Free spirit, insatiable creator, virtuoso guitarist, John McLaughlin never turns in circles. Each service is an opportunity to question yourself and try a new experience. Alongside Miles Davis once, he invented an explosive electric jazz tone. With the Mahavishnu Orchestra or Shakti, he took on new stylistic challenges. Even today, he moves forward without getting too caught up in his memories. He prefers to imagine new concepts and surround himself with young talented musicians to whom he entrusts the care of magnifying his artistic brilliance.
Born in Doncaster in England on January 4, 1942, John McLaughlin discovered the American blues during his adolescence. This form of expression, rooted in the cultural DNA of black people across the Atlantic, aroused, in the mid-1950s, the attention of a young European audience eager for new sounds. Little John has his ears wide open and, without realizing it, develops a curious eclecticism that will distinguish him, years later, from his jazz counterparts. At the dawn of the 1970s, John McLaughlin approached his thirties and became one of the ” Miles Boys As he likes to repeat. In other words, he enters the restricted circle of musicians dubbed by Miles Davis whose role is, obviously, to illuminate the repertoire of the famous trumpeter. At that time, Miles Davis wanted to electrify his jazz, make it more modern, inventive, unpredictable. He feels that the public is looking for other sensations, wilder, more psychedelic. John McLaughlin evolves in this universe where freedom of expression is not an empty word. It is a reality that redefines the musical landscape of the time. The audacity of Miles Davis suits him perfectly and encourages him to attempt ever more perilous stylistic adventures.
With the group Mahavishnu Orchestra, John McLaughlin goes even further and becomes the icon of a popular jazz-rock but soul and funk are still there, behind the scenes, and will not give in to fashion and musical trends. ephemeral. Whether you listen to John McLaughlin in the 1970s or today, one thing is clear. The guideline has not changed and the desire to renew itself is a constant. This does not mean a rejection of the past but a skilful balance between reverence for the elders and an interest in the present. Either way, John McLaughlin has no intention of denying his elders or his influences from yesteryear. He even claims them. The album “to the one”, released in 2010, was, for example, inspired by the memory of John Coltrane. It is the fruit of a long musical journey which originated more than 50 years ago. It must be said that the lyrical flights of the late saxophonist are breathtaking as they seem to have escaped from another world, that of the spirituality of jazz that John McLaughlin welcomes with grace in his own virtuoso repertoire.
Today, John McLaughlin knows no limits, does not forbid any experience, refuses style barriers. He is a universalist attentive to others, to the colors and accents of the world. His very diverse projects have always brought together artists from faraway horizons and the composition of his different groups bears witness to this brilliantly. His latest album, “Liberation Time”, calls on the talents of Indian, European and African musicians, including a certain Etienne Mbappé, a high-profile Cameroonian bassist. It is the mixtures, the fusions that create the musical richness and the enthusiasm of the meeting. Throughout his prestigious career, John McLaughlin has multiplied the dialogues with soloists of great value.
Of course, evoking his destiny sends us irresistibly back in time. However, the famous British guitarist does not want to be locked in an unproductive nostalgia. Moving forward and, in his eyes, the promise of a rich and thrilling life. The core common to all his finely chiseled rantings remains the rhythm, the almost funk groove of African-American culture. When you dig into your personal nightclub, it is not uncommon to hear the echo of big names in ancestral Soul-Music, from James Brown to Sly & The Family Stone. John McLaughlin excels in many sound contexts. Acoustic or electric, he has the gift of taking you into his creative bubble and arousing emotions, making us shiver during his concerts. These are magical moments during which the artist himself seems to float above his own interpretations.
John McLaughlin is 80 years old, but his spirit resists the erosion of time. Her mischievous smile defies the years and has inspired us for a good half-century… Happy Birthday Sir!