You run out of words when you try and describe a guitarist like John McLaughlin. One could go on ranting and still it would not seem fair, for this man is beyond prolific and he surpasses our cliched definition of genius.

His virtuosity is inimitable and his influence on other musicians plus what he has done for music itself is priceless. John’s name is mentioned on the list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time and even though such a list is meaningless compared to his achievement, it serves to show the importance of his far-reaching personality.

In the US, he jammed with fellow guitarist Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis who’s arguably one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century named a track after John in his album Bitches Brew.

One of John’s speciality is he can handle intricate rhythms of Indian classical music and fuse it with the Western sound palette with effortless ease. In the early ‘70s, he formed a group called Shakti that featured some of the finest Indian musicians and many years later, he has come back for the Remember Shakti India Tour 2012. Shakti is performing today at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch at 7.30 pm. “Every Shakti tour is planned quite far ahead in time.

There is one simple reason for this. It is because all the members of Shakti have highly successful individual careers, and in order to play together, we all need to organise the time so that we have no other obligations during rehearsal and touring periods.

My thoughts on performing with the members are ones of true happiness. Zakir Hussain and I go back as friends for over 40 years, and as performers together for about 38 years, as we are the founder members of the original Shakti group.

The other members in today’s formation — Shankar Mahadevan, U Shrinivas and Selvaganesh have been with Zakir and me for over 10 years and are wonderful artistes and human beings. It’s truly an honour for me to have them in the group,” says John.

He partly reveals his journey with the six-stringed instrument. “I have been playing the guitar for almost 60 years and it is the instrument that I have always loved and will do so until my time is up. That said, it is totally normal for me to work at my instrument and music in general and in this sense it is not work, it is the exercise of my passion. As far as speed on the guitar is concerned, I have never understood why people regard me in such a way.

My goal in music is not to play fast — my aim is to be able to play, and hopefully, inspire the great players with whom I have the opportunity of playing, like maestro Zakir Hussain.” The guitarist believes a musician shouldn’t go on stage with a pedagogic attitude. “One goes to a performance with the deep hope that one will find inspiration in one’s heart, and this will illuminate the music. This is quite different from playing one’s knowledge,” adds John.

He is also quick to brush aside praises. “I was not making music that was ‘way ahead’ with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. We were making music that was of our time.

Don’t forget that at the time I formed this group, I was playing with one of 20th century’s greatest musicians, Miles Davis. I learned so much from him, and he actively encouraged me to form my first band which was the Mahavishnu Orchestra.” John adds, “It is absolutely natural to be tempted by fame and glory, and I am no exception.
 
As a youth, my dream was to be the greatest guitarist ever. Those were youthful dreams, and yet without dreams we will never achieve anything.”

John leaves us with an encouraging word to aspiring guitarists. “My advice to guitarists who can’t get out of a rut is that the rut you feel you are in has been dug by yourselves. The only way out of such a situation is to annihilate it. To do this, you need to bring into doubt everything that you’re playing.

You should ask yourself the question, ‘What do I have to say in music?’ This question will automatically bring the question ‘What do I have to say about life?’ When we play, we tell the story of our life and the relations we enjoy with ourselves, with our loved ones and with the universe itself.
 
This will bring another question of a more spiritual nature, ‘Who am I in this vast universe?’ Addressing this question will bring us out of any rut.”