In 1971 an album entitled Inner Mounting Flame befuddled both rock and jazz radio DJs, many of whom put it aside as unplayable. The album sleeve depicted five musicians clothed in quasi-hippie gear and engaged in a collective meditative gaze. The sonic torrent spewing from the vinyl grooves was anything but calm, however, with a heavy rock grind, searing jazz scales and intense, Indian-inspired polyrhythms.
John McLaughlin.
What started off as a sleeper and potential cut-out bin candidate was serendipitously picked up by underground radio stations in the US and Europe and, aided by extensive tour exposure, the grandly named Mahavishnu Orchestra suddenly became one of the most talked-about and influential musical entities of the early 70s.
The unstoppable force behind the band was English guitarist John McLaughlin, who up until then had enjoyed a quiet reputation as a collaborator with black American jazz pioneers Miles Davis and Tony Williams. With Mahavishnu Orchestra (derived from the name McLaughlin’s Indian guru Sri Chinmoy gave him), the guitarist’s complex compositions ranged from fiercely aggressive to dramatically forlorn. Meanwhile the machine-gun playing style he cultivated in the band was like nothing else heard in jazz, rock or any other musical genre of that era.
Together with Miles Davis, who began fusing jazz and rock in the late 1960s and early 1970s with such albums as In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew, McLaughlin is today considered one of the main progenitors of jazz fusion, a term he himself refuses to use. Noting that all musical traditions blend elements of varying origins, he often challenges interviewers with the question, “What isn’t fusion?”.
We spoke with McLaughlin by phone while the guitarist was preparing for a concert tour at his home in Monaco, where he has lived for more than 30 years.
Asked about his jazz education, the musician notes that he had no formal training in guitar. “I studied classical violin and piano as a child, but when I switched to guitar at 11, I was pretty much on my own,” says McLaughlin.
“I was deep into blues at first, imitating the guitar playing of Muddy Waters, Leadbelly and Big Bill Broonzy. I tried to take lessons from a local jazz guitarist in a nearby town in northeastern England, where I grew up. But all he wanted to do was listen to me play blues. It was my first audience, you might say.”
From the blues, McLaughlin found himself drawn to flamenco for a while, as well as Indian music, “which had a very powerful effect on me”, he says.
“But all that was sidelined when I discovered Django Reinhardt, which was my first real exposure to jazz guitar. The guy was playing such amazing guitar music, fretting with only two fingers; it was inspiring.
“When I was 16, a friend turned me on to the Miles Davis album Milestones, and that was it for me. It was a huge revelation, and I decided that this was the kind of music I wanted to play. It was so advanced, and still is even by today’s standards. Fifty-five years later, almost no one can approach that level of playing and composition.
“Then Miles’ Kind Of Blue came out and I decided to buckle down and start learning the harmonies on those two albums, on my own. I was lucky that I had learned to read music when studying classical piano when I was a kid, so I was able to analyse the scores.
“Basically the gramophone was my teacher. I drove my family nuts picking up the needle and replaying parts over and over.”
McLaughlin initially made his living as a musician playing in English rhythm and blues bands, which, he concedes, played an important role in his musical education. But all the while he was relentlessly honing his jazz-guitar skills. He eventually caught the attention of his hero Miles Davis, who hired the guitarist for recording sessions that ended up on several Davis albums. From that point forward, his musical career ascended steadily.
Although he admits, “I haven’t really heard anything lately that blows my mind”, McLaughlin says he’s confident that jazz will continue to evolve and flourish.
“The young jazz players these days are hotter than ever,” he adds. “Take my bassist, Etienne M’Bappe, for example. If you think he’s bad, you should hear his son! That’s the way it evolves.
“I just finished mixing our new album [The Boston Record] last night. Wait till you hear it, because I don’t think our band has ever played better!”
When we ask how it is the 72-year-old musician is playing with as much fire as ever, he answers: “I don’t know. No drills, no practice, no secrets. I guess I just play a lot.
“Inside I still feel like the kid who fell in love with guitar at age 11. I have to have a guitar near me all the time. But when my playing starts deteriorating, believe me, I’m not going to go out there any more. I know that in a few years things will change. The machine gets old. I’m not a 29-year-old hippy any more.
“Strangely enough, though, musically I’ve never felt better than I do right now.”
John McLaughlin & The 4th Dimension consists of powerhouse Indian drummer Ranjit Barot, Cameroon-born/Paris-resident bassist Etienne M’Bappe and keyboardist/drummer Gary Husband. The band will perform live tonight at M Theatre, 2884/2, New Phetchaburi Road. The gig starts at 8pm. Tickets are available at Thai Ticket Major outlets (www.thaiticketmajor.com).
