Jazz great takes triangle tour

Most men in their late sixties are busy reveling in their retirement, spending their days playing golf or searching for the perfect assisted living community which their grown children will force them into when they begin having chronic health problems a few years down the road.

But not guitarist John McLaughlin.

At 65 years old, McLaughlin, alongside his latest group The 4th Dimension, is just beginning a new tour which starts Thursday Sept. 13 at Durham's own Carolina Theatre. McLaughlin isn't just any old guy with a guitar. He's a guitar legend, recognized by many as one of the most influential forces in jazz-rock fusion.

"[McLaughlin] probably influenced just about every guitarist. He is looked upon as one of the giants, in the true sense of giant, not just commercially. What he has done with his instrument, no one has done it, ever. He is a true pioneer of the guitar," said Souvik Dutta, president and founder of Abstract Logix, McLaughlin's new record label.

The legendary guitarist first achieved prominence when jazz great Miles Davis invited him to play with his band in the late sixties, culminating with his participation in Davis's 1969 album Bitches Brew.

"John was so good that Miles said 'Hey why don't you form your own band?'" Dutta said.

And he did just that, forming the jazz-rock fusion group Mahavishnu Orchestra in the seventies. During the next thirty years, McLaughlin participated in a slew of acclaimed bands/collaborations and made original forays into both Indian and Flamenco music. McLaughlin continues his legacy of jazz-fusion with The 4th Dimension.

The extensive list of his ventures and accomplishments doesn't even begin to define his music, which takes on a new depth when experienced live.

"Music is more than just the notes together, it's about playing together and playing with people," McLaughlin said. "Music serves as a kind of bridge with which we interact on stage with each other.. Once you establish this kind of portal in live performance, the listener, the audience, can enter that and participate in the play that's going on between the musicians themselves, and then they get absorbed in the music--that's the whole point of going to a concert."

McLaughlin's show promises the opportunity to engage with a legendary musician to a backdrop of innovative music-what better way to spend a Thursday night?

McLaughlin will perform tonight with the 4th Dimension at 8 p.m. at the Carolina Theater. Tickets start at $38.50.

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