John McLaughlin (musician)

Musician

• Born: January 4, 1942
• Place of Birth: Yorkshire, England

Significance: John McLaughlin is an English musician. He is best known for his guitar playing and fusion of different jazz styles. He enjoyed a solo career and worked with several bands and artists throughout his career, which began in the 1960s. McLaughlin planned a farewell tour for late 2017 but said he had no plans to retire from the music industry.

Background

John McLaughlin was born on January 4, 1942, in Yorkshire, England, the youngest of five children. His parents divorced when he was a child, and he moved with his mother. His father was an engineer and hoped McLaughlin would follow his example. However, McLaughlin was interested in music. His mother was a violinist, and he learned how to play the guitar when he was eleven years old. He also took piano lessons. He first gravitated toward blues and swing music.

McLaughlin quit school when he was a teenager and worked at a guitar repair shop. He then moved to London to pursue his dream of being a musician. In 1969, he released his debut jazz-rock album, Extrapolation. He then moved to New York City to work with the band the Tony Williams Lifetime on the album Emergency! (1969). He next teamed with jazz musician Miles Davis on the album In a Silent Way (1969).

McLaughlin worked with Miles on Bitches Brew (1970) and released the solo albums Devotion (1970) and My Goal's Beyond (1971). After recording another effort with Miles, A Tribute to Jack Johnson (1972), McLaughlin explored acoustic and Eastern music. In 1971, he served as the leader of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, a jazz fusion band. The band recorded The Inner Mounting Flame (1971), Birds of Fire (1973), and Visions of the Emerald Beyond (1975). McLaughlin released Love Devotion Surrender (1973) with fellow guitarist Carlos Santana. He left Mahavishnu in 1975.

At this time, McLaughlin formed the acoustic band Shakti, which had jazz and Indian influences. The band recorded the albums Shakti with John McLaughlin (1976), A Handful of Beauty (1976), and Natural Elements (1977). McLaughlin then worked with a variety of artists. He teamed with jazz fusion guitarist Al di Meola and flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia to release the live albums Friday Night in San Francisco (1981) and Passion, Grace & Fire (1983). In the 1980s, he also reunited with Mahavishnu for a short time.

Life's Work

McLaughlin continued to work both solo and with other musicians and groups throughout the 1990s. He focused on jazz in both electric and acoustic settings. He released the acoustic album Time Remembered: John McLaughlin Plays Bill Evans (1993); played with Elvin Jones and Joey DeFrancesco for the 1994 album After the Rain; and released The Promise (1995), which featured reunions with di Meola, de Lucia, and DeFrancesco and introduced drummer Dennis Chambers. McLaughlin also worked with Chambers on the album The Heart of Things (1997).

At the end of the century, he teamed with former Shakti members and others to form Remember Shakti. Over the next few years, the band released Remember Shakti (1999) and The Believer (2000). Its tour produced the live album Saturday Night in Bombay (2001). As a solo artist, the musician released Thieves and Poets in 2003. A seventeen-CD box set of his concerts between 1974 and 1996 called The Montreux Concerts was released in 2003. He then spent the next few years working with several artists for Industrial Zen (2006).

McLaughlin released Floating Point in 2008, but it was not much different from his previous album. The last song on the album, "Five Peace Band," became the name of another group he formed. Five Peace Band included McLaughlin, pianist Chick Corea, saxophonist Kenny Garrett, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta. The band toured and released Five Peace Band Live in 2009.

Another collaboration called 4th Dimension followed in 2010. The band, which included guitarist McLaughlin, bassist Etienne Mbappe, keyboardist and drummer Gary Husband, and drummer Mike Mondesir, released the 2010 album To the One. The band had a lineup change when Mondesir was replaced with Ranjit Barot, who previously worked with McLaughlin on Floating Point. The new lineup of 4th Dimension toured and released Now Here This (2012). Its live performance at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, was released as The Boston Record in 2014.

McLaughlin continued to tour and perform with 4th Dimension. In 2015, the band released Black Light, which featured the acoustic song "El Hombre Que Sabia" as a tribute to de Lucia.

In early 2017, McLaughlin announced his farewell tour, Meeting of the Spirits, for twenty-three US cities that November to December. Guitarist Jimmy Herring planned to join McLaughlin and 4th Dimension for the tour. McLaughlin said that during the tour he would revisit Mahavishnu Orchestra material from the 1970s. He also announced a new album to be released prior to the tour and said he would continue to work on music when the tour ended.

A tour announced in 2017 was billed as a farewell tour with Shakti, but in 2023, the band released its first album in almost five decades, This Moment. McLaughlin and his bandmates also announced a North American tour, their first in sixteen years. In February 2024, Shakti won the Grammy for best global music album for This Moment.

Impact

McLaughlin became one of the leading musicians in the jazz fusion genre that came to prominence in the 1960s. He became well known for blending jazz with blues, rock, Indian raga, and flamenco. He was regarded as an influence for several famous guitar players, including Jeff Beck. McLaughlin had multiple award nominations throughout his career. As part of Five Peace Band, he won a Grammy Award for best jazz instrumental album, individual or group for Five Peace Band Live in 2009. Rolling Stone named McLaughlin to its list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists."

Personal Life

McLaughlin is married to Ina Behrend, and they have a son, Luke. He was previously married and has a son, Julian. McLaughlin practices meditation and yoga. In the 1970s, his yoga teacher gave him the name Mahavishnu, which means "Great Vishnu." He decided to use this name for one of his first musical collaborations.

Bibliography

"Artist: John McLaughlin." Recording Academy, www.grammy.com/artists/john-mclaughlin/15319. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.

Bosso, Joe. "Guitar Legend John McLaughlin Answers Your Questions." MusicRadar, 15 Sept. 2012, www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/guitar-legend-john-mclaughlin-answers-your-questions-560533. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.

Bryson, Alan. "John McLaughlin's American Farewell Tour with Jimmy Herring." All About Jazz, 5 Sept. 2017, www.allaboutjazz.com/john-mclaughlins-american-farewell-tour-with-jimmy-herring-john-mclaughlin-by-alan-bryson. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.

"John McLaughlin." AllMusic, www.allmusic.com/artist/john-mclaughlin-mn0000223701#biography. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.

"News." John McLaughlin, www.johnmclaughlin.com/category/news/. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.

Perlah, Jeff. "Guitarist John Mclaughlin Talks Mahavishnu, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Yoga." Newsweek, 3 May 2017, www.newsweek.com/guitarist-john-mclaughlin-talks-miles-davis-jimi-hendrix-yoga-593284. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.