Guitar virtuoso John McLaughlin has performed and recorded music that combines a variety of styles including jazz, rock and Indian classical music. When he performs with his band the 4th Dimension in Taipei on Tuesday at The Wall (這牆), his audience will experience the culmination of an unprecedented career that spans over 40 years.
In the late 1960’s, many prominent jazz artists like American trumpeter and bandleader Miles Davis started to lean toward the more popular grooves of rock and funk, creating a new form of music called fusion. It has now been nearly half a century since the distinct boundaries that once existed between jazz and rock were destroyed forever.
McLaughlin, who is touring to promote his new album Black Light, is an integral part of that musical history. Miles Davis brought world attention to McLaughlin on the landmark recordings In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew. Since then, McLaughlin has consistently been listed as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. His latest offering shows that the he is still in peak form.
Photo: AP
I was fortunate enough to ask McLaughlin a few questions ahead of his performance in Taipei.
Taipei Times: Can you tell me briefly about how you began playing the guitar? Was there a piece of music that inspired you to play?
John McLaughlin: I was 10 years old when the guitar arrived in our house. My eldest brother was going to university in the UK, and was affected by the blues boom that had hit the UK in about 1952. Within 6 months he had become bored, had given it to the second brother who had also become bored. At the age of 11 it landed in my hands and I fell in love with it. I had been raised as a classical pianist from the age of 8, so Western classical music was my first inspiration. My first musical experience was at 5 years old hearing the vocal quartet at the end of the 9th symphony of Beethoven. I believe this experience was behind me becoming a musician.
TT: The title of your new album Black Light could be interpreted as a reference to the blacklight posters that were popular in the late-sixties. Is that right?
JM: The title of the new CD has no reference to the backlight posters of the 60’s. When I look inside my mind everything is black and yet I see so many images and hear music that I’ve never heard before. This is the place I call Black Light since it is the only place where darkness and light co-exist.
TT:Several tracks on Black Light incorporate the use of Konokol, [the Indian art of vocal percussion]. As far as I know, you are the only western artist that incorporates this technique as a percussive part of your work. Can you explain your passion for Konokol?
JM: Konokol was part of my education when studying Karnatic Vina with Dr Ramanathan at Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 1972 to 1973. From 1974 to 1975 I became an extra-curricular student of Pandit Ravi Shankar who continued my education in Konokol. Consequently Konokol had been part of my musical background and history for over 40 years.
It is absolutely the best way to communicate rhythm with fellow musicians. Our drummer Ranjit Barot is a great exponent of Konokol and of course, it is integrated into our performances. Konokol is one aspect of the music of India that has been influencing me for at least 50 years. There is much common ground between jazz music and Indian music. And it is no coincidence that the son of John Coltrane was named after Pandit Ravi Shankar.
TT: Another new track on Black Light, El Hombre Que Sabia, is a tribute to your old friend flamenco master Paco de Lucia after his sudden passing last year. Can you comment on this tune and Paco’s influence?
JM: The music of Flamenco has been influencing me since I was 14 years old. At that time I dreamed of becoming a Flamenco guitarist, before I had even heard jazz music. In the small town where I lived, it was impossible to find anyone who could teach me the traditions of Flamenco. I would have had to travel to Andalucia [an autonomous region of Spain] to find a teacher. And of course, I had no money. I am certainly not the first jazz musician to be affected by the Hispanic traditions.
By 1958 I was deeply under the influence of Miles Davis, and heard a recording called Miles Ahead in which he plays a piece called Blues for Pablo. This piece is a masterpiece of the fusion of jazz and Flamenco music. By 1978 I was preparing the Guitar Trio Tour that consisted of Paco, Larry Coryell and me. From that point on, Paco and I were very close friends and collaborators.
In 2013 we were planning to make a new recording with the two of us, and we’d already exchanged music. The tune El Hombre of which you speak was Paco’s favorite piece. After his death I wanted to make a homage to him, and re-arranged the piece for the 4th Dimension. I’m very happy with this version and I’m certain Paco would enjoy it also. His impact on me as a human being and as a musician cannot be underestimated.
TT:A few years ago you reunited on stage with your old friend Carlos Santana at Montreux. Santana is perhaps the only artist in popular music that you’ve collaborated with for a studio album. Are there any other popular artists you have worked with or would like to have worked with? Any jazz players?
JM: In the 70’s I wrote a tune for James Taylor, and we recorded it later. He’s still one of my all time favorite singers. Sting recorded a tune with me for the Jimi Hendrix Symphonic album, and I have subsequently worked with him on a few occasions. There are some great pop musicians around, and I am still a great admirer of Michael Jackson, and would have been thrilled to have played with him. As far as jazz musicians, I’ve been fortunate to record with the greatest, the latest being a track with pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, who is the most outstanding musicians of the younger generation, and Cindy Blackman who is one of today’s great Jazz drummers.
TT: I know that you are a fan of The Way of Zen by Alan Watts, one of my favorite writers. Can you tell me what inspires you today?
JM: Alan Watts continues to inspire me. There are quite a few: the poetry of Chan is marvelously inspiring, the writings of the Upanishads also, but also Father Thomas Merton and Chuang Tzu. Music wears the crown though, and I listen to my heroes from the west and the east: Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderly, Jimi Hendrix, Radu Lupu playing Mozart, Glenn Gould playing Bach, and of course PanditJi, Vilayapatti Subramanyam, KV Narayanswami and many others.
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