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John McLaughlin: John McLaughlin and Jimmy Herring - Live in San Francisco
If you're a concert-goer of a certain age (and ilk), 2017 and early 2018 have proven fairly remarkable. Whether “last waltzes," overdue reunions or just plain old-school tenacity, many titans and heroes of the jazz-rock/prog era--such as Brand X, King Crimson, Soft Machine and The Dixie Dregs--have been making the rounds in some major markets and stomping the terra. But foremost among them all may have been the John McLaughlin / Jimmy Herring Meeting of the Spirits tour.
read moreJohn McLaughlin on the Mystery of Creativity, Inspiration, & Music
Improvised music within a sophisticated framework is one if the primary hallmarks of jazz. World class improvisation requires split second reactions, mental agility, dexterity, and the emotive soul of an artist. As a testament to his age defying vitality, on January 29, 2018 at the age of 76, John McLaughlin won a Grammy® Award for the Best Improvised Jazz Solo at the 60th Annual Grammy® Awards. This was his pitch perfect acceptance: “Winning a Grammy is a wonderful ...
read more10 Most Read Articles: 2017
All About Jazz tracks how often an article is read, and the articles listed below represent our top ten published in 2017. Interview John McLaughlin's American Farewell Tour with Jimmy Herring by Alan Bryson Published: September 5, 2017 Building a Jazz Library Forget Old Europe: 15 European Jazz Musicians You Need To Know About by Enrico Bettinello Published: August 16, 2017 DVD/Film Reviews Bill ...
read moreMeeting of the Spirits: John McLaughlin & Jimmy Herring at the Michigan Theater
Jimmy Herring and The Invisible Whip + John McLaughlin and The 4th Dimension Meeting of the Spirits Tour Michigan Theater Ann Arbor, Michigan November 15, 2017 When it comes to virtuosi, guitarist John McLaughlin ranks high in the jazz fusion world. Having the early fortune to connect with legendary drummer Tony Williams upon arriving in New York from his native England, McLaughlin's spirited approach found favor among both rock and jazz devotees. As the ...
read moreJohn McLaughlin & Jimmy Herring Meeting of the Spirits at Lincoln Theatre
Jimmy Herring and The Invisible WhipJohn McLaughlin and The 4th Dimension Lincoln Theatre Meeting of the Spirits Tour Washington, DC November 11, 2017 In the late 1960s, the bluesy electric soul music of Jimi Hendrix and the funk of Sly and the Family Stone began to influence Miles Davis, whose subsequent seminal Bitches Brew album (subtitled New Directions In Music) began a genre known as jazz fusion. The guitar virtuoso who helped bring ...
read moreJohn McLaughlin: Where Fortune Smiles
Where Fortune Smiles although customarily attributed to John McLaughlin is as much John Surman's record as it was the Mahavishnu's. But it's probably more accurate to describe it as a collective recording since all five musicians were equally matched players of international standing. The cover art actually depicts all five musicians' names and the title of the album in an egalitarian circular arrangement. The album was recorded at Apostolic Studios, New York in late May 1970, at a time when ...
read moreJohn McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension: Live at Ronnie Scott's
Music has taken him and his guitar to some of the most exotic far reaches of the world, but Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club will always have a special place in John McLaughlin's heart. His mid-1960s time in the famous jny: London venue's house band was a key early step in his musical life, and he idly wonders “where would I be without them?" five decades later. No doubt he would still be a legend today; such boundless curiosity and imagination ...
read moreJohn McLaughlin's American Farewell Tour with Jimmy Herring
Nearly five decades have passed since John McLaughlin set foot in America as a relatively unknown musician to join the fusion band Lifetime, with the great drummer Tony Williams and equally great organist Larry Young. Two days later he was in the studio with Miles Davis recording In a Silent Way. The breadth and scope of his musical endeavors in the ensuing decades boggle the mind. It's doubtful we will ever fully know the impact he has had on music ...
read moreJohn McLaughlin & Paco de Lucia: Paco and John - Live at Montreux 1987
It's truly a shame that, all too often, artists with diverse careers become pigeon-holed, defined by the primary genre in which they first achieved notoriety. Take guitarist John McLaughlin, for instance. Ask most jazz fans about him and what will first come out of most of their mouths will include either the words “fusion," “jazz-rock" and/or Miles Davis, in any permutation/combination (not that there's anything wrong with that). Those a little further in the know might also be aware of ...
read moreJohn McLaughlin
With a musical career that spans five decades and as many continents, John McLaughlin has established himself as one of the premier guitarists on the world stage. At the age of 73 his youthful vigor is nothing short of astounding. If he's not touring with one of his two working bands, chances are he's either preparing for his next tour, or he's in the recording studio, or he's embarking on a new project that has captured his imagination. He continues ...
read moreJohn McLaughlin
Few tasks are more daunting than picking just ten of a great jazz artist's albums for a library collection. Each record adds in its own way to the appreciation of any artist. But in the case of guitarist John McLaughlin (b. 1942), choosing representative albums is made an even more difficult chore because so many of his records run at odd angles to each other. He seems to change styles so often that just keeping track can be a daunting ...
read moreModern Jazz Guitar
Six strings, ten fingers, improvisation, and a sense of adventure: these are the tools required to play modern jazz guitar. While guitar greats like Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall laid the foundation for bop guitar, a whole new crop of musicians came of age starting in the late '60s. Modern jazz guitar, for lack of a better term, describes the new players who took the traditional forms and twisted them asunder. The new generation has absorbed swing, bop, ...
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Jazz Story
By Connie Lansberg
Member since: 2010
As a songwriter and vocalist, I love jazz for the experience of being in the center of intense creativity. It is the most potent form of music for keeping the artist and the audience in the 'now”
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