 The original lineup in 1972, featuring Billy Cobham, John McLaughlin, Jerry Goodman, Jan Hammer and Rick Laird. The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz-rock fusion group that debuted in 1971 and dissolved in 1976. Download high resolution version (1038x644, 81 KB)Mahavishnu Orchestra screencapture of a BBC 1972 concert. ...
Download high resolution version (1038x644, 81 KB)Mahavishnu Orchestra screencapture of a BBC 1972 concert. ...
Jazz fusion (sometimes referred to simply as fusion) is a musical genre that loosely encompasses the merging of jazz with other styles, particularly rock, funk, R&B, and world music. ...
1971 (MCMLXXI) is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ...
1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...
The first Mahavishnu Orchestra
In its first version, the band was led by "Mahavishnu" John McLaughlin on acoustic and electric guitars, with members Billy Cobham on drums, Rick Laird on electric and acoustic bass, Jan Hammer on electric and acoustic piano, and Jerry Goodman on violin. The group is best known for their two most popular albums: The Inner Mounting Flame (1971) and Birds of Fire (1973). John McLaughlin (born January 4, 1942), also Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is a jazz fusion guitar player from Yorkshire in England. ...
Billy Cobham, born May 16, 1944 in Panama, is one of the worlds best and most influential drummers, best known for his jazz fusion in the 1970s, with John McLaughlins Mahavishnu Orchestra, where he pioneered a powerful style of drumming with rock and funk influences. ...
Rick Laird is a jazz musician, born on February 5, 1940. ...
Jan Hammer (born 17 April 1948) is a composer and musician. ...
Jerry Goodman is an American violinist, mostly known for playing in the fusion jazz band Mahavishnu Orchestra. ...
The Inner Mounting Flame (1971) is the Mahavishnu Orchestras first studio album. ...
Birds of Fire (1973) is the Mahavishnu Orchestras second studio album and the last one performed by the original Mahavishnu Orchestra line-up, before Jean-Luc Ponty replaced Jerry Goodman on violin and Narada Michael Walden replaced Billy Cobham on drums. ...
This group was considered an important pioneer in the jazz fusion movement, founded by Miles Davis. McLaughlin and Cobham met while performing and recording with Davis. 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." Bitches Brew (1970) by Miles Davis is probably the most important early fusion album Jazz fusion (sometimes referred to simply as fusion) is a musical genre that loosely encompasses the merging of jazz with other styles, particularly rock, funk, R&B, and world music. ...
Davis 1959 album Kind of Blue, likely the best-selling jazz album ever. ...
References This section needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...
Sri Chinmoy (born 1931), originally Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, is an Indian philosopher and spiritual teacher (guru). ...
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 the group evolved, McLaughlin adopted what became his trademark double-neck guitar (six-string and twelve-string), and Hammer added a Moog synthesizer, which enabled him to bend notes, mimicing the phrasing of McLaughlin's guitar.
Their musical style was an unprecedented blending of genres: they combined the high-volume electrified rock sound that had been pioneered by Jimi Hendrix, complex rhythms in unusual time signatures that reflected McLaughlin's interest in Indian classical music as well as funk, an improvisational concept that was rooted in Jazz as well as Indian music, and some harmonic influence from European classical music. The group's early music was entirely instrumental; their later albums had songs which sometimes featured R&B or even gospel/hymn styled vocals. In the aforementioned two albums, though, the group goes from this intense fusion of upbeat genres (the best example of which is "Noonward Race") to very serene tunes such as "A Lotus On Irish Streams" and "Thousand Island Park", which are pieces for acoustic guitar, piano and violin, or from low-key to extremely busy in a single piece, such as "Open Country Joy." Jimi Hendrix at the Royal Albert Hall, 1969 James Marshall Jimi Hendrix (27 November 1942, Seattle, Washington – 18 September 1970, London, England) was an American musician, songwriter and guitarist, widely hailed by fans and music critics as the most influential electric guitarist of all time. ...
The origins of Indian classical music (marga), the classical music of India, can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas. ...
Funk is a distinct style of music originated by African-Americans, e. ...
Jazz master Louis Armstrong remains one of the most loved and best known of all jazz musicians. ...
Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ...
The split of the original line-up In 1973 the band encountered a variety of problems. After recording a concert in Central Park, New York (eventually to be released as "Between Nothingness and Eternity") tensions started to escalate. In 1973/74 McLaughlin, Cobham, and legendary guitarist Carlos Santana began the "Love, Devotion, Surrender Tour." The three played various tracks that would later appear on an (studio) album of the same name, and Billy Cobham's 1975 "Spectrum". However, although Cobham was playing at the beginning of the USA tour, he bailed out before the album was cut in the studio. The Mahavishnu Orchestra made a quick stop in London to play a few gigs and record various tracks featured on "Between Nothingness and Eternity" as well as others. The tracks were cut at the Trident Studios in London,1974, where a dispute arose between band members regarding royalties and the band's material which, up until then, had been entirely credited to McLaughlin. The rest of the band decided that they deserved more money and recognition than they were getting, and the argument resulted in the dissolution of the original Mahavishnu Orchestra. The sessions from London were not released at the time as the rights to the music could not be allocated correctly; not until 1999, when they were released by Sony as "The Lost Trident Sessions", did this music become available. Carlos Santana in concert, Barcelona 2003 Carlos Augusto Alves Santana (born 20 July 1947 in Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico) is a Mexican–American Grammy Award-winning musician and Latin-rock guitarist. ...
Second Mahavishnu Orchestra After the first version of the group dissolved, it reformed in 1974 with a new cast of musicians behind McLaughlin: Jean-Luc Ponty (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, amongst others. 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. The band was then reduced to a four-piece for 1975's Inner Worlds. Grappelli (left) and Jean-Luc Ponty (right). ...
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, guitarist, singer and satirist. ...
Born Michael Walden in April 23, 1952, in Kalamazoo, Michigan USA given the name Narada by guru Sri Chinmoy He is a session drummer, songwriter, producer, vocalist, and his musical career spans three decades and is filled with gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards. ...
Look up Apocalypse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Apocalypse (Greek: αποκαλυψις, disclosure), is a term applied to the disclosure to certain privileged persons of something hidden from the mass of mankind. ...
Later developments After the dissolution of this version of the Orchestra, McLaughlin formed another group called Shakti to explore his interest in Indian music; following that, McLaughlin went on to form other bands including The One Truth Band & The Translators, and a guitar trio with Al Di Meola and flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia. 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. ...
Kiss my Axe (1991) Al Di Meola (born July 22, 1954) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, known, among other things, for his incredible technique and the discipline with which he plays. ...
In 1984, McLaughlin formed another band under the name Mahavishnu, Bill Evans on saxophones, Jonas Hellborg on bass, Mitchell Forman keyboards, and Danny Gottlieb on drums. Billy Cobham participated in the sessions for their self-titled 1984 album, but was replaced by Gottlieb for live work, and Jim Beard replaced Mitch Forman on keyboards for the latter period of this band's life. This band's overall sound was radically different from the original Mahavishnu Orchestra, in particular due to McLaughlin's extensive use of the Synclavier synthesiser system. The New England Digital Synclavier System was a powerful, integrated system for music synthesis and recording, first developed at Dartmouth College. ...
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-Karpeh, and Dominique di Piazza on bass. He then formed The Free Spirits, a guitar/organ/drums trio, with Joey de Francesco on Hammond organ and trumpet, and Dennis Chambers on drums, as well as touring and recording again with Al Di Meola and Paco de Lucia.
Billy Cobham went on to perform as a solo artist, cutting many albums including Total Eclipse, Crosswinds, and Spectrum, and toured with the George Duke Band for many years.
Jan Hammer went on to compose several solo albums and the theme from the hit 80's TV show, "Miami Vice."
Discography The Inner Mounting Flame (1971) is the Mahavishnu Orchestras first studio album. ...
1971 (MCMLXXI) is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ...
Birds of Fire (1973) is the Mahavishnu Orchestras second studio album and the last one performed by the original Mahavishnu Orchestra line-up, before Jean-Luc Ponty replaced Jerry Goodman on violin and Narada Michael Walden replaced Billy Cobham on drums. ...
1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ...
Between Nothingness and Eternity is the 1973 live album by the Mahavishnu Orchestra. ...
1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ...
Apocalypse (1971) is the Mahavishnu Orchestras fourth album. ...
1974 (MCMLXXIV) is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ...
1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ...
1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...
1984 (MCMLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
1986 (MCMLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
1999 (MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...
External links - Official Jan Hammer website
- Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miami Vice and More - Jan Hammer interview
- John McLaughlin on Crawdaddy, November 1973
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