Mahavishnu Orchestra

Mahavishnu Orchestra
The original line-up on stage in 1973. Left to right: Jerry Goodman, Jan Hammer, John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, Rick Laird
Background information
Origin	New York City, U.S.
Genres	Jazz fusion progressive rock world jazz
Years active	1971–1976 1984–1987
Labels	Columbia
Past members	John McLaughlin Billy Cobham Jan Hammer Jerry Goodman Rick Laird Ralphe Armstrong Narada Michael Walden Gayle Moran Jean-Luc Ponty Stu Goldberg Bill Evans Jonas Hellborg Mitchel Forman Danny Gottlieb Jim Beard

The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion band formed in New York City 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, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, and Rick Laird, the band received its initial acclaim for its complex, intense music consisting of a blend of Indian classical music, jazz, and psychedelic rock 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' band and Tony Williams' Lifetime, and released three solo albums. He then set about forming his own jazz fusion group, the first line-up of which featured Panamanian drummer Billy Cobham, Irish bassist Rick Laird, Czech keyboardist Jan Hammer, and American violinist Jerry Goodman. Cobham and Goodman had played on McLaughlin's third solo album My Goal's Beyond (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 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. The group's name originates from Indian spiritual leader and guru Sri Chinmoy, of whom McLaughlin had become a follower, who gave him the name Mahavishnu, "Maha" meaning "great" in Sanskrit and "vishnu" after the Hindu deity Vishnu.

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 Indian classical music. Their debut gigs followed at the Gaslight at the Au Go Go as the opening act for bluesman John Lee Hooker. 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, giving the green light to record an album.

McLaughlin in 1973 performing with the band

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 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 and the Mothers of Invention) on violin, Gayle Moran on keyboards, Ralphe Armstrong on bass, and Narada Michael Walden on percussion, Steve Kindler and Carol Shive on violin, Marcia Westbrook on viola, Phil Hirschi on cello, Steve Frankevich, Premik Russell Tubbs on alto, tenor and soprano saxophones,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 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 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 Lucía.

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 different from the original Mahavishnu Orchestra, in particular because of McLaughlin's extensive use of the Synclavier 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 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 Beck. 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 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, guitarist and main composer of hardcore punk 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, Black Midi, and the Dillinger Escape Plan, 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 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", 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

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	John McLaughlin	1971–1976 1984–1987	guitar vocals	all releases
	Billy Cobham	1971–1973 1984	drums	The Inner Mounting Flame (1971) Birds of Fire (1973) Between Nothingness & Eternity (1973) Mahavishnu (1984) The Lost Trident Sessions (1999) Unreleased Tracks from Between Nothingness & Eternity (2011)
	Jerry Goodman	1971–1973	violin	The Inner Mounting Flame (1971) Birds of Fire (1973) Between Nothingness & Eternity (1973) The Lost Trident Sessions (1999) Unreleased Tracks from Between Nothingness & Eternity (2011)
	Jan Hammer		keyboards
	Rick Laird	1971–1973 (died 2021)	bass guitar
	Ralphe Armstrong	1974–1976	bass guitar vocals	Apocalypse (1974) Visions of the Emerald Beyond (1975) Inner Worlds (1976)
	Narada Michael Walden		drums percussion vocals keyboards
	Jean-Luc Ponty	1974–1975	violin vocals
	Gayle Moran		keyboards vocals	Apocalypse (1974) Visions of the Emerald Beyond (1975)
	Stu Goldberg	1975–1976		Inner Worlds (1976)
	Bill Evans	1984–1987	saxophone keyboards	Mahavishnu (1984) Adventures in Radioland (1987)
	Jonas Hellborg		bass guitar
	Mitchel Forman	1984–1986	keyboards
	Danny Gottlieb	1985–1986	drums percussion
	Jim Beard	1987 (died 2024)	keyboards	none

Timeline

Period	Line-up
1971–1973	John McLaughlin – guitar Jan Hammer – keyboards Jerry Goodman – violin Rick Laird – bass guitar Billy Cobham – drums
1974–1975	John McLaughlin – guitar, vocals Gayle Moran – keyboards, vocals Jean-Luc Ponty – violin, vocals Ralphe Armstrong – bass guitar Narada Michael Walden – drums, vocals
1976	John McLaughlin – guitar Stu Goldberg – keyboards Ralphe Armstrong – bass guitar Narada Michael Walden – drums, vocals
1976–1984	Disbanded
1984	John McLaughlin – guitar Mitchel Forman – keyboards Bill Evans – saxophone Jonas Hellborg – bass guitar Billy Cobham – drums
1985–1986	John McLaughlin – guitar Mitchel Forman – keyboards Bill Evans – saxophone, keyboards Jonas Hellborg – bass guitar Danny Gottlieb – drums
1987	John McLaughlin – guitar Jim Beard – keyboards Bill Evans – saxophone, keyboards Jonas Hellborg – bass guitar Danny Gottlieb – drums

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions						Certifications
		US	US Jazz	AUS	GER	NOR	UK
The Inner Mounting Flame	Released: November 3, 1971 Label: C.B.S., Columbia Formats: CD, LP, digital download	89	11	—	—	—	—
Birds of Fire	Released: March 26, 1973 Label: C.B.S., Columbia Formats: CD, CS, LP, Q8, digital download	15	—	38	29	18	20	US: Gold
Apocalypse with London Symphony Orchestra	Released: March, 1974 Label: C.B.S., Columbia Formats: CD, LP, Q8, digital download	43	10	82	—	—	—
Visions of the Emerald Beyond	Released: February, 1975 Label: C.B.S., Columbia Formats: CD, CS, LP, Q8, digital download	68	18	74	—	—	—
Inner Worlds	Released: January, 1976 Label: C.B.S., Columbia Formats: CD, CS, LP, Q8, digital download	118	24	—	—	—	—
Mahavishnu	Released: October 8, 1984 Label: WEA Musik, Warner Bros. Formats: CD, CS, LP	—	—	—	—	—	—
Adventures in Radioland	Released: 1987 Label: Relativity, PolyGram Formats: CD, LP, digital download	—	—	—	—	—	—
The Lost Trident Sessions	Released: September 21, 1999 Label: Sony Formats: CD, HDCD, digital download	—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Live albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US	AUS
Between Nothingness & Eternity	Released: November, 1973 Label: C.B.S., Columbia Formats: CD, LP, Q8, digital download	41	42
Unreleased Tracks from Between Nothingness & Eternity	Released: 2011 Label: C.B.S., Columbia Formats: digital download	—	—

Compilations

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US
The Best of Mahavishnu Orchestra	Released: 1980 Label: Columbia, CBS Formats: LP, CS, CD
The Complete Columbia Albums Collection	Released: 2011 Label: Columbia, Sony Formats: CD
The Essential Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin	Released: 2013 Label: Columbia, Sony Formats: Digital download, streaming

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
• John McLaughlin Official Website
• Official Jan Hammer website
• Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miami Vice and More – Jan Hammer interview
• "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.com
• Jean-Luc Ponty interview at Allaboutjazz.com