''Floating Point'' is an album by

John McLaughlin John or Jon McLaughlin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John McLaughlin (musician) (born 1942), English jazz fusion guitarist, member of Mahavishnu Orchestra * Jon McLaughlin (musician) (born 1982), American singer-songwriter * John McLaugh ...

, released in 2008 through the record label

Abstract Logix Abstract Logix is an American record label, based in Cary, North Carolina, which specializes in jazz fusion, world and jam band music. As of late 2022, Abstract Logix has released 66 titles from musicians spanning the globe. In 2019 they were vot ...

. The album reached number fourteen on ''

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s Top Jazz Albums chart. Regarding the recording, McLaughlin commented: "while this CD features predominantly Indian musicians, we are in quite another form compared to the group Shakti... The music is for the most part 'Jazz-Fusion' if a label has to be put on it. But with the musicians involved in this project, it has also a 'world' kind of atmosphere." Concerning the album title, McLaughlin remarked: "Every now and then a group of musicians will gel together in such an incredible way, and at that point it's like you lose normal gravity... you've got your own gravity happening and you're kind of like floating with the other guys."

Reception

Michael G. Nastos of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

called the album "a surprisingly fine effort, ebbing and flowing from track to track, with McLaughlin's high-level musicianship shining through, same as it ever was." In a 5-star review for

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, Ken Micallef commented: "this brilliant collective plays as a single unit, not a band of hired studio guns... This is a case of Indian musicians using their extraordinary skills to explore U.S. fusion, giving the now 70-year-old guitarist an amazing platform for compositional/improvisational development. This is a landmark recording, marked by detail, subtlety and extraordinarily moving performances." John Kelman in

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wrote "One of the most fluent, evocative and powerful albums in a career filled with high points," and concluded: "McLaughlin's Indian friends may not have jazz in their blood the way it is in the guitarist's, but by approaching unmistakably western-informed music with an eastern mindset, they make ''Floating Point'' an album that, in McLaughlin's lengthy discography, is one of his most successful fusion records". Writing for

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awarded the album 5 stars, and stated: "this boiling new set sounds as if it's driven at least as much by cutting-edge Indian crossover musicians as by McLaughlin himself... this is 99% an absolute cracker, and not just for guitar nuts either."

Track listing

Personnel

–

guitar synthesizer A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical instrument systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities. Overview Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partner ...

, guitar (2, 4, 6, 8) *

Hadrien Feraud Hadrien Feraud (born August 16, 1984 in Paris) is a French jazz bassist. Biography Hadrien Feraud was born into a very musical family. His parents -- who are also musicians -- immersed him at a very young age in various musical environments: ro ...

– bass guitar *

Louis Banks Louis Banks (born Dambar Bahadur Budaprithi on 11 February 1941) is an Indian film composer, record producer, keyboardist, and singer. He has often been referred to as the 'Godfather of Indian jazz'.Ranjit Barot Ranjit Barot (born 1959) is an Indian film score composer, music director, music arranger, drummer and singer based in Mumbai, India. He is a longtime associate of A. R. Rahman. He has been described by guitar legend John McLaughlin as "one of ...

– drums *

Sivamani Sivamani (1 December 1959), commonly known by his stage name Drums Sivamani, is an Indian percussionist. He plays many instruments including drums, octoban, darbuka, udukai, ghatam and kanjira. He performed drumming during the IPL Championships ...

– percussion, konokol (6) * George Brooks –

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...

(1) *

Debashish Bhattacharya Debashish Bhattacharya ( bn, দেবাশীষ ভট্টাচার্য, hi, देवाशीष भट्टाचार्य, Devāśiṣ Bhaṭṭācārya, born 12 January 1963) is an Indian classical musician, singer, composer ...

– Hindustani slide guitar (2) *

Shashank Subramanyam Shashank Subramanyam (born 14 October 1978) is a flutist from India and specializes in Indian classical music. The Govt. of France awarded the prestigious Knighthood / title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He is also th ...

–

bamboo flute The bamboo flute, especially the bone flute, is one of the oldest musical instruments known. Examples of Paleolithic bone flutes have survived for more than 40,000 years, to be discovered by archaeologists. While the oldest flutes currently kno ...

(4) *

Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan (born 3 March 1967) is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio that writes music for Indian films. Personal life and early career Shankar Mahadevan was born in Chembur, Mumbai into a Tami ...

– voice (5) *

U. Rajesh Uppalapu Rajesh is an Indian mandolin player of Carnatic classical music, a music producer, and a composer. Career His work with John McLaughlin's album ''Floating Point'', received a Grammy nomination in 2009. He was the youngest participant in ...

– electric mandolin (6) * Naveen Kumar – bamboo flute (7) *

Niladri Kumar Pandit Niladri Kumar is an Indian sitar player and music composer. Early life He was born to sitar player Kartick Kumar, a disciple of Ravi Shankar. He started learning sitar under his father at the age of four. Kumar gave his first public per ...

–

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

(8)

References

{{Authority control 2008 albums John McLaughlin (musician) albums Abstract Logix albums