John McLaughlin

John McLaughlin is the kind of progressive guitarist that makes fellow musicians and rampant guitar geeks grab a notepad and a pencil and attempt to scribble out the tablature. But given McLaughlin's deft prowess with his axe, we're convinced that's a difficult, if not impossible task, since this British jazz-fusion guitarist makes his guitar sound like everything else but a regular old guitar on Floating Point, which he released on Abstract Logix, a web-based label, after parting with the conglomerate that is Universal.

Here, McLaughlin potently focuses on Indian influences, fusing them with classical and progressive elements. In layman's terms, McLaughlin wields a guitar like a shape shifting sonic weapon that never makes the same sound twice. On Floating Point, you'll find the kind of music you expect to hear playing in the background of a New Age shop in a hip shopping community somewhere on either of the coasts.

Floating Point is intentionally Indian, as it was recorded in India and McLaughlin is backed by a supporting cast of Indian musicians, among them a Hindustani slide guitarist and an electric sitarist! He even employed other Indian musicians in roles such as keyboardist and drummer. Jams like "Raju," "Off the One" and "Five Peace Band" do nothing to create any doubt that McLaughlin is technically proficient and that he doesn't stick to the normal noodling that one would expect to be piped out of a guitar. However, this is an acquired taste that will turn off more people than it turns on. Those with a hankering for world music and experimentation will be satiated by McLaughlin's style of play. The average music-listening audience isn't quite ready for McLaughlin's forward-thinking fretwork. The higher brow, tightly tuned ear, however, will most certainly appreciate what the guitarist is aiming to do on Floating Point.

— Amy Sciarretto
05.28.08