The driving force behind John McLaughlin is the same today as it was at the start of his musical career, his devotion to the guitar, perseverance and attempts at self-knowledge. At the end of the sixties the British guitarist moved to New York, to become a member of Tony Williams’ pioneering fusion band Lifetime. Through that he shortly afterwards got into Miles Davis’ group, with which he recorded the breakthrough albums In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew and A Tribute to Jack Johnson.
After that he made an even stronger impression on the world of music as leader of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, a group which defined and popularised early jazz-rock fusion. In 1975 he set up the ensemble Shakti, linking acoustic jazz and Indian music. The project The 4th Dimension is strongly linked to the preceding McLaughlin experiment from the period of the Mahavishnu Orchestra or from the 90s and the group Heart of Things, typically linked to electric guitars, keyboards and phenomenal rhythms. A synthesis with Indian influences, which McLaughlin had already undergone in the 70s, gave rise to a unique jazz fusion, which is currently being developed in the group The 4th Dimension.
