‘Music Is My Language’

Guitarist John McLaughlin is among the finest and most influential players of jazz and rock. His innovations in the ‘60s and ‘70s--first as part of Miles Davis’ ensemble during the “In a Silent Way”/”Bitches Brew” era, later with the original lineup of the proto-fusion Mahavishnu Orchestra and still later with the proto-world beat group Shakti--still are being felt.

McLaughlin’s seamless blend of mind-boggling skill, spirituality and creative exploration brings to mind a guitar-wielding John Coltrane--whom McLaughlin cites as a prime influence and whose compositions he frequently interprets. (McLaughlin’s harsh tones on electric guitar, his journeying modal improvisations and his use of raga scales also recall late-period Trane).

Born in Yorkshire, England, McLaughlin, 54, spent his early years playing in Graham Bond and Brian Auger’s seminal British blues groups. He moved to the States in the late ‘60s to play with Davis and in Tony Williams’ Lifetime, developing a reputation as someone to watch very closely. When the Mahavishnu Orchestra released “The Inner Mounting Flame” in 1972 (Mahavishnu was a name meaning “Creator,” given to McLaughlin by his then-guru, Sri Chinmoy), jazz-rock fusion had a template.

In recent years, McLaughlin has alternated between acoustic and electric music, playing in any number of styles. Currently he is performing as one-third of the reunited Guitar Trio, an acoustic meeting-of-the-heavies with fusion luminary Al Di Meola and flamenco maestro Paco de Lucia. The trio plays Wednesday at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton, where it is being presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County as the first in a series of jazz concerts.

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Question: What are the dynamics of the Guitar Trio? What sort of energy passes between you when you play together?

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Answer: They’re great guitar players, Al and Paco. They’re playing my instrument, you know, which should be a reason to hate them. But hate and love, they go together. Something happens when we start to play. I don’t know why, I don’t know what it is, but some sort of thing happens and we really enjoy it. People, of course, always talk about a competition between us, but you know in music you can never have competition like competition exists in the physical sense of the word, like in sports or games. We’ve been accused on numerous occasions of each one trying to beat the other, but in music, I think everyone’s a winner. Sometimes those guys will come up with some sort of great improvisation, and it’s like ‘Wow! What am I gonna do now?’ So in a way, it puts me in a different psychological frame of mind, which is very interesting. It definitely pushes you to reach inside and find something, something more than just a bunch of notes played as fast as possible. There’s a certain excitement when we play together.

Q: You have been noted for the lyricism and passion in your playing. For all their speed and technical excellence, your solos always seem to go somewhere new, always surprise a listener.

A: I don’t want to play gratuitously. You’re always looking for new things. This is part of the act of spontaneity. You take risks and you fall on your ass sometimes. Why not? That’s part of the deal. That’s a beautiful moment; it’s at those moments where we’re most ourselves, most true to the music. Everything’s forgotten, and you’re in the moment of some kind of discovery. We’re all living for that moment where you discover something that’s real and spontaneous.

Q: Which musicians have hit that the most frequently for you? Who has inspired you? Coltrane, obviously . . .

A: Yeah, of course. I grew up with that school. Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball [Adderly]. Then of course there’s the other generation which I had a chance to work with--Chick [Corea], Tony Williams. These are all constant inspirations to me, and not just in the jazz world. I still have close links with Asian musicians. I get good inspiration from pop music too--there’s a lot of good pop music around. There’s basically good music and bad music. Music is my language, and a lot of people speak to me in my heart.

Q: Still, if people go into a record store, they find John McLaughlin in the jazz bin. Do you feel restricted by that label?

A: Not at all, no. Basically, to master an instrument, you have to have one discipline or another. You need classical discipline or a flamenco discipline or a jazz discipline. My true discipline on the guitar is jazz. I love jazz. It’s jazz that’s allowed me to discover the instrument and to constantly try to improve myself. It doesn’t bother me at all if people choose to classify me or not. I’m a jazz musician and I always will be. Not to say that I don’t like rock ‘n’ roll, because I do. Rock, hip-hop, funk and all the other things that I grew up with. I’m a ‘60s guy. I’m an old hippie (laughs).

Q: You even had a guru for a while there.

A: Yeah, for five years. But that’s an aspect of my life that began before I had a guru and continues to this day. I must point out that I get a tremendous amount of inspiration from that side of my life. It’s not really that evident; I’m not wearing white clothes anymore like I did 25 years ago, but the spiritual dimension of my life personally is as important as my musical dimension.

Q: The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll says that in 1976 you “renounced” Sri Chinmoy. Is that accurate?

A: No, I would never renounce Sri Chinmoy, who was a holy man and who is someone that I have great affection for to this day. However, I think we should distinguish between the person and the past, and there are some pasts that are for you and some that are not. That one wasn’t, and I had the courage of my own convictions to abandon that particular path. But he as a person? I would never renounce any holy person; I think the world needs more holy people.

One of the aspects of society that’s very much neglected is the spiritual dimensions of the human being. How would I renounce, for example, someone like the pope? I’m not a Catholic, but I wouldn’t renounce a man like John Paul II. Whether I agree with his politics or his reasoning, that’s something else.

Q: Have you made a conscious attempt to take guitar music to places it’s never been before?

A: I’m not really trying to take the guitar anywhere. I’m just trying to play the music that I hear in my imagination. It’s kind of a miracle how we can hear music without any sound. In the imagination, you can hear all kinds of things, you’re really free, everything is possible in the imagination. You can find new ways. . . . Basically, there’s nothing new to say because it’s all been said before. . . . It’s all in the way of saying it.

Q: It surprises me to hear you, of all people, say that it’s all been said before.

A: I absolutely feel that. When you’re playing music, you’re only telling the story of your life, you know? That’s the only thing you have to tell, how you feel about your existence in this universe and your relationship to the beings that populate it, the people around you and what you feel about it all. That’s the only story that can be told, and it’s a story that’s been told for thousands of years. It’s the human condition. The way we can tell that story is by the discovery of new forms, and this is a tremendous subject and a very important aspect of music. Deep down, the music cannot lie to me in any way. I just believe that the impulses I get are true and that I should follow them wherever possible, take them to whichever conclusion they lead me to. I trust the music.

Q: Did you form these notions of music a long time ago, or did they develop over the years? Was your family musical?

A: I started studying piano when I was 7 or 8--of course, that was only classical music. My mother was an amateur violinist, so there was music in the house, which was a real blessing. When I finally started guitar I was 11, and simultaneously I discovered the Mississippi blues, which was a complete revelation for me. From that point on, I didn’t abandon classical music, but I felt so strongly--they were playing the guitar in such an incredible way, these blues guitar players--that in a way it was inevitable that I end up in jazz. The big point in my life was when I discovered jazz music and in particular when I discovered Miles. I must have been 15 when that happened, around 1958, “Milestones.” That was the one that really turned my world around. Then, of course, shortly after that was “Kind of Blue.” These were revolutionary records in jazz; we still feel very strongly their impact today. These were the greatest musicians of the second part of the 20th century--Miles, Coltrane, Cannonball, Bill Evans. I went on to follow their music and study their careers and study their lives as much as possible. My debts to these people are unpayable.

Q: You were able to play with Miles again shortly before he died. . . .

A: Just before the last concert, basically. I’ll never be able to pay the debt I owe to Miles. He was the reason I came to the States. . . . Miles took me under his wing and made me his protege. He made sure I could eat and pay my rent. In a very real sense, not just musically, he was like a Picasso in jazz music. He was an incredible man. I still have great difficulty believing that he’s dead because he’s a live presence for me today. Everybody who ever worked with Miles, he rubbed something on them. . . . He was probably the most honest man I ever met in my life.

Q: Your connection to him--and to Coltrane--is always apparent in your playing. Do you feel any sort of, not responsibility, but a desire to carry on Miles’ musical legacy?

A: No, that would be very presumptuous on my part really, I think. He was unique. We’re all unique, but Miles was unique in that he did so much for so many people. I couldn’t even dare to pretend. . . . I’m just happy to be one of Miles’ boys and to have had his affection and the chance to express my affection for him.

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JAZZ SERIES

Presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County

* The Guitar Trio: John McLaughlin, Paco De Lucia and Al Di Meola; Wednesday at 8 p.m. $15-$40.

* “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” with Margaret Whiting, Julius LaRosa, Warren Vache, Joe Temperly and others; Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. $10-$35.

* The Mingus Big Band, directed by Charles Mingus’ widow, Sue; Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. $10-$30.

* Billy Taylor and Ramsey Lewis, four-hands piano; Jan. 12 at 3 p.m. $10-$30.

All concerts take place at the Plummer Auditorium, 201 E. Chapman Ave., Fullerton. Information: (714) 553-2422.