ONE OF THE WONDERFUL THINGS ABOUT JAZZ IS THAT WE ARE ABLE TO SEE ARTISTS PERFORMS THAT ACTUALLY CREATED A CERTAIN GENRE OF MUSIC. WITH BACH OR BEETHOVEN, WE ONLY HAVE SOMEONE ELSE’S INTERPRETATION OF WHAT THEY ACTUALLY SOUNDED LIKE. GUITARIST AND COMPOSER JOHN MCLAUGHLIN WAS A FOUNDER OF ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BANDS IN ALL OF MUSIC, THE MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA. HIS GUITAR PLAYING BACK ON HIS EARLY DAYS SET THE STANDARD FOR ELECTRIFYING AND ELECTRIC SIX STRING WORK, MAKING ALL OTHER GUITARISTS SOUND ANTIQUATED IN COMPARISON.
THESE ARE INTERESTING DAYS FOR THE GUITAR GURU. A REISSUE OF THE CLASSIC “BIRDS OF FIRE” HAS BEEN REMASTERED, AND STILL SOUNDS WORLD SHATTERING. YET THE PAST HAS NO HOLD ON MCLAUGHLIN, AS HIS NEWEST BAND (THE FOURTH DIMENSION) HAS A NEW ALBUM OUT ENTITLED “BLACK LIGHT” AND IT IS JUST AS EXCITING AND MAGISTERIAL AS ANYTHING MCLAUGHLIN HAS EVER RELEASED.
WE RECENTLY CAUGHT UP WITH JOHN MCLAUGHLIN THROUGH THE WONDERS OF EMAIL, AND HE LET US GET INTO HIS THOUGHT PROCESS WITH A HANDFUL OF QUESTIONS.
YOU SEEM TO HAVE COME FULL CIRCLE, STARTING WITH A BAND (MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA) AND NOW BACK TO ONE WITH FOURTH DIMENSION. HOW DO YOU COMPARE BEING “AMONG EQUALS” WITH THE FIRST BAND AND THE “WISE MASTER” IN THE RECENT ONE?
You may be exaggerating with the “wise master” joke :-)) in any event you’re right about full circle, although I would see it more as a spiral since a lot of water has gone under the bridge since Mahavishnu. In reality I’ve always been among my equals, or ‘superiors’ rather than ‘inferiors’.
In Mahavishnu, we were all aged mid to late 20’s, but Mahavishnu was my personal dream. In November 1970, speaking with Miles after a gig near Boston, he recommended me to form my own band, and Mahavishnu was the result. In 1973 I had the dream to create Shakti and if anything, the guys in that band were way ahead of me, so who’s equal? It’s been like that throughout my life. In 1978 I dreamt about the 3 guitars with Paco, Larry and me, which afterwards included Al. All of these formations are dreams that I’ve tried to bring to reality. The 4th Dimension is no exception. Throughout all of these formations, I’ve been incredibly lucky to have found marvelous musicians, and The 4D is witness to this fact.
YOUR CLASSIC “BIRDS OF FIRE” ALBUM RECENTLY GOT REISSUED WITH A NEW SOUND REMASTERING. DO YOU EVER GO BACK TO YOUR OLD RECORDINGS TO SEE WHERE YOU’VE COME FROM?
I didn’t know this reissue, but it makes me happy that CBS Sony feel it’s still attractive to the public, particularly when you consider the recording was made in 1972-73. As far as going back to my old recordings, it’s very rare because if I look into my deep memory, most everything is there, and the fact of the matter is that without all my old recordings, I wouldn’t be who I am today, and my music also. It’s also true that all the multi-cultural experiences I’ve had over the years and decades, are very much alive in me, and come into my music without my asking. ‘Black Light’ is a testimony to these experiences.
YOU ARE WELL KNOWN FOR YOUR “CHOPS,” BUT ON BOTH THAT ALBUM AND YOUR MOST RECENT ONE, YOU HAVE A NUMBER OF QUIETER REASONS, WHICH FOR SOME REASON NEVER GET THE PUBLICITY? WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?
We all know that people enjoy energy and excitement, I’m the same way because in music, the deep feelings and passing of a musician can be more ‘visible’ in the uptempo pieces. I grew up with the greats of Jazz, ‘Miles, Coltrane’ in Jazz, and ‘Balachander and Pandit Ravi Shankar in the East, not to mention the great Flamenco musicians, Sabicas and El Camaron, all of whom played and sang with great passion. This had a profound effect on me and it became the ‘norm’. So much so, that when I hear some of the ‘smooth jazz’ that’s around today, I laugh. It’s got nothing to do with what I would call Jazz. So, of course, the fast and energetic pieces generally get the limelight. That said, there have always been ‘ballads’ for want of another word, on my recordings, and ‘Black Light’ is no exception.
DO YOU EVER FEEL YOU HAVE “ARRIVE” MUSICALLY? WHAT ARE YOUR MUSICAL/LIFE GOALS PRESENTLY?
When you say “arrived” in this sense, there are many who would say I ‘arrived’ a long time ago, Mahavishnu for example. When we are young we have goals, to be the greatest, the fastest, the best, whatever, but these things get knocked out of you once you’re in the public eye. Since the early 1970’s my only goal is to be who I really am, and this is a tall order. To know who you are generally takes a lifetime of work to realize. To be who you are in music is a big demand, and frankly I’m still working at it! It is my conviction, that freedom comes from knowing who you are, coupled with the discipline necessary to master your instrument and the other fundamental elements of music: harmony, rhythm and melody. In this sense, I can only arrive everyday since everyday is different, and so am I.
ARE YOU SURPRISED HOW INFLUENTIAL YOUR GUITAR PLAYING, AND JAZZ FUSION IN GENERAL, STILL IS?
Yes, it is surprising. There’s no way of knowing how people will accept what one does in any of the arts. Personally, there’s only one criterion, and that is ‘do I love it? Along with this is the knowledge that the listening public can never be underestimated in the appreciation of music. I believe that when you try to please the public instead of yourself, you betray yourself and the public, and the public can sense this. It’s also true that when you change a particular form of music that the public enjoys, for another one, there is always the risk that you will ‘alienate’ some people, I’ve experienced this in the transition from Mahavishnu to Shakti, but in the long run we need to take risks in art just to stay true to ourselves.
YOU SEEM TO HAVE AN AFFINITY FOR POWER DRUMMERS. DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING ANYTHING SPECIAL WITH TONY WILLIAMS DURING THE BAND LIFETIME? WHAT WAS THE INITIAL FAN REACTION, AND YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT PERIOD?
Great drummers and their rhythms are the heartbeat of the world and I love them all. Tony Williams was THE revolutionary drummer of the latter part of the 20th century, and to have played and worked with him is one of the great blessings of my life. Frankly I don’t think I was doing anything special in Lifetime, it was a period of great transition for all of us including Tony. Lifetime was a Radical band, and we earned the derision of the Jazz community, and a very mixed reaction from the general public simply because we followed our musical instincts. Fortunately there were some who saw and heard what we were attempting and applauded us for taking those risks, but there weren’t any fans per se in those days.
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON THE “POPULARITY” OF JAZZ NOWADAYS? WHAT HAS BEEN THE CHANGE IN IT’S INFLUENCE AND WHAT CAN BE DONE?
In my opinion, Jazz will always be around because of the magical spontaneity that is the heart of Jazz music, And that is the all important aspect of improvisation. In improvisation we are completely and most honestly ourselves. You cannot hide in improvisation, and there is the risk again. The audience appreciates the immediacy of improvisation, and the magical ‘things’ that can happen individually and collectively. These are all elements that can never be controlled, just as inspiration can never be controlled, consequently there are both highs and lows in improvisation, but in the low parts, the only thing that gets bruised is the ego! As far as ‘popularity’ is concerned, I don’t care for the ‘jazz’ that is played in bistros and coffee bars, and is music to be talked over. This reduces the public perception of jazz to be a kind of Muzak, and it shouldn’t disturb anyone while they are busy chatting. Sometimes we need to be ‘disturbed’ by musicians or other artists, to knock us out of our indolence and laziness and give us an opportunity to see differently.
IT IS A RARE TIME TO BE ABLE TO SEE AN ORIGINAL ARTIST ABLE TO WORK HIS CRAFT. ELLINGTON, ARMSTRONG, TATUM, BIRD, DIZ, MILES AND COLTRANE ARE GONE. DON’T LET THE TIME SLIP BY; APPRECIATE A LIVING MASTER WHILE HE STILL WALKS ALONG DELPHI.