John McLaughlin
Photo: Буньков Денис, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Guitarists · b. 1942

John McLaughlin

English guitarist, founder of the Mahavishnu Orchestra

Born
4 January 1942
Doncaster
Country
United Kingdom
Active
1963–
Record labels
Columbia Records, Verve Records
Discography
31 albums

Biography

John McLaughlin is a jazz musician who plays guitar and voice. John McLaughlin was born on 4 January 1942 in Doncaster. The music is usually filed under jazz, jazz fusion and ethno jazz. Record labels: Columbia Records and Verve Records. The discography here lists 31 albums, from “Extrapolation” (1969) to “Music for Abandoned Heights” (2025). Honours include Frankfurter Musikpreis (2012) and honorary doctor of the University Côte d'Azur (2026).

John McLaughlin (born 4 January 1942), also previously known as Mahavishnu, is an English guitarist, bandleader, and composer. A pioneer of jazz fusion, his music combines elements of jazz with rock, world 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 drummer Tony Williams' group Lifetime and then with Miles Davis on his 1969–72 electric jazz fusion albums In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, Live-Evil, 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 Classical, Indian and other influences. In 1974, he helped found Shakti, a seminal Indian-Jazz rock fusion band with Indian violinist L.

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Discography

Studio and live albums

Extrapolation 1969 · Marmalade Devotion 1970 · Douglas My Goal’s Beyond 1971 · Douglas Where Fortune Smiles 1971 · Dawn Electric Guitarist 1978 · CBS Electric Dreams 1979 · Columbia Belo Horizonte 1981 · Warner Bros. Records Music Spoken Here 1982 · Warner Bros. Records Passion, Grace & Fire 1983 · Columbia Adventures in Radioland 1986 · Relativity Records Concerto for Guitar & Orch and Duos for Guitar & Piano 1990 · CBS Trio in Santiago 1991 · Crossover Time Remembered: John McLaughlin Plays Bill Evans 1993 · Verve
Tokyo Live 1994 · Live
After the Rain 1995 · Verve Molom 1995 · Verve The Promise 1995 · Verve The Heart of Things 1997 · Verve The Heart of Things: Live in Paris 2000 · Live · Verve Montreux Concerts 2003 · Live · Warner Music Switzerland Thieves and Poets 2003 · Verve Industrial Zen 2006 · Verve Sleep Easy Baby 2007 Trio of Doom 2007 · Legacy Floating Point 2008 · Abstract Logix Black Light 2015 · Abstract Logix Is That So? 2020 · Abstract Logix Liberation Time 2021 · Abstract Logix
The Heart Awakens 2021 · Live
Montreux Jazz Festival 2022 2025 · Live · Castle Entertainment Music for Abandoned Heights 2025 · Audiophile Import Specialists

Also plays on

Albums where John McLaughlin is credited as a sideman

1969 In a Silent Way — Miles Davis guitar
1969 Windmill Tilter: The Story of Don Quixote — Ken Wheeler and The John Dankworth Orchestra guitar
1970 Bitches Brew — Miles Davis guitar, electric guitar
1970 Super Nova — Wayne Shorter guitar
1970 Things We Like — Jack Bruce guitar
1970 Infinite Search — Miroslav Vitouš guitar
1970 Purple — Miroslav Vitouš guitar
1970 Spaces — Larry Coryell electric guitar, acoustic guitar, guitar
1971 Escalator Over the Hill — Carla Bley & Paul Haines electric guitar
1971 The Inner Mounting Flame — The Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin guitar, producer
1973 Love Devotion Surrender — Carlos Santana & Mahavishnu John McLaughlin guitar, piano, producer, arranger
1973 Birds of Fire — Mahavishnu Orchestra electric guitar, guitar
1973 Between Nothingness & Eternity — Mahavishnu Orchestra guitar, producer
1974 Get Up With It — Miles Davis electric guitar
1974 Big Fun — Miles Davis electric guitar
1974 Moto Grosso Feio — Wayne Shorter 12 string guitar
1975 Journey to Love — Stanley Clarke acoustic guitar
1975 Planet End — Larry Coryell guitar
1976 Land of the Midnight Sun — Al Di Meola performer
1976 School Days — Stanley Clarke acoustic guitar
1976 Inner Worlds — Mahavishnu Orchestra / John McLaughlin guitar synthesizer, guitar, producer, 12 string guitar, background vocals
1977 A Handful of Beauty — Shakti arranger
1977 Natural Elements — Shakti vocals, acoustic guitar, producer
1981 Castro Marín — Paco de Lucía guitar
1981 Friday Night in San Francisco — Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucía producer, acoustic guitar
1984 Mahavishnu — Mahavishnu guitar, guitar synthesizer, synclavier, producer
1985 You’re Under Arrest — Miles Davis guitar
1986 The Other Side of Round Midnight — Dexter Gordon guitar
1987 Making Music — Zakir Hussain acoustic guitar
1987 The Alternative Man — Bill Evans acoustic guitar

Member of

Awards

Listen on Spotify

Frequently asked questions

What instrument does John McLaughlin play?

John McLaughlin is known for playing guitar and voice.

When and where was John McLaughlin born?

John McLaughlin was born 4 January 1942 in Doncaster.

What are John McLaughlin's best-known albums?

Albums in our database include Extrapolation (1969), Devotion (1970), My Goal’s Beyond (1971), Where Fortune Smiles (1971) and Electric Guitarist (1978).

External links

Data compiled from open sources; see the source links below. Spotted an error? Let us know.