John McLaughlin And The 4th Dimension
Opera House
The guitar grandmaster breaks stylistic and playing boundaries.
John McLaughlin is considered one of the most important and well-known jazz guitarists since the early 1970s. Born in England in 1942 and raised in a family of musicians, he took piano and guitar lessons as a child. He began performing in the late '50s and played with Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Eric Clapton, David Bowie and Mick Jagger, among others. Together with saxophonist John Surman and bassist Dave Holland, McLaughlin's initial blues phase was followed by a free jazz phase. He recorded his first LP, "Extrapolation," with Surman in London in 1969 before following Dave Holland's lead and moving to the United States, where he joined Miles Davis drummer Tony Williams and recorded several records with him. This was followed by recordings with Wayne Shorter, Jimi Hendrix and Miroslav Vitous, until McLaughlin met Dave Holland again, but above all Miles Davis: on his trend-setting albums "In A Silent Way", "Bitches Brew", "Jack Johnson" and "Live Evil" he worked, later Davis rapturously called him "the Killer".
His international reputation as an exceptional guitarist was cemented at the latest with the founding of the Mahavishnu Orchestra (after an excursion into the world of Hinduism, combined with studies with Guru Sri Chinmoy, he called himself Mahavishnu), of which he was the leader. His music was celebrated on worldwide tours and festivals and had a decisive influence on the fusion sound. The highlight of this period was the album "Love, Devotion, Surrender", on which McLaughlin played a two-necked guitar. The big commercial breakthrough followed in 1981: "Friday Night In San Francisco" sold over two million copies and is considered the most important flamenco guitar album. The other albums in collaboration with Paco de Lucia and Al di Meola were also a great success.
To this day, the 70+ year old legend has hardly taken any time off and has perfected his skills over the years. His latest project is John McLaughlin & the 4th Dimension, which he co-founded with musicians Gary Husband, Ranjit Barot and Etienne M'Bappe. This collaboration has resulted in studio releases "To The One" (2010), "Now Here This" (2012) and "Black Light" (2015), as well as live releases such as "Live@Belgrade" (DVD, 2009) and "The Boston Record" (2014). Husband, an amazing multi-instrumentalist, Indian film composer and exceptional drummer Barot and M'Bappe, considered one of the best bass players, are not inferior to "Killer" in terms of musicality and perfection. The band is the result of McLaughlin's years of collaboration with various musicians from different cultures and musical traditions. The music of this group uniquely integrates all of these cultural influences from classical Indian music, flamenco and blues, while retaining the spontaneity of jazz and the earthy sound of rock music - melding it all into a fascinating and very personal fusion sound. Creative, energetic, with their usual grandiose rhythm and melody, the four musicians always hit the right note, and thanks to their great virtuosity and unique improvisations, no two concerts are alike.
His international reputation as an exceptional guitarist was cemented at the latest with the founding of the Mahavishnu Orchestra (after an excursion into the world of Hinduism, combined with studies with Guru Sri Chinmoy, he called himself Mahavishnu), of which he was the leader. His music was celebrated on worldwide tours and festivals and had a decisive influence on the fusion sound. The highlight of this period was the album "Love, Devotion, Surrender", on which McLaughlin played a two-necked guitar. The big commercial breakthrough followed in 1981: "Friday Night In San Francisco" sold over two million copies and is considered the most important flamenco guitar album. The other albums in collaboration with Paco de Lucia and Al di Meola were also a great success.
To this day, the 70+ year old legend has hardly taken any time off and has perfected his skills over the years. His latest project is John McLaughlin & the 4th Dimension, which he co-founded with musicians Gary Husband, Ranjit Barot and Etienne M'Bappe. This collaboration has resulted in studio releases "To The One" (2010), "Now Here This" (2012) and "Black Light" (2015), as well as live releases such as "Live@Belgrade" (DVD, 2009) and "The Boston Record" (2014). Husband, an amazing multi-instrumentalist, Indian film composer and exceptional drummer Barot and M'Bappe, considered one of the best bass players, are not inferior to "Killer" in terms of musicality and perfection. The band is the result of McLaughlin's years of collaboration with various musicians from different cultures and musical traditions. The music of this group uniquely integrates all of these cultural influences from classical Indian music, flamenco and blues, while retaining the spontaneity of jazz and the earthy sound of rock music - melding it all into a fascinating and very personal fusion sound. Creative, energetic, with their usual grandiose rhythm and melody, the four musicians always hit the right note, and thanks to their great virtuosity and unique improvisations, no two concerts are alike.
John McLaughlin (g), Gary Husband (keys), Etienne M'Bappe (b), Ranjit Barot (dr, perc)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO0T1B1QST8