The Rolling Stone Interview: John McLaughlin

The Sri Chinmoy association also brought you close to Carlos Santana. How did you relate to him musically?

Carlos and I were friends before he came to Sri Chinmoy. It was around the time when we recorded Love Devotion Surrender that he came to Sri Chinmoy. We continued to jam together whenever he was in New York, and whenever I was in northern Cali­fornia until I moved back to Europe in the early 1980s. Our friendship has continued over the years. About three years ago, we re­corded a live concert to celebrate 40 years of friendship. It came out as a DVD. I jammed with him very recently in Monaco.

 

Mahavishnu Orchestra was one of the primary bands in jazz-rock fusion in the 1970s. How did you try to sound distinct in that era when other groups like Weather Report and Return to Forever were also ex­ploring new frontiers in the jazz-rock mix?

I never made any attempt to sound ”˜dis­tinct’. M ahavishnu w as M ahavishnu a nd was unique. Plus, it was quite far from Weather Report. Chick Corea formed Re­turn to Forever after hearing Mahavishnu. He himself says that Return to Forever is the ”˜son of Mahavishnu.’

 

How did your love for Indian music start? I read somewhere you were a he fan of veena maestro S Balachander, and you decided to study Indian music after listen­ing to him. What really attracted you to that whole sound?

Actually, I first got blown away hearing Rajarathnam Pillai play the nadaswaram. Balachander came later. Balachander was exceptional. His playing and tone on the veena were unique. His influence on me began immediately. On discovering Indian music, I realized that jazz and Indian mu­sic share much common ground. They are master improvisers, and have developed rhythm in music to the highest degree. In spite of all my studies with the masters Dr S Ramanathan and Pandit Ravi Shankar, my desire was to be able to play with the great musicians of India, and not to become an “Indian” musician. I am a jazz musician.

 

Did you consciously begin hearing other Indian artists? Whom did you enjoy most?

The two I mention above, and the flautist TR Mahalingam. Of course, my teacher Pandit Ravi Shankar as well as sitarist Vilayat Khan. I became a great admirer of percussionists such as Valaya­patti Subramaniam, Karaikudi Mani and Palghat Raghu.

 

How did Shakti happen? Where did you meet Shankar and Zakir? Was it an instant decision to start a group or was it something that came over a period of time?

I met Zakir in 1969 and we became friends then. We played together at the home of Ali Akbar Khan-saab in 1972, and that was a revelation for me. Zakir is a musician of extraordinary ability. I met L Shankar while I was a student of Dr Ram­anathan, and we began jamming together. In 1973, I was convinced we could make a group so I invited both of them to join me with the mridangam player of my teacher, and Shakti was born. By 1975, it was clear to me that this group should become my main group.

 

How did you develop the practice of sit­ting cross-legged while playing and was that tough initially, getting the right posi­tion for the guitar?

The position of playing with Shakti, is the same position for meditation. So it nev­er presented itself as a problem.

You even created a special guitar with drone strings. How did you think of the idea and who made it for you?

They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and it’s true. In the beginning, with Shakti, I was able to accompany L Shankar, but he was unable to accompany me on the violin. My experience studying veena gave me the idea of installing ac­companying strings on the guitar, and that there should be a minimum of seven such strings. It was built by Abraham Wechter of Gibson guitars.

 

The group was really successful but sud­denly disbanded. What happened?

After three years, ghatam player T H Vinayakram had to return to India to take over the school founded by his father. By this time, Shankar decided he wanted to move into the pop world. So that was that.

 

Your next big project was the Guitar Trio, with Paco De Lucia and Larry Cory­ell, who was eventually replaced by Al Di Meola. Sadly, Paco passed away recently. What are your memories of him?

Paco was a real man. Real in the sense of true ”“ to himself, to his music and to every­one else. A man in that he was passionate, but had true compassion and deep under­standing of the human condition. All this was revealed in his music and in his mar­velous guitar playing. To have worked and played music with him is one the greatest blessings in my life. To say I will miss him is an understatement. In the place where he lived in my heart, there is now an empti­ness that will stay with me till I join him.