Colours said:

McLauglin has made profound statements on the following musical genres:

-Jazz (worked with so many of the greats across the various instruments in the modern jazz scene)

-Prog Rock (even compared to King Crimson and YES, Mahavishnu Orchestra is in a league of it's own. Billy Cobham on drums isn't fucking around... Hendrix and Mitchell (his drummer) never touched something like a 24/8 time signature)

-Spanish/Flamenco (worked with some of the greatest in our time, concerning spanish guitar, on multiple occasions)

-Classical Indian (I shouldnt even have to explain here... but having worked with the living legend Zakir Hussain and being labled "one of the most important music composers of our time" and L. Shankar (invented the double violin) payed tribute on one of his albums to McLaughlin.

McLaughlin worked with a wide spectrum of people, like Tony Williams and Miles Davis to Santana and Hendrix.

So he not only influenced major musicians, but the listeners of the genres. And the fact that he worked through various world music genres, he inspired the people in those parts of the world too. Both traditional and contemporary players.

Please, share though. Because I'd love to listen to them.

I mean, I know of some other reaaaaally good guitarist that are alive, but I'm not talking about just skill. More about accomplishment, and influence. Besides, McLaughlin most likely influenced those other guitarist that'd I could name..

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akira_akuma said:

some of my guitar heroes. man, my dream is be able to improvise like that.

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Fuck, I had written a reply but I guess I didnt post it?

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I'm just going to say , I have nothing against McLauglin and I actually quite like him.


I don't totally agree with you though. I'd say he is more like a Jack of all trades rather than a master of One. Overall he is a great fucking musician and he has some top notch collaborations under his belt , you cant deny that. but how much he actually impacted, influenced and contributed to each of those Genres i'm not too sure, except in the case of Flamenco, its simply not true.

He did work with Paco who is considered a living God for doing precisely what you claim John has done,but as far as them two playing together those it didn't have much in common with Flamenco except Nylon string guitars. It was actually the other way around , Paco was stepping into their world (john and al) for the first time and playing on par with them and styles they were more familiar with such as improvisation. Flamenco though , nope.

Paco is the real Monster IMO, what he did for Flamenco before dying earlier this year was he left an entire legacy , evolving the guitar playing of a folk music incorporating various song forms album after album , constantly bringing new elements to the table steadily revolutionizing and influencing anyone that knew anything about Flamenco.

He also brought the Flamenco guitar into Classical Venues and made accepted as a solo Concert instrument where it was not before especially in Spain where Flamenco is considered somewhat of a 'blues' type of music and is traditionally played as Accompaniment for Singers also known as Cante.

He wasn't the first to play Flamenco solo, there were a few before him such as Sabicas , Nino Ricardo and Romon Montoya but he took all that to the next level and kept rolling with it until he changed the whole game.

So that's a brief summary of what Paco does for Flamenco. Then after i guess you could list all the collaborations and mention the Concierto de Aranjuez where he shows his ability too play Classical compositions on the Virtuosic level and whatnot but it doesn't really matter.

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I think if we're talking pure technical ability I'm yet to hear anyone who can get close to Guthrie Govan.

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Colours said:

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I think if we're talking pure technical ability I'm yet to hear anyone who can get close to Guthrie Govan.

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When I mentioned earlier I could name better technical players before McLaughlin, and they'd probably be inspired by McLaughlin... Guthrie Govan was going to be first in that line up. I missed him when he came through town with his  band The Aristocrats. One of his older albums Erotic Cakes is so fucking good. That guy is a machine.

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NickyO said:

But from guitarists inspiring other musicians and leaving a legacy, I think that's probably open to interpretation and to each individual. Hendrix obviously was very influential which is why he's cited so often and pops up on the overrated lists! It's not just people nut hugging!

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Holdsworth and john McLaughlin are technically two of the best ever fa sho

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Withinity said:

we are still in his mold so to speak until someone else comes along. Of course there is alot of stuff in-between but these guys are key points in the timeline.

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akira_akuma said:

na Hendrix is cool. but i also don't mind saying he sucks ass. because he's so overrated and i really don't think he is the greatest, but he's a classic for a reason.

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