Life and Achievements of John McLaughlin - Essay Example

John McLaughlin Short Biography Born on the 4th of January 1942 in Yorkshire, England; John McLaughlin is an English jazz guitarist and a well-known composer (McLaughlin a). As a famous musician, McLaughlin belongs to a family that is very much inclined in music. In line with this, his mother had the passion in playing the violin (Christian Pegand). Being the third son of four children, all of his other siblings managed to play at least one musical instrument (Stump, p. 11). Ever since McLaughlin was born, he was very much exposed on listening to classical music. At a very young age of 8 years old, McLaughlin became inspired of learning to play musical instruments when one of his brothers listened to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony from a radio station (Stump, p. 12). A year later, McLaughlin had the privilege to learn how to play the violin and piano (Christian Pegand). After three years of playing the violin and piano, he started to dream of becoming a good guitarist. His dream of playing the guitar started on the day when his brothers started to play blues of Bill Broonzy (Christian Pegand; Stump, p. 12). This made McLaughlin became more exposed to the music of Leadbelly, Muddy Waters, and Sonny Terry among others (Stump, p. 12). The life of McLaughlin is surrounded by jazz and classical music. At an early age, he became aware of the music industry (Stump, p. 12). Inspired with religious and cultural music in India and other Western classical music, McLaughlin became a famous jazz and classical guitarist that plays a wide-range of music styles and genres (Cal Performances). Because of McLaughlin’s passion to make other people happy by listening to his music, he exerted a lot of effort in terms of improving his knowledge and skills in playing musical instruments (Stump, p. 10). Later on, he became proficient in playing the violin and guitar (Stump, p. 13). Historical Achievements 1950s During the late 50s, McLaughlin played some musical instruments together with Peter Deuchar – the banjoist and his professors of Ragtime (Christian Pegand; Stump, p. 13). Before McLaughlin reached the age of 15 years old, he was very actively leading a band in school (Stump, p. 13). All this happened before he decided to go to London where he pursued his dream of being able to play in a rock and blues band. His decision to leave the school band was very much influenced by Miles Davis’ album “Milestones” which was released in the market back in 1957 (Stump, p. 13). 1960s McLaughin’s exposure on blues music started when he reached London during the early part of 1960s (Stump, p. 15). Since then, McLaughlin took every chance he gets to have a jamming or recording sessions with the musical people in London including Pete Brown and Tony Meehan among others (Stump, p. 17). When Herbie Goins – a vocalist offered employment and jamming atmosphere to young and talented musicians in 1965, Goins was able to meet McLaughlin. After recognizing the musical potential of McLaughlin, Goins invited McLaughlin to join his band called the Night-Timers where he got the chance to play with other musicians like Harry Beckett on the trumpet and flugelhorn and Mike Eve who played the tenor sax (Stump, p. 18). In 1968, McLaughlin formed his first Quartet together with Dave Holland who played the Bass, Tony Oxley with the drums, and John Surman with the baritone sax (McLaughlin a). Since then, McLaughlin and his group members have played gigs in different places. In line with this, one of the most famous sideman gigs of McLaughlin during the late 60s was Miles Davis who was one of the most competitive American jazz trumpeter since the late 1960s (McFarland). 1970s McLaughlin became widely known as the fusion because of his ability to integrate different genres into a music using his guitar. When McLaughlin met Miles Davis in Boston some time in 1970, McLaughlin was told to start forming his own band (McLaughlin 2009b). Taking Davis’ advice, McLaughlin managed to form an electric band called the “Mahavishnu Orchestra” where he played guitar in a more complex style of music that combines the concept of eclectic jazz with eastern and Indian rock and classical music. In some instances, he managed to include Flamenco music in some of his recording album (Rollingstone.com). Unfortunately, the band was dissolved because Jan Hammer and Jerry Goodman were not contented with the agreements with the band members (McLaughlin 2009b). On top of establishing the band, McLaughlin was able to release two records under Douglas Records including the “Devotion” in 1970 and “My Goal’s Beyond” in 1971. Since then, McLaughlin continuously experience success within the music industry. 1980s – 2000s In 1980, McLaughlin was invited by Paco De Lucia to form a guitar Trio together with Al di Meola (McLaughlin c). As part of forming the Trio acoustic guitar, the group conducted a world tour between the years 1980 – 1982. Since then, McLaughlin became active in playing some music tours between 1987 up to present (McLaughlin 2009d). In 1996, McLaughlin formed a group with Gary Thomas, Matthew Barrison on bass, and Jim Beard on keyboard where the group recorded an album called “The Heart of Things” (McLaughlins 2009e). A year after, McLaughlin was invited to play on a UK tour with Zakir – a great Tabla player, “Vikku”, and Harki (McLaughlin 2009f). Since then, McLaughlin pursued some musical work with Zakir for some time. McLaughlin has the capabilities of being able to successfully combine different genres using his guitar. Because of his exceptional talent in music, McLaughlin was included as the 49th most talented guitar artists in the Rolling Stone magazine back in 2003 (Rollingstone.com). Up to the present, McLaughlin is still actively spreading his music around the world. In 2004, he played a couple of concert in La Reunion and the Shakti touring among others (McLaughlin 2009g). Between the years 2008 and 2009, McLaughlin has been performing with Chick Corea. Together, these two musical explorers are expected to create a new breaking ground for modern jazz, rock, funk, and classical music (McLaughlin 2009h). On top of the concerts and tours, McLaughlin also continued writing music which he recorded on CDs (McLaughlin 2009g). *** End *** Total Number of Words: 1,034 References "Cal Performances." 21 March 2009. Chick Corea & John McLaughlin. Zellerback Hall. . 1 December 2009 . "Christian Pegand." 2009. John McLaughlin Biography. 1 December 2009 . McFarland, Scott. "Perfect Sound Forever." August 1997. Miles Davis : The "Electric" Years. 1 December 2009 . McLaughlin, John. "John McLaughlin." 2009a. 1968 - 1970. 1 December 2009 . —. "John McLaughlin." 2009b. 1971 - 1986. 1 December 2009 . —. "John McLauglin." 2009h. 2008 - 2009. 1 December 2009 . —. "John McLaughlins." 2009c. 1979 - 1982. 1 December 2009 . —. "John McLaughlins." 2009d. 1989 - 1993. 1 December 2009 . —. "John McLaughlins." 2009e. 1996. 1 December 2009 . —. "John McLaughlins." 2009f. 2000 - 2006. 1 December 2009 . —. "John McLaughlins." 2009g. 2006 - 2008. 1 December 2009 . "Rollingstone.com." 18 September 2003. The 100 Greatest Guitarist of All Time. 1 December 2009 . Stump, Paul. Go ahead John: the music of John McLaughlin. SAF Publishing Ltd., 2000. Read More