The Mahavishnu Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion
group, led by John McLaughlin
, that debuted in 1971, dissolved in 1976 and reunited from 1984 to 1987.
on acoustic and electric guitars, with members Billy Cobham
on drums, Rick Laird
on bass guitar, Jan Hammer
on electric and acoustic piano and synthesizer, and Jerry Goodman
on violin. This first incarnation of the ensemble was a multinational group: McLaughlin is from Yorkshire
, England; Cobham from Panama; Hammer from Prague
, Czechoslovakia; Goodman from Chicago, Illinois; and Laird from Dublin, Ireland. This group was considered an important pioneer in the jazz fusion
movement. McLaughlin and Cobham met while performing and recording with Miles Davis
during the Bitches Brew
sessions. McLaughlin was also influenced in his conception of the band by his studies with Indian guru
Sri Chinmoy
, who encouraged him to take the name "Mahavishnu" which means "Divine compassion, power and justice." or simply "Great Vishnu", an aspect of Vishnu.
McLaughlin had particular ideas for the instrumentation of the group, in keeping with his highly original concept of genre-blending in composition. He particularly wanted a violinist as an integral contributor to its overall sound. As the group evolved, McLaughlin adopted what became his trademark: a double neck guitar
(six-string and twelve-string) which allowed for a great degree of diversity in musical textures, and Hammer became one of the first to play a Mini Moog synthesizer
in an ensemble, which enabled him to add more sounds and solo more freely, on the guitar and the violin.
Their musical style was an original blend of genres: they combined the high-volume electrified rock sound that had been pioneered by Jimi Hendrix
(whom McLaughlin had jammed with on his initial arrival in New York as part of the Tony Williams Lifetime), complex rhythms in unusual time signatures that reflected McLaughlin's interest in Indian classical music
as well as funk
, and harmonic influence from European classical music. The group's early music, represented on such albums as The Inner Mounting Flame
(1971) and Birds of Fire
(1973),
was entirely instrumental; their later albums had songs which sometimes featured R&B or even gospel
/hymn
-styled vocals. In the aforementioned two albums, the group goes from an energetic fusion of upbeat genres (a representative example of which is the song "Vital Transformation") to very serene, chamber music-like tunes, such as "A Lotus On Irish Streams," a composition for acoustic guitar, piano and violin, and "Thousand Island Park," which drops the violin and incorporates double bass; or from low-key to extremely busy in a single piece, such as "Open Country Joy."
Due to the pressures of sudden fame, exhaustion and a lack of communication, the original band began to fray at the edges as 1973 rolled on. The stress was further exacerbated by a disastrous recording session at London's Trident Studios
that found some of the players not speaking to others. The project was never fully completed. The last straw came as John McLaughlin read an interview in Crawdaddy!
magazine in which Jan Hammer and Jerry Goodman expressed their frustrations with John's leadership style. An effort to fix things back in New York fell short. Almost 30 years later, during the beginning of a renaissance of Mahavishnu's music, the incomplete album from the failed London recording was released as The Lost Trident Sessions
.
(who had performed with Frank Zappa
and the Mothers) on violin, Gayle Moran
on keyboards, Ralphe Armstrong on bass, and Narada Michael Walden
on percussion, Steven Kindler and Carol Shive on violin, Marcia Westbrook on viola, Phil Hirschi on cello, Steve Frankevich and Bob Knapp on brass. This "new" Mahavishnu Orchestra (which McLaughlin has reportedly called the "real" Mahavishnu Orchestra) changed personnel slightly between 1974's Apocalypse and Visions of the Emerald Beyond
in 1975. Apocalypse was recorded in London with the London Symphony Orchestra
under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas
, with George Martin
producing and Geoff Emerick
engineering the sessions. The band was then reduced to a four-piece for 1976's Inner Worlds
, with Jean Luc-Ponty leaving and Gayle Moran being replaced with Stu Goldberg.
to explore his interest in Indian music; following that, he went on to form other bands including the One Truth Band and the Translators, and a guitar trio with Al Di Meola
and flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia
.
In 1984, McLaughlin reformed the Mahavishnu Orchestra with Bill Evans
on saxophones, Jonas Hellborg
on bass, Mitchel Forman
on keyboards, and original member Billy Cobham
on drums. Cobham participated in the sessions for their self-titled 1984 album, but was replaced by Danny Gottlieb
for live work, and Jim Beard
replaced Mitchel Forman
for the latter period of this band's life. This band's overall sound was radically different from the original Mahavishnu Orchestra, in particular because of McLaughlin's extensive use of the Synclavier
synthesiser system.
McLaughlin then worked with a number of incarnations of the John McLaughlin Guitar Trio, all of which featured Trilok Gurtu on percussion, and, at various times, Jeff Berlin
, Kai Eckhardt
, and Dominique di Piazza on bass. He then formed the Free Spirits, a guitar, organ and drums trio, with Joey DeFrancesco
on Hammond organ and trumpet, and Dennis Chambers
on drums, as well as touring and recording again with Al Di Meola
and Paco de Lucía
.
Billy Cobham
went on to perform as a solo artist, recording many albums including Total Eclipse, Crosswinds and Spectrum, and toured with the "Billy Cobham & George Duke
Band" for many years.
Jan Hammer
went on to collaborate with Jeff Beck
(together with Narada Michael Walden
) in Beck's acclaimed album Wired; and also recorded a live album with the latter. He released several solo albums and composed the theme and incidental music for the hit 1980s TV show, Miami Vice
.
Jerry Goodman
recorded the album Like Children with Mahavishnu keyboard alumnus Jan Hammer. Starting in 1985 he recorded three solo albums for Private Music
and went on tour with his own band, as well as with Shadowfax
and the Dixie Dregs
.
Rick Laird
played with Stan Getz
and Chick Corea
as well as releasing one solo LP, Soft Focus
, but retired from the music business in 1982. He has worked both as a bass teacher and photographer since then.
There has been a significant resurgence of interest in the Mahavishnu Orchestra in recent years, with bands like The Mars Volta
and Cynic
naming them as an influence. There have been no less than five major tribute recordings released. In addition, a very comprehensive and critically acclaimed book Power, Passion and Beauty: The Story of the Legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra by Walter Kolosky (AbstractLogix Books) has been published. It contains interviews with all of the band’s members and quotes obtained specifically for the book from many famous admirers such as Jeff Beck
, Pat Metheny
, the artist Peter Max
, Bill Bruford
and many more. The Mahavishnu Orchestra have also been sampled in contemporary music, most notably by Massive Attack
on their track "Unfinished Sympathy
", which sampled "Planetary Citizen". "You Know, You Know" was sampled in Massive Attack's "One Love", Mos Def's "Kalifornia."
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
group, led by John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
, that debuted in 1971, dissolved in 1976 and reunited from 1984 to 1987.
First Mahavishnu Orchestra
The band's original lineup featured "Mahavishnu" John McLaughlinJohn McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
on acoustic and electric guitars, with members Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
on drums, Rick Laird
Rick Laird
Richard Quentin 'Rick' Laird is a jazz musician, born on 5 February 1941. He is a bass player best known for his place in The Mahavishnu Orchestra....
on bass guitar, Jan Hammer
Jan Hammer
Jan Hammer is a composer, pianist and keyboardist. He first gained his most visible audience while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early 1970s, as well as his film scores for television and film including "Miami Vice Theme" and "Crockett's Theme", from the popular 1980s...
on electric and acoustic piano and synthesizer, and Jerry Goodman
Jerry Goodman
Jerry Goodman is an American violinist best known for playing electric violin in the bands The Flock and the jazz fusion Mahavishnu Orchestra. Goodman actually began his musical career as The Flock's roadie before joining the band on violin. Trained in the conservatory, both of his parents were...
on violin. This first incarnation of the ensemble was a multinational group: McLaughlin is from Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, England; Cobham from Panama; Hammer from Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Czechoslovakia; Goodman from Chicago, Illinois; and Laird from Dublin, Ireland. This group was considered an important pioneer in the jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
movement. McLaughlin and Cobham met while performing and recording with Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
during the Bitches Brew
Bitches Brew
Bitches Brew is a studio double album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in April 1970 on Columbia Records. The album continued his experimentation with electric instruments previously featured on his critically acclaimed In a Silent Way album...
sessions. McLaughlin was also influenced in his conception of the band by his studies with Indian guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
Sri Chinmoy
Sri Chinmoy
Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, also known as Sri Chinmoy was an Indian spiritual teacher, poet, artist and athlete who immigrated to the U.S. in 1964., the founder of the religious organization "Sri Chinmoy Centre Church, Inc." better known as "Sri Chinmoy Centre"...
, who encouraged him to take the name "Mahavishnu" which means "Divine compassion, power and justice." or simply "Great Vishnu", an aspect of Vishnu.
McLaughlin had particular ideas for the instrumentation of the group, in keeping with his highly original concept of genre-blending in composition. He particularly wanted a violinist as an integral contributor to its overall sound. As the group evolved, McLaughlin adopted what became his trademark: a double neck guitar
Double neck guitar
A multi-neck guitar is a guitar that has multiple fingerboard necks. They exist in both electric and acoustic versions. Although multi-neck guitars are quite common today, they are not by any means a modern invention...
(six-string and twelve-string) which allowed for a great degree of diversity in musical textures, and Hammer became one of the first to play a Mini Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
in an ensemble, which enabled him to add more sounds and solo more freely, on the guitar and the violin.
Their musical style was an original blend of genres: they combined the high-volume electrified rock sound that had been pioneered by Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
(whom McLaughlin had jammed with on his initial arrival in New York as part of the Tony Williams Lifetime), complex rhythms in unusual time signatures that reflected McLaughlin's interest in Indian classical music
Indian classical music
The origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. Indian classical music has also been significantly influenced by, or syncretised with, Indian folk music and Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music...
as well as funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, and harmonic influence from European classical music. The group's early music, represented on such albums as The Inner Mounting Flame
The Inner Mounting Flame
The Inner Mounting Flame is Mahavishnu Orchestra's first studio album, released in 1971 and consisting solely of original compositions by John McLaughlin....
(1971) and Birds of Fire
Birds of Fire
Birds of Fire is Mahavishnu Orchestra's second album. It was released in the first half of 1973 and is the last studio album by the original Mahavishnu Orchestra line-up, before the group dissolved, although Between Nothingness and Eternity, a live album, was recorded and released later that same...
(1973),
was entirely instrumental; their later albums had songs which sometimes featured R&B or even gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
/hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
-styled vocals. In the aforementioned two albums, the group goes from an energetic fusion of upbeat genres (a representative example of which is the song "Vital Transformation") to very serene, chamber music-like tunes, such as "A Lotus On Irish Streams," a composition for acoustic guitar, piano and violin, and "Thousand Island Park," which drops the violin and incorporates double bass; or from low-key to extremely busy in a single piece, such as "Open Country Joy."
The split of the original line-up
| (1971–1973) |
|
|---|---|
| (1974–1975) |
|
| (1976) |
|
| (1976–1983) | BAND SPLIT |
| (1984) |
|
| (1985–1986) |
|
| (1987) |
|
Due to the pressures of sudden fame, exhaustion and a lack of communication, the original band began to fray at the edges as 1973 rolled on. The stress was further exacerbated by a disastrous recording session at London's Trident Studios
Trident Studios
Trident Studios was a British recording facility, originally located at 17 St. Anne's Court in London's Soho district. It was constructed in 1967 by Norman Sheffield a drummer of former 1960's group The Hunters and his Brother Barry....
that found some of the players not speaking to others. The project was never fully completed. The last straw came as John McLaughlin read an interview in Crawdaddy!
Crawdaddy!
Crawdaddy! was the first U.S. magazine of rock and roll music criticism. Created in 1966 by college student Paul Williams in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music, Crawdaddy! was self-described as "the first magazine to take rock and roll...
magazine in which Jan Hammer and Jerry Goodman expressed their frustrations with John's leadership style. An effort to fix things back in New York fell short. Almost 30 years later, during the beginning of a renaissance of Mahavishnu's music, the incomplete album from the failed London recording was released as The Lost Trident Sessions
The Lost Trident Sessions
The Lost Trident Sessions was an incomplete album by the Mahavishnu Orchestra. The album was recorded in 1973, but was not released until 1999, by Columbia/Legacy....
.
Second Mahavishnu Orchestra
After the original group dissolved, it reformed in 1974 with a new cast of musicians behind McLaughlin: Jean-Luc PontyJean-Luc Ponty
Jean-Luc Ponty is a French virtuoso violinist and jazz composer.- Early years:Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians on 29 September 1942 in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano...
(who had performed with Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
and the Mothers) on violin, Gayle Moran
Gayle Moran
Gayle Moran is a vocalist, keyboard player , and songwriter. She was a member of the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the middle 70s, appearing on Apocalypse and Visions of the Emerald Beyond . She later appeared on recordings by Return to Forever, e.g. Musicmagic , and Chick Corea, e.g...
on keyboards, Ralphe Armstrong on bass, and Narada Michael Walden
Narada Michael Walden
Narada Michael Walden is an American producer, drummer, singer, and songwriter. He was given the name Narada by guru Sri Chinmoy in the early 1970s and his musical career spans three decades, in which he was awarded several gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards...
on percussion, Steven Kindler and Carol Shive on violin, Marcia Westbrook on viola, Phil Hirschi on cello, Steve Frankevich and Bob Knapp on brass. This "new" Mahavishnu Orchestra (which McLaughlin has reportedly called the "real" Mahavishnu Orchestra) changed personnel slightly between 1974's Apocalypse and Visions of the Emerald Beyond
Visions of the Emerald Beyond
Visions of the Emerald Beyond is an album by the jazz fusion group Mahavishnu Orchestra, and the second released by its second incarnation....
in 1975. Apocalypse was recorded in London with the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas
Michael Tilson Thomas
Michael Tilson Thomas is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is currently music director of the San Francisco Symphony, and artistic director of the New World Symphony Orchestra.-Early years:...
, with George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
producing and Geoff Emerick
Geoff Emerick
Geoffrey Emerick is an English recording studio audio engineer, who is best known for his work with The Beatles' albums Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles and Abbey Road...
engineering the sessions. The band was then reduced to a four-piece for 1976's Inner Worlds
Inner Worlds
Inner Worlds is an album by the Mahavishnu Orchestra. It was the group's sixth album release.In 1975, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and keyboardist Gayle Moran left the band. Also, all string and horn accompaniments the group used on its previous album, Visions of the Emerald Beyond, were dismissed...
, with Jean Luc-Ponty leaving and Gayle Moran being replaced with Stu Goldberg.
Later developments
After the dissolution of this version of the Orchestra, McLaughlin formed another group called ShaktiShakti (band)
Shakti was a group which played a novel acoustic fusion music which combined Indian music with elements of jazz; it was perhaps the earliest practitioner of the musical genre world fusion....
to explore his interest in Indian music; following that, he went on to form other bands including the One Truth Band and the Translators, and a guitar trio with Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date...
and flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia
Paco de Lucía
Paco de Lucía, born Francisco Sánchez Gómez , is a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist and composer. He is considered by many to be one of the finest guitarists in the world and the greatest guitarist of the flamenco genre...
.
In 1984, McLaughlin reformed the Mahavishnu Orchestra with Bill Evans
Bill Evans (saxophonist)
Bill Evans is an American jazz saxophonist. His father was a classical piano prodigy and until junior high school Evans studied classical clarinet. Early in his studies he was able to hear such artists as Sonny Stitt and Stan Getz live at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago...
on saxophones, Jonas Hellborg
Jonas Hellborg
Jonas Hellborg is a Swedish bass guitarist. He has collaborated with John McLaughlin, Ustad Sultan Khan, Fazal Qureshi, Bill Laswell, Shawn Lane, Jens Johansson, Michael Shrieve, V. Selvaganesh, Mattias IA Eklundh and Buckethead....
on bass, Mitchel Forman
Mitchel Forman
Mitchel Forman is a jazz and fusion keyboard player currently residing in Southern California.-Biography & Music Career:...
on keyboards, and original member Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
on drums. Cobham participated in the sessions for their self-titled 1984 album, but was replaced by Danny Gottlieb
Danny Gottlieb
Danny Gottlieb is a freelance drummer who has performed as part of the Pat Metheny Group and Mahavishnu Orchestra. He is also a member of the University of North Florida jazz faculty, where he teaches as a fulltime Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies.- Biography :Danny graduated from the...
for live work, and Jim Beard
Jim Beard
James Arthur Beard is an American jazz pianist and keyboardist, contemporary instrumental composer, arranger and record producer.- Life and career :...
replaced Mitchel Forman
Mitchel Forman
Mitchel Forman is a jazz and fusion keyboard player currently residing in Southern California.-Biography & Music Career:...
for the latter period of this band's life. This band's overall sound was radically different from the original Mahavishnu Orchestra, in particular because of McLaughlin's extensive use of the Synclavier
Synclavier
The Synclavier System was an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation, manufactured by New England Digital Corporation, Norwich, VT. The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at Dartmouth College with the collaboration of...
synthesiser system.
McLaughlin then worked with a number of incarnations of the John McLaughlin Guitar Trio, all of which featured Trilok Gurtu on percussion, and, at various times, Jeff Berlin
Jeff Berlin
Jeff Berlin is an American jazz, jazz fusion and progressive rock electric bass player.Jeff Berlin's bass playing is somewhat similar to that of Jaco Pastorius, though Berlin plays a fretted bass and has stated his distaste for Jaco imitators.-Early life:Jeff Berlin was born to parents who were...
, Kai Eckhardt
Kai Eckhardt
Kai Eckhardt is a German musician and composer who plays bass, best known for his work with John McLaughlin, Vital Information, the band he co-founded Garaj Mahal and Billy Cobham...
, and Dominique di Piazza on bass. He then formed the Free Spirits, a guitar, organ and drums trio, with Joey DeFrancesco
Joey DeFrancesco
Joey DeFrancesco is an American jazz organist, trumpeter, and vocalist. Down Beat's Critics and Readers Poll selected him as the top jazz organist every year since 2003.DeFrancesco was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania...
on Hammond organ and trumpet, and Dennis Chambers
Dennis Chambers
Dennis Chambers is an American drummer who has recorded and performed with John Scofield, George Duke, Brecker Brothers, Santana, Parliament/Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, Niacin, Mike Stern, Greg Howe, and many others. Despite a lack of formal training, Chambers has become well known among...
on drums, as well as touring and recording again with Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date...
and Paco de Lucía
Paco de Lucía
Paco de Lucía, born Francisco Sánchez Gómez , is a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist and composer. He is considered by many to be one of the finest guitarists in the world and the greatest guitarist of the flamenco genre...
.
Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
went on to perform as a solo artist, recording many albums including Total Eclipse, Crosswinds and Spectrum, and toured with the "Billy Cobham & George Duke
George Duke
George Duke is a multi-faceted American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He has worked with numerous acclaimed artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and professor of music...
Band" for many years.
Jan Hammer
Jan Hammer
Jan Hammer is a composer, pianist and keyboardist. He first gained his most visible audience while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early 1970s, as well as his film scores for television and film including "Miami Vice Theme" and "Crockett's Theme", from the popular 1980s...
went on to collaborate with Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
(together with Narada Michael Walden
Narada Michael Walden
Narada Michael Walden is an American producer, drummer, singer, and songwriter. He was given the name Narada by guru Sri Chinmoy in the early 1970s and his musical career spans three decades, in which he was awarded several gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards...
) in Beck's acclaimed album Wired; and also recorded a live album with the latter. He released several solo albums and composed the theme and incidental music for the hit 1980s TV show, Miami Vice
Miami Vice
Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...
.
Jerry Goodman
Jerry Goodman
Jerry Goodman is an American violinist best known for playing electric violin in the bands The Flock and the jazz fusion Mahavishnu Orchestra. Goodman actually began his musical career as The Flock's roadie before joining the band on violin. Trained in the conservatory, both of his parents were...
recorded the album Like Children with Mahavishnu keyboard alumnus Jan Hammer. Starting in 1985 he recorded three solo albums for Private Music
Private Music
Private Music is a United States record company founded in 1984 by experimental musician Peter Baumann, as a home for instrumental music. Initially signing such artists as Yanni, Suzanne Ciani, Patrick O'Hearn, and Baumann's former bandmates Tangerine Dream, the record label specialized in New Age...
and went on tour with his own band, as well as with Shadowfax
Shadowfax (band)
Shadowfax was a new age/electronic musical group, best known for their albums Shadowfax and Folksongs for a Nuclear Village. In 1988 they won the Grammy for Best New Age Performance for Folksongs for a Nuclear Village...
and the Dixie Dregs
Dixie Dregs
The Dixie Dregs are an American band formed in the 1970s. Their mostly instrumental music fuses jazz, southern rock, bluegrass and classical forms in an often unique style.-Formation and early years:...
.
Rick Laird
Rick Laird
Richard Quentin 'Rick' Laird is a jazz musician, born on 5 February 1941. He is a bass player best known for his place in The Mahavishnu Orchestra....
played with Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
and Chick Corea
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
as well as releasing one solo LP, Soft Focus
Soft Focus
Soft Focus is the fifth album released by the Norwegian band Euroboys. It peaked at #2 on the Norwegian album charts.-Track listing:#"Break Away"#"Sleep 'Til Tomorrow"#"Hold On"#"Fears Be Gone"#"Topanga"#"One-Way Street"#"24 Years"...
, but retired from the music business in 1982. He has worked both as a bass teacher and photographer since then.
There has been a significant resurgence of interest in the Mahavishnu Orchestra in recent years, with bands like The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
and Cynic
Cynic (band)
Cynic is an American progressive rock band, incorporating experimental music, alternative, metal and jazz fusion elements, founded in Miami, Florida and currently based in Los Angeles, California. Their first album, Focus, released on September 14, 1993, is widely regarded as a landmark release of...
naming them as an influence. There have been no less than five major tribute recordings released. In addition, a very comprehensive and critically acclaimed book Power, Passion and Beauty: The Story of the Legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra by Walter Kolosky (AbstractLogix Books) has been published. It contains interviews with all of the band’s members and quotes obtained specifically for the book from many famous admirers such as Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
, Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
, the artist Peter Max
Peter Max
Peter Max is a German-born Jewish American artist. At first, works in this style appeared on posters and were seen on the walls of college dorms all across America. Max then became fascinated with new printing techniques that allowed for four-color reproduction on product merchandise...
, Bill Bruford
Bill Bruford
William Scott "Bill" Bruford is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner. He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring...
and many more. The Mahavishnu Orchestra have also been sampled in contemporary music, most notably by Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
on their track "Unfinished Sympathy
Unfinished Sympathy
"Unfinished Sympathy" is a song by English electronica group Massive Attack, from their debut album Blue Lines . The song was written collaboratively by the members of the group , with Jonathan "Jonny Dollar" Sharp and Shara Nelson, the latter providing lead vocals for the song...
", which sampled "Planetary Citizen". "You Know, You Know" was sampled in Massive Attack's "One Love", Mos Def's "Kalifornia."
Discography
| 1971 | The Inner Mounting Flame The Inner Mounting Flame The Inner Mounting Flame is Mahavishnu Orchestra's first studio album, released in 1971 and consisting solely of original compositions by John McLaughlin.... |
Full-Length |
| 1973 | Birds of Fire Birds of Fire Birds of Fire is Mahavishnu Orchestra's second album. It was released in the first half of 1973 and is the last studio album by the original Mahavishnu Orchestra line-up, before the group dissolved, although Between Nothingness and Eternity, a live album, was recorded and released later that same... |
Full-Length |
| 1973 | The Lost Trident Sessions The Lost Trident Sessions The Lost Trident Sessions was an incomplete album by the Mahavishnu Orchestra. The album was recorded in 1973, but was not released until 1999, by Columbia/Legacy.... |
Released in 1999 |
| 1973 | Between Nothingness and Eternity Between Nothingness and Eternity Between Nothingness and Eternity is the first live album of Mahavishnu Orchestra, and last with the original line-up, released in 1973. According to the Mahavishnu Orchestra Gigs listing by Walter Kolosky, it was recorded live at the Schaefer Music Festival, held in Central Park, New York on August... |
Live Album |
| 1974 | Apocalypse | Full-Length |
| 1975 | Visions of the Emerald Beyond Visions of the Emerald Beyond Visions of the Emerald Beyond is an album by the jazz fusion group Mahavishnu Orchestra, and the second released by its second incarnation.... |
Full-Length |
| 1976 | Inner Worlds Inner Worlds Inner Worlds is an album by the Mahavishnu Orchestra. It was the group's sixth album release.In 1975, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and keyboardist Gayle Moran left the band. Also, all string and horn accompaniments the group used on its previous album, Visions of the Emerald Beyond, were dismissed... |
Full-Length |
| 1980 | The Best of Mahavishnu Orchestra | Full-Length (compilation) |
| 1984 | Mahavishnu Mahavishnu (album) Mahavishnu is an album by the Mahavishnu Orchestra, released in 1984 by Warner Bros. Records. In 1980's, McLaughlin reformed the Mahavishnu Orchestra for release of the two albums Mahavishnu and Adventures in Radioland... |
Full-Length |
| 1986 | Adventures in Radioland Adventures in Radioland Adventures in Radioland is a 1987 album by the John McLaughlin-headed group Mahavishnu, released by the Relativity label which represents McLauglin's interest in electronic technology... |
Full-Length |
| 1994 | The Collection | Full-Length (compilation) |
Sources
- Kolosky, Walter (2006). Power, Passion and Beauty: The Story of the Legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra
External links
- Power, Passion and Beauty, The Story Of The Legendary Mahavishnu-Orchestra
- Official Jan Hammer website
- Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miami Vice and More - Jan Hammer interview
- "Acceptable [sic] Fusion: the Mahavishnu Orchestra, 1973", by Dinky Dawson, Crawdaddy!Crawdaddy!Crawdaddy! was the first U.S. magazine of rock and roll music criticism. Created in 1966 by college student Paul Williams in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music, Crawdaddy! was self-described as "the first magazine to take rock and roll...
, September 19, 2007. - "Two Sides to Every Satori", a John McLaughlin interview, Crawdaddy!Crawdaddy!Crawdaddy! was the first U.S. magazine of rock and roll music criticism. Created in 1966 by college student Paul Williams in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music, Crawdaddy! was self-described as "the first magazine to take rock and roll...
, November 1973. - John McLaughlin video interview at allaboutjazz.com
- Jean-Luc Ponty interview at Allaboutjazz.com