The Rolling Stone Interview: John McLaughlin

Overall, what was the Guitar Trio experience like?

The Guitar Trio was a great experience that actually began after I invited Paco and Larry Coryell to join me in forming an acoustic guitar trio. We made two very suc­cessful tours of Europe, after which Larry decided to move on and Paco suggested that Al replace him. The rest is history.

Besides Mahavishnu, Shakti/ Remember Shakti, the Guitar Trio and the 4th Dimen­sion, which are the other projects you have enjoyed doing?

I have two pieces for guitar and orches­tra that I have performed with different or­chestras around the world, and these were wonderful experiences.

 

That brings us to Remember Shakti. Be­fore the latter line-up, you worked with flau­tist Hariprasad Chaurasia. How was the experience of playing with him like?

Hari-ji is one of the greatest Indian musi­cians of our era. I met him in the 1970s and always cherished a desire to play with him. This first happened in the 1980s when I be­gan doing trio concerts with him and Zakir. Shortly afterwards, he appeared on one of my own recordings. We appeared together in a major TV show in France around the same time. At the time of the first Remem­ber Shakti tour in 1997, both Zakir and I had tried without success to get L Shankar to come with us, but he never replied to any our phone calls. It was then that we decided to invite Hari-ji for the tour and what a great pleasure it was. I have played subse­quently with him in India.

 

When Remember Shakti was formed, what was the basic idea you had in mind, to make it a different experience from Shakti?

You don’t have to do anything to make changes to music that you play. Every day, we are a little bit different, very slightly dif­ferent, but after even six months there can be a substantial difference. After a number of years the differences are already there. The joy and pleasure Zakir and I had with the first Remember Shakti tour convinced us that we should continue. Vikku was of course too busy with the school in Chennai, but we had the good fortune to get his son Selvaganesh who is simply an extraordi­nary musician. L. Shankar was unavailable so Zakir and I decided to I invite the great mandolinist U. Shrinivas. In 2000, I began looking for a vocalist, and Zakir suggested Shankar Mahadevan. I called him and he sent me an audition CD. One minute into the CD and I was on the phone to Shankar inviting him to the festival Zakir and I were putting together. After the tour, we invited him to be a permanent member of Shakti which he remains to this day.

 

How was playing with U Shrinivas in comparison to playing with Shankar, since their instruments were different?

You can’t compare people. You can com­pare relative techniques on their instru­ments, but Shrinivas is Shrinivas and a marvelous musician. I saw Shrinivas for the first time when he was 14 years old, and he blew my mind then.

 

Why hasn’t Remember Shakti recorded any albums for over a decade, or even cre­ated much new material?

We had planned to last April, but some­times it’s just too difficult to get all the members together. We will record a studio album this year. We are still working on what shape it will take.

 

In the show recorded live at Mumbai’s Rang Bhavan, the piece Shringar with san­toor maestro Shivkumar Sharma was based on raga Kirwani, and played in the tradi­tional raga style. Apparently it was a last minute decision and both musicians didn’t have much time to rehearse it. How did you adapt to it so quickly?

I’d known Shiv-ji for quite some time before playing together and knew his play­ing and music, so it was quite easy for me. When you find yourself with such a musi­cian as Shiv-ji, it’s easy!

 

Besides music and spiritualism, what other aspects of India have attracted you in terms of food, traveling destinations, yoga?

India, its culture, its philosophy and its music have been part of my life for over 50 years. Every time I go to India, I feel I am coming home. I don’t know why this is. Per­haps this is why I have such a close rapport with the musicians of India. Besides the ones mentioned above, I have collaborated with Trilok Gurtu and Louiz Banks. I love India’s music, history and culture. Who knows why we love a particular people or culture? The very first time I arrived in India, I almost kissed the ground I was so happy. Why should this be so? I really don’t have an answer.

 

Do you follow other aspects of Indian culture, like art or dance or even Hindi cinema?

Your writers. You have some marvellous writers, my favourites being Vikram Chan­dra, Vikram Seth and Arundhati Roy.

 

When you are not touring, where do you stay? What’s your daily schedule like, and means of recreation?

I live in Monaco on the south coast of France, and try to keep healthy with sports such as tennis, skiing, swimming and bik­ing. I also enjoy cooking. I don’t have a particular daily schedule to follow. It really depends on whether I have a recording or a tour coming up in which case I’ll have to work like everyone else.

 

Which of the contemporary jazz musi­cians do you admire?

Of course my fellow musicians from the days with Miles Davis, such as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Bill Evans. From the younger generation I would say pia­nists Brad Mehldau and Gonzalo Rubal­caba, a young banjo player called Ryan Ca­vanaugh, and another young musician who appeared with me on several CDs, bassist Hadrien Feraud.

 

What other kinds of music do you listen to?

All kinds. Classical eastern and western, and I like to discover the new concepts com­ing out of the underground scene. Of course my old favourites such as The Beatles, the Eagles, Sly and the Family Stone, Michael Jackson, Prince, and old rockers like gui­tarist Jeff Beck, who is still my all-time favorite guitarist.

 

On the 2003 album Thieves & Posts you went in for ballet music. How enjoyable was the experience?

I mentioned earlier how much I en­joy playing with a symphony orchestra, and this was one of those opportunities. I toured with several orchestras, and this was a real thrill. Thieves & Poets gave me the opportunity to invite some of my “clas­sical” friends to participate, such as violin­ist Viktoria Mullova, clarinetist Paul Mey­er and cellist Matt Haimovits.

 

Have you consciously stayed away from film scores?

Not really, I did a documentary some years back, but I don’t think I’m cut out to be a film music writer.

 

Finally, in all these years, what would you describe as your three most memorable moments or achievements?

Playing with Miles. The first concert with Mahavishnu. The first concert with Shak­ti. The first concert with the Guitar Trio. Touring with the Deutsche Kammerphil­harmonie. There are more but I’ve already exceeded three!

This article appeared in the April 2014 issue of ROLLING STONE India.

John McLaughlin and 4th Dimension India Tour Dates:

April 4th ”“ Music Academy, Chennai. Buy tickets here

April 5th ”“ St. Andrews Auditorium, Mumbai. Buy tickets here.