While recent concerts with John McLaughlin’s 4th Dimension quartet have seen him refocus on the overdriven scream of his Mahavishnu heyday, Live at the Royal Festival Hall is an electro-acoustic set that sparkles with a different kind of energy, generated in emphatic style by the delicate thunder of two rhythm-section kings. If Shakti was McLaughlin’s deep dive into Indian music, then the presence here of innovative Mumbai percussionist Trilok Gurtu serves as a bridge between the quick-fire intricacies of raga beat cycles, and the boom-bap power of post-Cobham fusion. Yet, the secret weapon of this set is under-sung bassist Kai Eckhardt, the German-born low-end wizard who dazzles among a firmament of hand-picked McLaughlin bass behemoths. In fact, the guitarist has a habit of finding future bass heroes for his bands, including Jonas Hellborg, Dominique Di Piazza, Matthew Garrison, Hadrien Feraud and, most recently, Etienne Mbappé. And while every one of these virtuosos has their signature sound, it’s Eckhardt’s lyrical touch, profoundly melodic fretless solos, mastery of tricky time signatures and ability to slap up a storm without descending into histrionic clichés that makes him stand tall in such illustrious company. Thus, with McLaughlin back on his custom nylon-string guitar and sparring heroically with this pair of bass and drum bosses, via songs dedicated to Noble Peace Prize-winning Polish dissident Lech Wał˚sa and Joe Zawinul, this is a live album that continues to reward on repeat listens.