Inventions and Dimensions The Music of John McLaughlin
Kevin Le Gendre
Musicians have always traveled. Yet we should not nderestimate the challenge of relocation to another country, u with its specific culture and lifestyle, especially in preinternet times. Guitarist John McLaughlin was one of the few B ritons to become part of the highly competitive New York jazz scene in the late ’60s, where he joined The Tony Williams Lifetime, a trio led by drummer Williams and featuring organist Larry Young. He appeared on its debut Emergency! and also on In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew by trumpeter Miles Davis. These albums helped to usher in what several critics and pundits labeled jazz-rock or fusion. Many musicians were ambivalent about the terminology, but there was nonetheless a sense that these artists were taking bold steps away from previous models and daring to pursue “new directions in music,” as Davis said. McLaughlin’s contribution to this chapter in the history of contemporary music can hardly be overstated. He possessed the requisite combination of fire and finesse to be an entirely suitable partner for artists of the technical caliber and experimental inclinations of Williams and Davis. Looking back on this pivotal period many years later, McLaughlin himself recalled that Davis had instructed him “to play the guitar like you don’t know how to play the guitar”—which was by no means a perverse puzzle set by one of the greatest musical innovators of the 20th century. Essentially, Davis was telling McLaughlin to avoid clichés and hackneyed phrases. Many musicians may have shrunk in front of a creative bar set so uncompromisingly high, but the guitarist, who was 27 at the time, valiantly rose to the occasion. There were many players with the credentials to be called for that gig—Davis had previously worked with the excellent George Benson on Miles in the Sky—but McLaughlin was chosen for his ability to play as Davis had asked, primarily because he knew how to skillfully draw on disparate sources. 11
