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This is the album that made John McLaughlin a semi-household name, a furious, high-energy, yet rigorously conceived meeting of virtuosos that, for all intents and purposes, defined the fusion of jazz and rock a year after Miles Davis' Bitches Brew breakthrough. It also inadvertently led to the derogatory connotation of the word fusion, for it paved the way for an army of imitators, many of whose excesses and commercial panderings devalued the entire movement. Though much was made of the influence of jazz-influenced improvisation in the Mahavishnu band, it is the rock element that predominates, stemming directly from the electronic innovations of Jimi Hendrix. The improvisations, particularly McLaughlin's post-Hendrix machine-gun assaults on double-necked electric guitar and Jerry Goodman's flights on electric violin, owe more to the freakouts that had been circulating in progressive rock circles than to jazz, based as they often are on ostinatos on one chord. These still sound genuinely thrilling today on CD, as McLaughlin and Goodman battle Jan Hammer's keyboards, Rick Laird's bass, and especially Billy Cobham's hard-charging drums, whose jazz-trained technique pushed the envelope for all rock drummers. What doesn't date so well are the composed medium- and high-velocity unison passages that are played in such tight lockstep that they can't breathe. There is also time out for quieter, reflective numbers that are drenched in studied spirituality ("A Lotus on Irish Streams") or irony ("You Know You Know"); McLaughlin was to do better in that department with less-driven colleagues elsewhere in his career. Aimed with absolute precision at young rock fans, this record was wildly popular in its day, and it may have been the cause of more blown-out home amplifiers than any other record this side of Deep Purple.
© Richard S. Ginell /TiVo
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Bob Belden, Re-Issue Producer - Bill Cobham, Drums - Rick Laird, Bass - Rob Schwarz, Mastering Engineer - Mark Wilder, Mastering Engineer - Don Puluse, Engineer - Jerry Goodman, Violin - Jan Hammer, Piano - John McLaughlin, Producer - John McLaughlin, Guitar - John McLaughlin, Composer - John McLaughlin, Lyricist - John McLaughlin With The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Performer
Originally released 1971. All rights reserved by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Bob Belden, Re-Issue Producer - Mahavishnu Orchestra, Performer - Bill Cobham, Drums - Rick Laird, Bass - Rob Schwarz, Mastering Engineer - Mark Wilder, Mastering Engineer - Don Puluse, Engineer - Jerry Goodman, Violin - Jan Hammer, Piano - John McLaughlin, Producer - John McLaughlin, Guitar - John McLaughlin, Composer - John McLaughlin, Lyricist - John McLaughlin, Performer
Originally released 1971. All rights reserved by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Bob Belden, Re-Issue Producer - Mahavishnu Orchestra, Performer - Bill Cobham, Drums - Rick Laird, Bass - Rob Schwarz, Mastering Engineer - Mark Wilder, Mastering Engineer - Don Puluse, Engineer - Jerry Goodman, Violin - Jan Hammer, Piano - John McLaughlin, Producer - John McLaughlin, Guitar - John McLaughlin, Composer - John McLaughlin, Lyricist - John McLaughlin, Performer
Originally released 1971. All rights reserved by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Bob Belden, Re-Issue Producer - Mahavishnu Orchestra, Performer - Bill Cobham, Drums - Rick Laird, Bass - Rob Schwarz, Mastering Engineer - Mark Wilder, Mastering Engineer - Don Puluse, Engineer - Jerry Goodman, Violin - Jan Hammer, Piano - John McLaughlin, Producer - John McLaughlin, Guitar - John McLaughlin, Composer - John McLaughlin, Lyricist - John McLaughlin, Performer
Originally released 1971. All rights reserved by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Bob Belden, Re-Issue Producer - Mahavishnu Orchestra, Performer - Bill Cobham, Drums - Rick Laird, Bass - Rob Schwarz, Mastering Engineer - Mark Wilder, Mastering Engineer - Don Puluse, Engineer - Jerry Goodman, Violin - Jan Hammer, Piano - John McLaughlin, Producer - John McLaughlin, Guitar - John McLaughlin, Composer - John McLaughlin, Lyricist - John McLaughlin, Performer
Originally released 1971. All rights reserved by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Jan Hammer, Piano - Jerry Goodman, Violin - Rick Laird, Bass - Mahavishnu Orchestra, Performer - Bill Cobham, Drums - John McLaughlin, Producer - John McLaughlin, Guitar - John McLaughlin, Performer - J. McLaughlin, Composer - J. McLaughlin, Lyricist
Originally released 1971. All rights reserved by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Bob Belden, Re-Issue Producer - Mahavishnu Orchestra, Performer - Bill Cobham, Drums - Rick Laird, Bass - Rob Schwarz, Mastering Engineer - Mark Wilder, Mastering Engineer - Don Puluse, Engineer - Jerry Goodman, Violin - Jan Hammer, Piano - John McLaughlin, Producer - John McLaughlin, Guitar - John McLaughlin, Composer - John McLaughlin, Lyricist - John McLaughlin, Performer
Originally released 1971. All rights reserved by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Bob Belden, Re-Issue Producer - Mahavishnu Orchestra, Performer - Bill Cobham, Drums - Rick Laird, Bass - Rob Schwarz, Mastering Engineer - Mark Wilder, Mastering Engineer - Don Puluse, Engineer - Jerry Goodman, Violin - Jan Hammer, Piano - John McLaughlin, Producer - John McLaughlin, Guitar - John McLaughlin, Composer - John McLaughlin, Lyricist - John McLaughlin, Performer
Originally released 1971. All rights reserved by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Albumbeschreibung
This is the album that made John McLaughlin a semi-household name, a furious, high-energy, yet rigorously conceived meeting of virtuosos that, for all intents and purposes, defined the fusion of jazz and rock a year after Miles Davis' Bitches Brew breakthrough. It also inadvertently led to the derogatory connotation of the word fusion, for it paved the way for an army of imitators, many of whose excesses and commercial panderings devalued the entire movement. Though much was made of the influence of jazz-influenced improvisation in the Mahavishnu band, it is the rock element that predominates, stemming directly from the electronic innovations of Jimi Hendrix. The improvisations, particularly McLaughlin's post-Hendrix machine-gun assaults on double-necked electric guitar and Jerry Goodman's flights on electric violin, owe more to the freakouts that had been circulating in progressive rock circles than to jazz, based as they often are on ostinatos on one chord. These still sound genuinely thrilling today on CD, as McLaughlin and Goodman battle Jan Hammer's keyboards, Rick Laird's bass, and especially Billy Cobham's hard-charging drums, whose jazz-trained technique pushed the envelope for all rock drummers. What doesn't date so well are the composed medium- and high-velocity unison passages that are played in such tight lockstep that they can't breathe. There is also time out for quieter, reflective numbers that are drenched in studied spirituality ("A Lotus on Irish Streams") or irony ("You Know You Know"); McLaughlin was to do better in that department with less-driven colleagues elsewhere in his career. Aimed with absolute precision at young rock fans, this record was wildly popular in its day, and it may have been the cause of more blown-out home amplifiers than any other record this side of Deep Purple.
© Richard S. Ginell /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 8 track(s)
- Total length: 00:46:15
- Main artists: Mahavishnu Orchestra
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Columbia - Legacy
- Genre: Jazz Jazz fusion en jazz rock
Originally Released 1971 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
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