The Mahavishnu Orchestra were a

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and ke ...

band formed in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of activity, from 1971 to 1976 and from 1984 to 1987. With its first line-up consisting of musicians

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was inducted into the ''Mode ...

Jan Hammer Jan Hammer () (born 17 April 1948) is a Czech-American musician, composer, and record producer. He first gained his most visible audience while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the early 1970s, as well as his film scores f ...

, Jerry Goodman, and

Rick Laird Richard Quentin Laird (February 5, 1941 – July 4, 2021) was an Irish musician, photographer, teacher, and author best known as the bassist and a founding member of the jazz fusion band Mahavishnu Orchestra, with which he performed from 1971 to ...

, the band received its initial acclaim for its complex, intense music consisting of a blend of

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, and

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound effects and recording te ...

as well as its dynamic live performances between 1971 and 1973. Many members of the band have gone on to acclaimed careers of their own in the jazz and jazz fusion genres.

History

1971–1974: First incarnation

By mid-1971, McLaughlin had been a member of

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

' band and Tony Williams' Lifetime, and released three solo albums. He then set about forming his own

group, the first line-up of which featured Panamanian drummer

, Irish bassist

, Czech keyboardist

, and American violinist Jerry Goodman. Cobham and Goodman had played on McLaughlin's third solo album ''

My Goal's Beyond ''My Goal's Beyond'' is the third solo album (after ''Extrapolation'' and ''Devotion'') by guitarist John McLaughlin. The album was originally released in 1971 on Douglas Records in the US. It was later reissued by Douglas/Casablanca (1976), El ...

'' (1971). McLaughlin's first choice for violinist was Frenchman Jean-Luc Ponty, but he was unable to join due to immigration problems. After listening to various albums he hired Goodman, formerly of The Flock. Though American bassist

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (since 1 ...

was the first person McLaughlin wanted, Laird had known McLaughlin for several years and accepted the invitation. Hammer was found through a mutual friendship with Miroslav Vitous of the jazz fusion group

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian virtuoso keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer and vocalis ...

. The group's name originates from Indian spiritual leader and guru

Sri Chinmoy Chinmoy Kumar Ghose (27 August 1931 – 11 October 2007), better known as Sri Chinmoy, was an Indian spiritual leader who taught meditation in the West after moving to New York City in 1964.Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

and "vishnu" after the Hindu deity

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

. With the line-up secured, the five met in New York City in July 1971 and rehearsed for one week. They adopted an instrumental fusion sound characterised by electric rock, funk, complex time signatures, and arrangements influenced by McLaughlin's interest in

. Their debut gigs followed at the Gaslight at the Au Go Go as the opening act for bluesman

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often in ...

. McLaughlin recalled: "The first set was shaky but the second set just took off and every night it was great. They wanted to hold us over and a few days after the second week ... we went into the studio". McLaughlin secured a record deal with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

, giving the green light to record an album. JohnMcLaughlin

'' The Inner Mounting Flame'' was released in November 1971, peaking at No. 11 on the ''Billboard'' Jazz Albums and No. 89 on the ''Billboard'' 200. This was followed by '' Birds of Fire'' (1973). Due to the pressures of sudden fame, exhaustion and a lack of communication, the original band began to tire. The stress was further exacerbated by problematic recording sessions in June 1973 at London's

Trident Studios Trident Studios was a British recording facility, located at 17 St Anne's Court in London's Soho district between 1968 and 1981. It was constructed in 1967 by Norman Sheffield, drummer of the 1960s group the Hunters, and his brother Barry. ...

that found some of the players not speaking to others. Their project was never fully completed. Cobham was disappointed and felt that the group "were knocking on the door of something really new. Something unique, something that had never been done before in rock and roll." This was followed by the release of their first live album '' Between Nothingness & Eternity'', which featured material from the Trident sessions. Later in 1973, Hammer and Goodman expressed their frustrations about McLaughlin's leadership in an interview for '' Crawdaddy'' magazine. An attempt was made to improve group relations by having each member introduced as they walked on stage, and tunes by Hammer, Laird, and Goodman mixed into the live set. It was not enough, however, and the five played their final gig on December 30. According to Laird, the band did not say goodbye to each other afterward. In January 1974, McLaughlin split the group. Laird spoke about the group weeks later, claiming that despite McLaughlin's having composed most of the group's tunes, the rest of the band contributed "a great deal" and did not receive credit. He was also critical of Cobham's claim that the group had rejected his musical ideas, and that Hammer, Goodman, and Laird pushed to have their songs performed because of "an ego trip".

1974–1976: Second incarnation

After the original group dissolved, it reformed in 1974 with a new cast of musicians behind McLaughlin: Jean-Luc Ponty (who had performed with

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of ...

and the Mothers of Invention) on violin,

Gayle Moran Gayle Moran (born 1943) is a vocalist, keyboardist, and songwriter. She is from Spring Arbor, Michigan and graduated from Spring Arbor High School (now Spring Arbor University) in 1961. She was a member of the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the ...

on keyboards, Ralphe Armstrong on bass, and

Narada Michael Walden Narada Michael Walden ( ; Michael Walden; born April 23, 1952) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He acquired the nickname Narada from Sri Chinmoy. He began his career as a drummer, working primarily in the jaz ...

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 Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...

'' and '' Visions of the Emerald Beyond'' in 1975. ''Apocalypse'' was recorded in London with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, with

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...

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 after a heated disagreement about writing credits on the ''Visions'' album, and Gayle Moran being replaced with Stu Goldberg. Ponty would later settle over the royalties for the tracks ''Pegasus'' and ''Opus 1'' for an undisclosed amount of money.

1984–1987: Third incarnation

After the dissolution of this version of the Orchestra, McLaughlin formed another group called

Shakti In Hinduism, especially Shaktism (a theological tradition of Hinduism), Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; lit. "Energy, ability, strength, effort, power, capability") is the primordial cosmic energy, female in aspect, and r ...

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 Albert Laurence Di Meola (born July 22, 1954) is an American guitarist. Known for his works in jazz fusion and world music, he began his career as a guitarist of the group Return to Forever in 1974. Between the 1970s and 1980s, albums such as ...

and flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía. In 1984, McLaughlin reformed the Mahavishnu Orchestra with

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

on saxophones, Jonas Hellborg on bass, Mitchel Forman on keyboards, and original member

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 different from the original Mahavishnu Orchestra, in particular because of McLaughlin's extensive use of the

Synclavier The Synclavier is an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the earl ...

synthesizer system.

Post-Mahavishnu Orchestra

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 Dominique Di Piazza, born in Lyon, France, in 1959, is an bass guitar, electric bass player. Di Piazza discovered the bass in 1979. Already a self-taught guitarist, Di Piazza developed a distinctive, but unorthodox 'closed palm' technique of pick ...

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 Dennis Milton Chambers (born May 9, 1959) is an American drummer. He was inducted into the '' Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2001. Early life Chambers was born on May 9, 1959. He began drumming at the age of four years, and was gigging in Ba ...

on drums, as well as touring and recording again with

and Paco de Lucía.

went on to perform as a solo artist, recording many albums including '' Total Eclipse'', '' Crosswinds'' and ''

Spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors ...

'', and toured with the "Billy Cobham &

George Duke George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...

Band" for many years.

went on to collaborate with

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a fo ...

(together with

) in Beck's acclaimed album ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

'' and also recorded a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

with Beck. He released several solo albums and composed the theme and incidental music for the hit 1980s TV show, ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann (director), Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo ...

''. Jerry Goodman recorded the album '' Like Children'' with Mahavishnu keyboard alumnus Jan Hammer. Starting in 1985 he recorded three solo albums for

Private Music Private Music was an American independent record label founded in 1984 by musician Peter Baumann as a "home for instrumental music". Baumann signed Ravi Shankar, Yanni, Suzanne Ciani, Andy Summers, Patrick O'Hearn, Leo Kottke, and his former ba ...

and went on tour with his own band, as well as with Shadowfax and the

Dixie Dregs The Dixie Dregs is an American rock band from Augusta, Georgia. Formed in 1970, the band's performance consists entirely of instrumentals that fuse elements of diverse genres such as rock, classical music, country, jazz and bluegrass into an e ...

played with

Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre ...

and

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", " 500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and ...

as well as releasing one solo LP, ''Soft Focus'', but retired from the music business in 1982. He had worked both as a bass teacher and photographer since then. He died on July 4, 2021, at the age of 80.

Legacy

Mahavishnu Orchestra has been cited as an influence on many bands of different genres.

Greg Ginn Gregory Regis Ginn (born June 8, 1954) is an American guitarist, bassist, singer and songwriter, best known for being the leader, primary songwriter, and the only continuous member of the hardcore punk band Black Flag, which he founded and led ...

, guitarist and main composer of

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...

band Black Flag, cited their early records which inspired him to record more progressive guitar work and even record instrumental albums. There has been a resurgence of interest in the Mahavishnu Orchestra in recent years, with bands like The Mars Volta,

Opeth Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal/ rock band from Stockholm, formed in 1990 by lead vocalist David Isberg. The group has been through several personnel changes, including the replacement of every original member; notably Isberg in 1992. Mik ...

Black Midi Black MIDI is a music genre consisting of compositions that use MIDI files to create a song or a remix containing a large number of notes. People who make black MIDIs are known as blackers. However, there are no specific criteria of what is con ...

, and

the Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan was an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of odd time si ...

, naming them as an influence. Jon Fishman, the drummer for Phish has also cited them as an influence. There have been no less than five major tribute recordings released. In addition, a 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

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progr ...

, the artist

Peter Max Peter Max (born Peter Max Finkelstein, October 19, 1937) is a German-American artist known for using bright colors in his work. Works by Max are associated with the visual arts and culture of the 1960s, particularly psychedelic art and pop art. ...

, 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 "Unfinished Sympathy" is a 1991 song by the English trip hop group Massive Attack, released under the temporary group name Massive. It was written by the three band members Robert "3D" Del Naja, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Mars ...

", which sampled "Planetary Citizen", resulting in the band's being sued by Ralphe Armstrong, who received a healthy out-of-court settlement. "You Know, You Know" was sampled on Massive Attack's "One Love" and Mos Def's "Kalifornia."

Band members

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:550 PlotArea = left:200 bottom:120 top:0 right:100 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1971 till:01/01/1988 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1971 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1971 Colors = id:voc value:red legend:Vocals id:ww value:gray(0.5) legend:Wind_instruments id:viol value:drabgreen legend:Violin id:g value:green legend:Guitars id:key value:purple legend:Keyboards id:b value:blue legend:Bass id:dr value:orange legend:Drums id:alb value:black legend:Studio_releases LineData = at:14/08/1971 layer:back at:01/03/1973 at:01/07/1974 at:01/02/1975 at:01/01/1976 at:01/07/1984 at:01/01/1987 PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,–4) bar:John McLaughlin from:start till:01/07/1976 color:g bar:John McLaughlin from:01/12/1974 till:01/07/1976 color:voc width:3 bar:John McLaughlin from:01/04/1984 till:end color:g bar:Jerry Goodman from:start till:01/01/1974 color:viol bar:Jean-Luc Ponty from:01/01/1974 till:01/12/1975 color:viol bar:Jean-Luc Ponty from:01/12/1974 till:01/12/1975 color:voc width:3 bar:Bill Evans from:01/04/1984 till:end color:ww bar:Bill Evans from:01/01/1986 till:end color:key width:3 bar:Jan Hammer from:start till:01/01/1974 color:key bar:Gayle Moran from:01/01/1974 till:01/12/1975 color:key bar:Gayle Moran from:01/01/1974 till:01/12/1975 color:voc width:3 bar:Stu Goldberg from:01/12/1975 till:01/07/1976 color:key bar:Stu Goldberg from:01/12/1975 till:01/07/1976 color:voc width:3 bar:Mitchel Forman from:01/04/1984 till:01/05/1987 color:key bar:Jim Beard from:01/05/1987 till:end color:key bar:Rick Laird from:start till:01/01/1974 color:b bar:Ralphe Armstrong from:01/01/1974 till:01/07/1976 color:b bar:Ralphe Armstrong from:01/01/1974 till:01/12/1975 color:voc width:3 bar:Jonas Hellborg from:01/04/1984 till:end color:b bar:Billy Cobham from:start till:01/01/1974 color:dr bar:Billy Cobham from:01/04/1984 till:01/01/1985 color:dr bar:Narada Michael Walden from:01/01/1974 till:01/07/1976 color:dr bar:Narada Michael Walden from:01/01/1974 till:01/07/1976 color:voc width:3 bar:Danny Gottlieb from:01/01/1985 till:end color:dr

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

Sources

* Kolosky, Walter (2006). ''Power, Passion and Beauty: The Story of the Legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra''

References

External links

Power, Passion and Beauty, The Story Of The Legendary Mahavishnu-OrchestraJohn McLaughlin Official WebsiteOfficial Jan Hammer website
- Jan Hammer interview
"Acceptible_[sic]_Fusion:_the_Mahavishnu_Orchestra,_1973"
_by_Dinky_Dawson,_''Crawdaddy!.html" ;"title="ic] Fusion: the Mahavishnu Orchestra, 1973"">"Acceptible [sic] Fusion: the Mahavishnu Orchestra, 1973"
by Dinky Dawson, ''Crawdaddy!">ic] Fusion: the Mahavishnu Orchestra, 1973"">"Acceptible [sic] Fusion: the Mahavishnu Orchestra, 1973"
by Dinky Dawson, ''Crawdaddy!'', September 19, 2007. Archive of dead link.
"Two Sides to Every Satori"
a John McLaughlin interview, ''Crawdaddy!'', November 1973.
John McLaughlin video interview at allaboutjazz.comJean-Luc Ponty interview at Allaboutjazz.com
{{Authority control American jazz ensembles from New York City Jazz fusion ensembles Mahavishnu Orchestra members Musical groups established in 1971 Musical groups disestablished in 1976 Musical groups reestablished in 1984 Musical groups disestablished in 1987 1971 establishments in New York City 1976 disestablishments in New York (state) 1984 establishments in New York City 1987 disestablishments in New York (state) Musical groups from New York City Columbia Records artists Musical quintets Jazz musicians from New York (state)