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 McLaughlin, 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. Laird had known McLaughlin for several years and accepted the invitation. Hammer was found through a mutual friendship with Miroslav Vitouš 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.

thumb|left|upright|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) which peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard 200. 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. According to Laird, the band did not say goodbye to each other afterward. In January 1974, McLaughlin split the group. 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; There has been a resurgence of interest in the Mahavishnu Orchestra in recent years, with bands like The Mars Volta, Opeth, Black Midi,The Fierce and the Dead, and the Dillinger Escape Plan, naming them as an influence. Jon Fishman, drummer for Phish, has also cited them as an influence. There have been no fewer 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

{| class="wikitable" border="1"

! width="75" |Image

! width="150" |Name

! width="160" |Years active

! width="170" |Instruments

!Release contributions

|-

|

|John McLaughlin

|

|

|all releases

|-

|

|Billy Cobham

|

|drums

|

|-

|

|Jerry Goodman

| rowspan="2" |1971–1973

|violin

| rowspan="3" |

|-

|

|Jan Hammer

|keyboards

|-

|

|Rick Laird

|1971–1973

|bass guitar

|-

|

|Ralphe Armstrong

| rowspan="2" |1974–1976

|

| rowspan="3" |

|-

|

|Narada Michael Walden

|

|-

|

|Jean-Luc Ponty

| rowspan="2" |1974–1975

|

|-

|

|Gayle Moran

| rowspan="2" |

|

|-

|

|Stu Goldberg

|1975–1976

|Inner Worlds (1976)

|-

|

|Bill Evans

| rowspan="2" |1984–1987

|

| rowspan="4" |

|-

|

|Jonas Hellborg

|bass guitar

|-

|

|Mitchel Forman

|1984–1986

|keyboards

|-

|

|Danny Gottlieb

|1985–1986

|

|-

|

|Jim Beard

|1987

|keyboards

|none

|}

Timeline

{| class="wikitable"

!Period

!Line-up

|-

! style="background:#e7ebee;"| 1971–1973

|

  • John McLaughlin – guitar
  • Jan Hammer – keyboards
  • Jerry Goodman – violin
  • Rick Laird – bass guitar
  • Billy Cobham – drums

|-

! style="background:#e7ebee;"| 1974–1975

|

  • John McLaughlin – guitar
  • Gayle Moran – keyboards, vocals
  • Jean-Luc Ponty – violin
  • Ralphe Armstrong – bass guitar
  • Narada Michael Walden – drums, vocals

|-

! style="background:#e7ebee;"| 1976

|

  • John McLaughlin – guitar, vocals
  • Stu Goldberg – keyboards, vocals
  • Ralphe Armstrong – bass guitar, vocals
  • Narada Michael Walden – drums, vocals

|-

! style="background:#e7ebee;"| 1976–1984

| Disbanded

|-

! style="background:#e7ebee;"| 1984

|

  • John McLaughlin – guitar
  • Mitchel Forman – keyboards
  • Bill Evans – saxophone
  • Jonas Hellborg – bass guitar
  • Billy Cobham – drums

|-

! style="background:#e7ebee;"| 1985–1986

|

  • John McLaughlin – guitar
  • Mitchel Forman – keyboards
  • Bill Evans – saxophone, keyboards
  • Jonas Hellborg – bass guitar
  • Danny Gottlieb – drums

|-

! style="background:#e7ebee;"| 1987

|

  • John McLaughlin – guitar
  • Jim Beard – keyboards
  • Bill Evans – saxophone, keyboards
  • Jonas Hellborg – bass guitar
  • Danny Gottlieb – drums

|}

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album details

! scope="col" colspan="6" | Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2" |Certifications

|-

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" |US<br/>

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" |US Jazz<br/>

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" |GER<br/>

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" |NOR<br/>

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" |UK<br/>

|-

! scope="row" |The Inner Mounting Flame

|

  • Released: November 3, 1971
  • Label: C.B.S., Columbia
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download

|| 89 || 11 || — || — || — || —

|

|-

! scope="row" |Birds of Fire

|

  • Released: January 19, 1973
  • Label: C.B.S., Columbia
  • Formats: CD, CS, LP, Q8, digital download

|| 15 || — || 38 || 29 || 18 || 20

|

  • US: Gold

|-

! scope="row" |Apocalypse<br/>with London Symphony Orchestra

|

  • Released: March, 1974
  • Label: C.B.S., Columbia
  • Formats: CD, LP, Q8, digital download

|| 43 || 10 || 82 || — || — || —

|

|-

! scope="row" |Visions of the Emerald Beyond

|

  • Released: February, 1975
  • Label: C.B.S., Columbia
  • Formats: CD, CS, LP, Q8, digital download

|| 68 || 18 || 74 || — || — || —

|

|-

! scope="row" |Inner Worlds

|

  • Released: January, 1976
  • Label: C.B.S., Columbia
  • Formats: CD, CS, LP, Q8, digital download

|| 118 || 24 || — || — || — || —

|

|-

! scope="row" |Mahavishnu

|

  • Released: October 8, 1984
  • Label: WEA Musik, Warner Bros.
  • Formats: CD, CS, LP

|| — || — || — || — || — || —

|

|-

! scope="row" |Adventures in Radioland

|

  • Released: 1987
  • Label: Relativity, PolyGram
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download

|| — || — || — || — || — || —

|

|-

! scope="row" |The Lost Trident Sessions

|

  • Released: September 21, 1999
  • Label: Sony
  • Formats: CD, HDCD, digital download

|| — || — || — || — || — || —

|

|-

| colspan="11" style="font-size:90%" | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

|}

Live albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album details

! scope="col" colspan="6" | Peak chart positions

|-

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" |US<br/>

  • Label: C.B.S., Columbia
  • Formats: CD, LP, Q8, digital download

|| 41 || 42

|-

! scope="row" |Unreleased Tracks from Between Nothingness & Eternity

|

  • Released: 2011
  • Label: C.B.S., Columbia
  • Formats: CD, digital download

|| — || —

|}

Compilations

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album details

! scope="col"| Peak chart positions

|-

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" |US<br/>