JOHN MCLAUGHLIN MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA LIVING LEGEND/PIONEER OF JAZZ/ROCK GUITAR FUSION-SPECIAL GUEST ON INTERVIEWING THE LEGENDS W/RAY SHASHO-BBS RADIO

J  O  H  N

M  c  L  A  U  G  H  L  I  N

LEGENDARY GUITARIST-COMPOSER-BANDLEADER

PIONEER OF JAZZ FUSION

'M A H A V I S H N U   O R C H E S T R A'

S H A K T I

MILES DAVIS

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

JOHN McLAUGHLIN INTERVIEW

CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN

John McLaughlin began his career playing blues and rock in London in the early 1960s and went on to play free jazz with important British figures before moving to the United States in 1969. There he contributed rock- and blues-derived guitar passages to Miles Davis’s early fusion albums In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew (both 1969) and played in Tony Williams’s seminal jazz-rock trio Lifetime. In 1970 he became a disciple of spiritual guru Sri Chinmoy; he acquired the name Mahavishnu and formed the Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1971.

The Orchestra was initially a quintet noted for radically high volume levels, complex textures, and fast modal playing, especially by McLaughlin, in long passages of 16th-note scales and arpeggios, on a guitar with two parallel necks, one with 6 strings, the other with 12. They played concerts in rock, rather than jazz, venues and were among the handful of stars of jazz-rock fusion music; they recorded popular albums such as The Inner Mounting Flame (1971) and Visions of the Emerald Beyond (1975). The involvement of electric violinist Jean-Luc Ponty in 1974–75 enhanced the Orchestra’s popularity.

The Mahavishnu Orchestra

 

In the mid-1970s McLaughlin left Chinmoy, abandoned the name Mahavishnu, and began playing acoustic guitar in his trio Shakti, with Indian violinist L. Shankar and tabla player Zakir Hussain. His new guitar had two fretboards, one with raised strings crossing the other. McLaughlin’s improvising—with phrases from blues, rock (especially Jimi Hendrix), flamenco, jazz, and Indian music—fit readily into a variety of fusion music. He went on to play duets and trios with fellow guitar virtuosos Al DiMeola, Paco de Lucía, and Larry Coryell, to team with Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu, to play electric guitar in a revived Mahavishnu Orchestra in the mid-1980s, and to perform guitar concerti by Mike Gibbs (1985) and by himself (1990) with symphony orchestras.

McLaughlin recorded an acoustic homage to jazz pianist Bill Evans in 1993, and he returned to the electric guitar for After the Rain (1994) and The Promise (1995).

His inventiveness remained undiminished in the 21st century. He revived Shakti for the live album Saturday Night in Bombay (2001). Other notable later works included Industrial Zen (2006); Floating Point (2008); Five Peace Band Live (2009), which won a Grammy Award for best jazz instrumental album; Now Here This (2012); and Black Light (2015). His recording of “Miles Beyond,” from the 2017 album Live at Ronnie Scott’s, took the Grammy for best improvised jazz solo. In 2017 McLaughlin made what he said was his final tour, performing music from the various incarnations of the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Purchase the latest releases

 by 

John 
McLaughlin

IS THAT SO?

Six years in the making, the album brings together the three visionary musicians in a musical landscape, never explored before. Six years in the making, Is that So? is one of John McLaughlin’s deepest and most profound musical collaborations with prolific Indian composer and vocalist Shankar Mahadevan. Joining the duo is their life-long friend and musical brother Ustad Zakir Hussain on the tabla, who has been collaborating with John since they founded Shakti in the early ‘70s, acknowledged by most to be the first groundbreaking crossover East-West musical group.

Also Purchase

John 
McLaughlin

LIVE IN
 SAN FRANCISCO

John McLaughlin 

& The 4th Dimension

 Jimmy Herring

 & The Invisible Whip

Live in San Francisco is the live album from John McLaughlin and Jimmy Herring with The 4th Dimension and The Invisible Whip which was captured
at The Warfield on December 8, 2017, as a part of the Farewell American Tour of John McLaughlin/ The recording features the third set which features the classic Mahavishnu Orchestra music written by John McLaughlin.

Both releases available at amazon.com

For more information about

John McLaughlin

visit

www.johnmclaughlin.com  Official website

www.facebook.com/johnmclaughlinofficial/   Facebook

https://twitter.com/jmcl_gtr   Twitter

MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA

Discography

Studio albums

The Inner Mounting Flame    

Released: August 14, 1971

Label: C.B.S., Columbia

Birds of Fire        

Released: March 29, 1973

Label: C.B.S., Columbia

Apocalypse

with London Symphony Orchestra   

Released: March, 1974

Label: C.B.S., Columbia

Visions of the Emerald Beyond

Released: February,1975

Label: C.B.S., Columbia

Inner Worlds       

Released: January, 1976

Label: C.B.S., Columbia

Mahavishnu        

Released: 1984

Label: WEA Musik, Warner Bros.

Adventures in Radioland        

Released: 1987

Label: Relativity, PolyGram

The Lost Trident Sessions       

Released: September 21, 1999

Label: Sony

MY NEW BOOK IS FINALLY OUT!

ENTITLED

THE 

ROCK STAR 
CHRONICLES

SERIES ONE

CHRONICLES, TRUTHS, CONFESSIONS AND WISDOM FROM THE MUSIC LEGENDS 

THAT SET US FREE

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Featuring over 45 intimate conversations with some of the greatest rock legends the world will ever know.

CHRIS SQUIRE... DR. JOHN... GREG LAKE... HENRY MCCULLOUGH... JACK BRUCE … JOE LALA…  JOHNNY WINTER... KEITH EMERSON... PAUL KANTNER...  RAY THOMAS... RONNIE MONTROSE... TONY JOE WHITE... DAVID CLAYTON-THOMAS… MIKE LOVE... TOMMY ROE... BARRY HAY... CHRIS THOMPSON... JESSE COLIN YOUNG... JOHN KAY... JULIAN LENNON... MARK LINDSAY... MICKY DOLENZ… PETER RIVERA ...TOMMY JAMES… TODD RUNDGREN... DAVE MASON... EDGAR WINTER... FRANK MARINO... GREGG ROLIE... IAN ANDERSON... JIM “DANDY” MANGRUM... JON ANDERSON... LOU GRAMM... MICK BOX... RANDY BACHMAN… ROBIN TROWER...  ROGER FISHER... STEVE HACKETT... ANNIE HASLAM… ‘MELANIE’ SAFKA... PETULA CLARK... SUZI QUATRO... COLIN BLUNSTONE… DAVE DAVIES... JIM McCARTY... 

PETE BEST

THE ROCK STAR CHRONICLES

BOOK TRAILER

BOOK REVIEW

-By Literary Titan (5) STARS

The Rock Star Chronicles, by Ray Shasho, is a splendid book written by a music enthusiast who has poured their heart and soul into it. It’s a story of a boy who loved rock music, and his obsessive passion of it earned himself the name Rock Raymond. He went to school but instead was schooled in all matters of music while his peers were buried chin-deep in coursework. He then became a radio DJ and has now compiled a book on all interviews he held with Rock gods who raided the airwaves back in the 70s and 80s. It’s a compilation of interviews with outstanding vocalists, legendary guitarists and crazy drummers in the rock music scene. Each interview gives a reader an in-depth view into their personal lives and the philosophies that guide their lives which all serve to humanize these great icons. For readers who are old enough to call themselves baby boomers this book will bring old memories back to life. Millennials, on the other hand, may think of this book as a literal work of the Carpool Karaoke show.

The Rock Star Chronicles is a book I didn’t know I was waiting for. To come across a book that will talk me into trying something new. One brave enough to incite me to venture into new frontiers. This book made me a believer- I am now a bona fide Rock and Roll music fan.

Ray Shasho masterfully gets the interviewees talking. He smartly coaxes answers from them with crafty questions designed to get a story rolling out of them. The artists talk about diverse issues ranging from music, politics, and their social engagements. Having been on the music seen all his life, Ray Shasho knows the buttons to press, how to get them comfortable about talking about their lives.

The book’s cover is befitting of its subject matter with the leather look offering a royal background to the golden letter print. It speaks to how high a level rock music holds in the pecking order- arguably, modern music as we know it has originated from blues and rock music.  The second noteworthy thing is the use of high definition pictures to reference the musician being interviewed in every sub-chapter. This ensures that the book is for both original rock and roll lovers and aspiring new ones. Together is makes for a refreshing and consistently enjoyable read.

I recommend this book to rock music enthusiasts, aspiring musicians wondering what it takes and all readers curious to learn new things by going back in time.

https://literarytitan.com/2020/05/03/literary-titan-book-awards-may-2020/   Gold Award Winner