John McLaughlin is Better at Guitar than You
John McLaughlin probably hasn’t impacted jazz guitar playing as much as his predecessors, but he is as easily recognizable to listeners. It’s not necessarily the tone of his instrument or the setting that he’s playing in that makes attentive listeners able to recognize this British born musician, but the cascading fall of notes that he unlooses from his guitar. Playing with everyone from Miles Davis to the Rollin Stones, McLaughlin has remained an integral part of music for over forty years. And considering this, it’d probably be difficult to claim knowledge in regards to the entirety of his catalog.
Just over this past week, I’ve come to listen to two separate – and new to me – offerings from McLaughlin. Neither disappointed.
In factm the 1970 album Where Fortune Smiles could be one the better distillations of McLaughlin’s style. There’s no eastern tinge to this work, but nonetheless, a great many of his stylistic idiosyncrasies are on display. Playing alongside multi instrumentalist John Surman – who was initially credited as the group leader when this disc was first released – McLaughlin finds his counter-part more than open to the noisy displays of non-stop notes. But really, what makes this disc more than just average faire for the time period is the fact that Karl Berger plays not just piano, but also the vibes throughout a great deal of this work.
The album, which gets referred to as free jazz pretty often, isn’t exactly what one would imagine considering that tag. There are certainly sections of each of the five tracks given over to loud and sometimes shambolic soloing, but that isn’t really the definition of free jazz. Each one of these songs has a distinct and unique melodic head. And again, while that initial statement is deviated from, the music never devolves into a rugged display of riffage and shards of noise.
In more than a few ways – including the personnel - Where Fortune Smiles bears more than a passing similarity with Conference of the Birds. Bassist Dave Holland, who also did time with Davis for a short stint, leads Conference with a traditional and solid rhythm section while allowing Sam Rivers to figure out what fits in where. In similar style, on Where Fortune Smiles, McLaughlin and Surman are allowed to plunge into indulgent work as the rest of the group holds down an anchored rhythmic figure.
Even in this album, though, the full extent of McLaughlin’s talent isn’t revealed. His work with Davis, while similar, found the guitarist working with a funkier and stripped down sounding band. And in a lot of situations, this setting allowed him more than room to fulfill his objective of shredding. But on electric guitar this mode of playing is pretty common. On the acoustic, it’s a bit jarring to hear. And for that reason – in addition to the songwriting and the other players present – McLaughlin’s entrance into world music with his band Shakti can be considered just as formative an experience as hearing the guitarist in a traditional jazz setting.
