Sebastian writes:
Nick Smart sent me some intriguing news: John McLaughlin has invited Royal Academy of Music students to fly out to Monaco and to appear with him at La Note Bleue on 11 May 2025, as part of his “Young Lions” scheme to showcase new talent. The great guitarist, now retired from touring, received a number of applications from the current jazz student cohort, and selected postgraduate pianist Will Inscoe and undergraduate alto saxophonist Zach Sholapurkar.
John McLaughlin explains the context and history of the Young Lions programme in this email interview:
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UK Jazz News: What was the motivation for you to set up the Young Lions programme and when did it start?
John McLaughlin: Apart from occasional concerts, I retired from international touring at the end of 2023. Like most musicians I love to play, especially with other musicians.
Over the years I’ve been requested to create different kinds of musical formations here in Monaco to help in charity fundraising and I was always greatly assisted in these events by Jean-Michel Aublette. Over the past 7 or 8 years, drummer-bassist Jean-Michel and I have been playing on and off privately just for fun.
In January 2024 I had an idea to try to help the young Jazz musicians from the region by organizing concerts that could feature 2 or 3 of them at our local Jazz restaurant, ‘La Note Bleue’ but to do this I needed to form a semi permanent Quartet that would give me the opportunity to play and also to present and accompany the ‘Young Lions’. With the demise of the record industry, it is increasingly difficult for young musicians, especially Jazz musicians to become known. The ‘Blue Note Band’ normally consists of Jean-Michel – bass, Jany McPherson – piano and voice and Nicolas Viccaro drums.
Exceptionally, drummer Gary Husband will fill in for Nicolas in the May concert as Nicolas is on tour.
UKJN: Were there particular circumstances in your own career that you wanted to build on through setting up the Young Lions?
JMcL: I’ve been helped so much over the years, it was natural that at some point I would wish to help the younger generation. However, I was touring for the greater part of my life and my ‘help’ consisted to the creation of a 3 DVD boxset on how to master improvisation, and a one DVD course on mastering rhythm using the Indian approach called Konokol.
UKJN: Is it specifically an endeavour with The Royal Academy of Music or do you cast the net wider?
JMcL: The May event will be the first time we invite young musicians from the UK. Till now, the guests have been French, Italian and Swiss. It’s clear however, that the level of young players coming out of the Royal Academy is impressive and more invitations will be sent to the Royal Academy.
UKJN: Are there people or experiences on the way so far that have been particularly enjoyable / motivating/ heartwarming?
JMcL: The whole event is a win – win situation. We, as a group get to play together, the young musicians are very happy to play with us because we are a good band. Secondly, these events sell out really quickly, so we have an audience that listens and is very enthusiastic. The performances are video taped and an edited version is put on YouTube that shows not only the band but each young musician giving their best. This helps them to become known on an international level.
UKJN: What are your hopes / dreams for it / what will make it a success?
JMcL: Actually this particular dream has already come true, from the start it was an immediate success.
