The Mahavishnu Orchestra Biography
The Mahavishnu Orchestra was one was of the most important and innovative groups of the early-’70s jazz-fusion boom. Led by English guitarist John McLaughlin, the quintet combined Jimi Hendrix-inspired guitar pyrotechnics with complex rhythms and unconventional time signatures, while also reflecting McLaughlin’s interest in both funk and Indian classical music. More than any other fusion act, the Mahavishnu Orchestra maintained a substantial crossover appeal with rock audiences, thanks in large part to McLaughlin’s brilliant fretwork.
Before forming the Mahavishnu Orchestra, John McLaughlin had made his mark on the jazz world playing with Tony Williams’ Lifetime and with Miles Davis’ band on such fusion landmarks as In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, and A Tribute to Jack Johnson. McLaughlin formed the original Mahavishnu Orchestra with keyboardist Jan Hammer, violinist Jerry Goodman, bassist Rick Laird and drummer Billy Cobham, and it was that lineup that recorded the classics The Inner Mounting Flame and Birds of Fire, as well as the live Between Nothingness and Eternity. Those albums were both big sellers, winning the group a large following of both jazz and rock fans. But personality clashes caused the lineup to fragment in 1973, during sessions for a proposed third album; the recordings for the unfinished project would subsequently be released as The Lost Trident Sessions.
In 1974, McLaughlin formed a new Mahavishnu Orchestra that included violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, bassist Ralphe Armstrong, keyboardist/singer Gayle Moran and drummer Narada Michael Walden, sometimes augmented by a string quartet and two trumpet players. That lineup recorded 1974’s Apocalypse (recorded with producer George Martin and featuring the London Symphony Orchestra) and 1975’s Visions of the Emerald Beyond. Ponty and Moran then left, and the group made 1976’s Inner Worlds as a four-piece. But McLaughlin’s desire to pursue his interests in acoustic guitar, Indian music and Eastern religion led to him disbanding the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
McLaughlin remained active, recording under his own name, leading such groups as Shakti, the One Truth Band and the Translators, as well as forming a guitar trio with fusion guitarist Al DiMeola and flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia. McLaughlin and Billy Cobham briefly formed a new Mahavishnu Orchestra in the mid-’80s, but it’s the group’s ’70s work that remains an indispensable cornerstone of jazz’s evolution.
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