John McLaughlin: The Montreux Years (Live) John McLaughlin

• 1 Radio Activity (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 1984) 10:07
• 2 Friendship (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 1978) 09:26
• 3 Nostalgia (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 1984) 11:18
• 4 Acid Jazz (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 1998) 13:03
• 5 David (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 1987) 11:15
• 6 Florianapolis (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 1987) 11:56
• 7 Sing Me Softly of the Blues (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 1995) 08:05
• 8 El Hombre Que Sabià (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 2016) 07:24
• Total Runtime 01:22:34

Info for John McLaughlin: The Montreux Years (Live)

Curated and compiled by John McLaughlin, this new full-length album features captivating performances from his legendary appearances at the Festival for the very first time, recorded and remastered in breath-taking quality.

Fans of the jazz fusion pioneer can immersive themselves in the superb and classic material that defined McLaughlin’s career, which includes the track Acid Jazz from the album “The Heart of Things”. Further exploring McLaughlin’s impressive repertoire, “John McLaughlin: The Montreux Years” includes the tracks Sing Me Softly Of The Blues from 1994’s “After the Rain” and El Hombre Que Sabia from McLaughlin’s studio album “Black Light”.

Ranked in Rolling Stones magazine’s list of ‘100 Greatest Guitar Players of All Time’, John McLaughlin became a long-time friend of the Montreux Jazz Festival, having played at the iconic Swiss festival many times. The performances in this new collection are curated from six shows between 1978 to 2016 with the various ensembles of ‘The Mahavishnu Orchestra’, ‘The Heart Of Things’, ‘The Free Spirits’, ‘The 4th Dimension’ and his fellow virtuoso and close friend Paco de Lucia. Encapsulating McLaughlin’s time at the festival, “John McLaughlin: The Montreux Years” opens with the 1984 track Radio Activity by the Mahavishnu Orchestra, which McLaughlin reformed in the 80’s for the release of the album “Mahavishnu”.

John McLaughlin: "To speak about The Montreux Jazz Festival brings back so many wonderful memories. But since my association goes back to 1971, we are looking at 50 years of history! Whether it’s the different incarnations of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Shakti, The One Truth Band, The Free Spirits, The Heart of Things, Carlos Santana or with the late great Paco de Lucia, the list goes on and on. Not only all my musical performances at Montreux, but all my other visits to see my dear friend Claude Nobs the founder, my friends of the festival, join jam sessions, go hiking in the fabulous countryside around that lovely town. Montreux is a big part of my life’s musical and personal history and to share this selection of my performances on this recording makes me truly happy.”

As one of the greatest guitar players in music history, John McLaughlin has been cited a major influence on many 70’s and 80’s artists, including the likes of Steve Morse, Eric Johnson, Mike Stern and more. In 2018 McLaughlin won a Grammy for Best Improvised Jazz Solo, for his solo on Miles Beyond from his album “Live at Ronnie Scott’s”. With a German tour scheduled for March 2022, McLaughlin remains one of music’s greatest musicians and the release “John McLaughlin: The Montreux Years” is a testament to his legacy.

John McLaughlin

Digitally remastered

John McLaughlin
(born 4 January 1942) is an English guitarist, bandleader, and composer. A pioneer of jazz fusion, his music combines elements of jazz with rock, world music, Indian classical music, Western classical music, flamenco, and blues.

After contributing to several key British groups of the early 1960s, McLaughlin made Extrapolation, his first album as a bandleader, in 1969. He then moved to the U.S., where he played with Tony Williams’s group Lifetime and then with Miles Davis on his electric jazz-fusion albums In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, and On the Corner. His 1970s electric band, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, performed a technically virtuosic and complex style of music that fused electric jazz and rock with Indian influences.

McLaughlin’s solo on “Miles Beyond” from his album Live at Ronnie Scott’s won the 2018 Grammy Award for the Best Improvised Jazz Solo. He has been awarded multiple “Guitarist of the Year” and “Best Jazz Guitarist” awards from magazines such as DownBeat and Guitar Player based on reader polls. In 2003, he was ranked 49th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”. In 2009, DownBeat included McLaughlin in its unranked list of “75 Great Guitarists”, in the “Modern Jazz Maestros” category. In 2012, Guitar World magazine ranked him 63rd on its top 100 list. In 2010, Jeff Beck called McLaughlin “the best guitarist alive,” and Pat Metheny has also described him as the world’s greatest guitarist. In 2017, McLaughlin was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music.

John McLaughlin - a musician's musician - comes on European tour. The Rolling Stone listed McLaughlin as one of the 100 best guitarists of all time, he also received a Grammy in 2018 and was voted "Jazz Guitarist of the Year" seven times by Down Beat, the jazz magazine with the highest circulation worldwide.

This album contains no booklet.