeners interest when played in its entirety, particularly if the listener wasn’t aware of the pedigree of the performers which provides for another level of interest in hearing it.

If you’ve never really heard Beck during his mid-70s flirtation with fusion, Wired – and its predecessor Blow By Blow – are the pick of the bunch but if you like your fusion with a bit of bite, as do I, the experience will be a pleasant one but you will probably not want to listen to it in its entirety again but rather pick out the handful of outstanding tracks for future plays.

• Jeff Beck – Guitar
• Jan Hammer – Keyboards
• Michael Walden – Drums
• Wilbur Bascomb – Bass
• Max Middleton – Keyboards

Birds Of Fire - Mahavishnu Orchestra (1973)

I first heard Birds Of Fire when I was around 16 and learning to play the drums and a guitarist friend of mine thought I may find the Orchestra’s Billy Cobham worth a listen: he wasn’t wrong! This album completely changed my outlook on music and can’t be recommended highly enough.

Jazz-fusion guitarist John McLaughlin had a strong pedigree through working with Miles Davis and Tony Williams’ Lifetime, among others, was at his most ‘aggressive’ on this and the previous Inner Mounting Flame albums and along with his band-mates, including Jan Hammer on keyboards, created an album of virtuoso musicianship and contrasting instrumental moods from the opening track’s powerful repetitious build, through the mellow Fender Rhodes intro to Miles Beyond (a tribute to McLaughlin’s former mentor) to out and out power in the form of One Word.

Whilst an album of instrumentals can be a little testing on the ears, especially to non-musicians, Birds Of Fire contains such contrasting pieces that the listener could not allow the attention to slip: from melodic piano/acoustic guitar/violin pieces to all-out screeching guitar riffs, along with McLaughlin’s incredible dexterity on electric guitar, ensure that all tastes are catered for.

Unfortunately, this ‘classic’ lineup were to dissolve following recording sessions for the the follow-up but this album has stood the tests of time and I guarantee that no-one since has sounded quite like the Mahavishnu Orchestra at their peak, as here.

• John McLaughlin – Guitar
• Jan Hammer – Keyboards
• Billy Cobham – Drums
• Rick Laird – Bass
• Jerry Goodman – Violin