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John McLaughlin

by Tony Dehner

As a technical wizard, genre-bending stylist, and a world musician in the truest sense, John McLaughlin is a true marvel. He has achieved fame and success while at the same time remaining true to his own ideas and giving the world music that would still pack a jolt 30 years later.

Born in Yorkshire, England in 1942, McLaughlin began playing guitar at the age of 11, influenced mostly by blues and swing music. His breakthrough year was 1969, when he recorded his first solo album, Extrapolation. One of the record’s biggest fans was American jazz drummer Tony Williams, who invited McLaughlin to play in his new band. He accepted the invitation, and the result was the Tony Williams Lifetime, the first band in a new movement known as “jazz-fusion” — loosely defined as combining jazz concepts and improvisations with rock rhythms and dynamics. Although the band had little commercial success, they did catch the ear of one important listener — Williams’ former employer, jazz trumpet legend Miles Davis.

Davis, enamored with both McLaughlin and this new sound the band had created, contacted McLaughlin, who went on to play with Davis on several ground breaking records, most notably In A Silent Way, Bitches’ Brew, and A Tribute to Jack Johnson. McLaughlin’s playing on these albums is some of the most original and challenging guitar music ever recorded.

In 1971, he formed his own band, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, which took fusion to new heights, sold out concerts, and had many calling McLaughlin the rightful successor to Jimi Hendrix. While working with the Orchestra, McLaughlin also recorded several solo acoustic albums on the side. His acoustic music was influenced mostly by jazz and Indian classical music. These ideas would be fully-formed on 1975’s Shakti With John McLaughlin, a live recording featuring McLaughlin along with violinist L. Shankar, as well as Indian percussion.

McLaughlin continued to record steadily over the years, although he became somewhat less prolific. In recent years, he has enjoyed a bit of a comeback through several reissue programs. In addition to the remastering of the Mahavishu Orchestra’s catalog and the release of Miles Davis’ The Complete Bitches’ Brew Sessions, another live album by Shakti was released, entitled Remember Shakti.

Essential Recordings

Emergency!

The Tony Williams Lifetime

Although Miles Davis is credited with kickstarting the jazz-fusion genre, this is the album that truly started it all. This lack of proper recognition is probably due to the fact that Emergency doesn’t sound remotely like a jazz record: the incredibly dense sound created by Williams, McLaughlin and organist Larry Young owes more to Cream or the Jimi Hendrix Experience than it does to more traditional jazz guitar music like that of Wes Montgomery or Kenny Burrell. The interplay between the three musicians is amazing with jagged-sounding fills and killer solos. The ideas he employs on this album are a preview of what he would do early on with Miles Davis.
A Tribute To Jack Johnson

Miles Davis

McLaughlin is the featured musician on this, Davis’ most guitar-heavy album. Unlike other Miles Davis fusion albums, which often featured upwards of eight or ten musicians playing freely, this album finds Davis basically fronting a power trio, with an occasional keyboard or soprano sax solo. Over the course of two 25-minute songs, McLaughlin plays some of the funkiest and bluesiest rhythm guitar ever, making for an incredibly tight sound and the perfect background for Davis’ distinctive trumpet playing. And although 25 minutes sounds intimidating, the music never gets dull. In addition to McLaughlin, the late avant-garde guitarist Sonny Sharrock makes an uncredited appearance trading licks with McLaughlin on the second tune Yesternow. And, bass players will get a kick out of the amazing Michael Henderson.
The Inner Mounting Flame

The Mahavishnu Orchestra

This is the album that helped fusion go mainstream and made McLaughlin a superstar. Along with McLaughlin’s traditional jazz influences, the album also incorporates elements of Western and Indian classical music, as well as Celtic music. The album shifts moods greatly — in between heavy rock pieces that would make today’s metal bands jealous, the band creates quiet music with guitar and electric violin solos that seem to levitate. McLaughlin also pulls out his acoustic guitar for the first time on a widely popular album. When you listen to this album, it’s amazing to think that this band enjoyed great commercial success, with sell-out concerts and everything that comes with that. McLaughlin became a household name after this album. (Interesting side note: This band features keyboardist Jan Hammer, who went on to play with Jeff Beck and then have a #1 chart hit with the Miami Vice theme song.)
Shakti with John McLaughlin

Shakti

Although McLaughlin had experimented with acoustic guitar before and releases acoustic albums, this is the one that marked McLaughlin’s transition to acoustic guitar pretty much full-time. Mclaughlin and his band of Indian musicians settle in in front of a large crowd at a California university, they thank the crowd for their warm welcome, and then they tear into three songs as if their lives depended on it. The three songs — one about 18 minutes, one about 4 minutes, and one about half an hour — are a mixture of Indian classical and American jazz, and are played with as much intensity as anything played by the Mahavishnu Orchestra. The small but enthusiastic crowd voices its approval throughout. If you’re interested in McLaughlin’s acoustic work or Indian music, this is a great place to start.