John McLaughlin (musician)

For other people named John McLaughlin, see John McLaughlin (disambiguation).

John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin performing on Chick Corea's 75th birthday at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City on 10 December 2016
John McLaughlin performing on Chick Corea's 75th birthday at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City on 10 December 2016
Background information
Born (1942-01-04) 4 January 1942 (age 82)
Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • songwriter
InstrumentsGuitar
Years active1963–present
Labels
Websitewww.johnmclaughlin.com

John McLaughlin (born 4 January 1942),[1] also known as Mahavishnu, is an English guitarist, bandleader, and composer. A pioneer of jazz fusion, his music combines elements of jazz with rock, world music, Western classical music, flamenco, and blues. After contributing to several key British groups of the early 1960s, McLaughlin made Extrapolation, his first album as a bandleader, in 1969. He then moved to the U.S., where he played with drummer Tony Williams's group Lifetime and then with Miles Davis on his electric jazz fusion albums In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, Live-Evil, and On the Corner. His 1970s electric band, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, performed a technically virtuosic and complex style of music that fused electric jazz and rock with Indian influences.

McLaughlin's solo on "Miles Beyond" from his album Live at Ronnie Scott's won the 2018 Grammy Award for the Best Improvised Jazz Solo.[2] He has been awarded multiple "Guitarist of the Year" and "Best Jazz Guitarist" awards from magazines such as DownBeat and Guitar Player based on reader polls. In 2003, he was ranked 49th in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".[3] In 2009, DownBeat included McLaughlin in its unranked list of "75 Great Guitarists", in the "Modern Jazz Maestros" category.[4] In 2012, Guitar World magazine ranked him 63rd on its top 100 list.[5] In 2010, Jeff Beck called McLaughlin "the best guitarist alive",[6] and Pat Metheny has also described him as the world's greatest guitarist.[7] In 2017, McLaughlin was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music.[8]

  1. ^ Larkin 1992, p. 1557/8.
  2. ^ "2018 GRAMMY Awards: Complete Winners List". Grammy.com. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  4. ^ "75 Great Guitarists" (PDF). Down Beat. February 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Top 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Guitar World. Archived from the original on 22 May 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  6. ^ Uncut magazine, March 2010. Interview with Jeff Beck.
  7. ^ Smyers, Darryl (29 November 2010). "Q&A: John McLaughlin Talks Miles Davis, Indian Philosophy and Frank Zappa's Jealousy". Dallasobserver.com. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  8. ^ Micucci, Matt (6 August 2017). "John McLaughlin awarded Berklee honorary degree". JAZZIZ Magazine. Retrieved 3 April 2020.