Mahavishnu

Mahavishnu Orchestra | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 18, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Wounded Bird Records
• ASIN: B000068TLK
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,794 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #43 in Music > Indie Music > Jazz > Jazz Fusion

Track Listings

1. Radio-Activity

2. Nostalgia

3. Nightriders

4. East Side West Side

5. Clarendon Hills

6. Jazz

7. The Unbeliever

8. Pacific Express

9. When Blue Turns To Gold

Editorial Reviews

John McLaughlin is regarded as one of the greatest guitarists in the history of music. Making albums from the 60's through the present, his intense guitar work with The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Miles Davis gave birth to jazz/fusion. In 1984 he formed a reincarnation of sorts of The Mahavishnu Orchestra. Featuring original Mahavishnu drummer Billy Cobham, plus saxophonist Bill Evans and bassist Jonas Hellborg, this high-energy electric album is regarded as one of his best efforts and has been his most sought after album for CD reissue. It is making its worldwide CD debut! Wounded Bird Records.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars an uneven album ( highly influenced by Weather Report ), June 25, 2002

By 

Ian K. Hughes (San Mateo, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mahavishnu (Audio CD)

Under the leadership of famed jazz musician John McLaughlin, "MAHAVISHNU" ( recorded 1984 ) proved to be the last of three albums McLaughlin recorded for the Warner Brothers label. There are intriguing links as well as some disparities between the three. Both "BELO HORIZONTE" and "MUSIC SPOKEN HERE" were mixtures of acoustic and electric instrumentation; the former work had the lighter clarity of an acoustic atmosphere ( "early morning" ) while the latter was steeped in the shadowy hues of more synthesized textures ( "early evening" ). "MAHAVISHNU" ( recorded with a different group of musicians ) displayed a music evocative of a yet darker realm ( "midnight" ). All of the albums, in various ways, draw compositional and textural inspiration from the landmark work of the most consistently creative and long-lived "fusion" band, Weather Report. As to the differences, "BELO HORIZONTE" and "MUSIC SPOKEN HERE" are far more creatively original than the album under review. "MAHAVISHNU", while interesting, cannot help but fall short in comparison to the ( now defunct ) group that so influenced its music.

"MAHAVISHNU" has a mysterious history. First there was the album title, starkly evoking the name of the famed "fusion" band from the 1970's. Then there was the somewhat bizarre original album cover, with its prominent display of the title taking 50% of available surface area and featuring an unidentified photo of McLaughlin in the center. Drummer Billy Cobham ( McLaughlin's bandmate in the original Mahavishnu Orchestra ) was on hand for the recording sessions that produced the album but not for the subsequent tour in Fall 1984 ( when Danny Gottlieb took over the spot ). Finally, this recent re-release by the Wounded Bird label is the first time "MAHAVISHNU" has appeared in CD format, an absence of almost 20 years that has puzzled many of John McLaughlin's longtime admirers.

As if to further emphasize the unique aspects of this recording, McLaughlin moved away from the acoustic nylon-string guitar he had been using almost exclusively for the previous four years and started experimenting with a guitar-synthesizer ( "Synclavier II" ). This guitar was, at the time, state of the art technology and while a "standard" solid-body electric was used on a few tunes, the majority of the time McLaughlin employed the "Synclavier". As might be expected, some of his synthesized sounds ( "patches" ) are more intriguing than others and at times the combination of McLaughlin's guitar-synth with Mitchell Forman's keyboards seems to muddy the ( electric ) waters. However, those familiar with McLaughlin's playing should have no trouble distinguishing his improvisations, as his choice of scales, intervallic patterns and rhythmic ideas are characteristic of his well-developed, "horizontal" playing style. It is quite fascinating to hear McLaughlin's playing on this particular album, as the guitar-synthesizer allows him even more liberty to phrase in the linear fashion so redolent of the horn players ( Coltrane, Miles ) that influenced him.

Billy Cobham's contribution is absolutely crucial, his tightly controlled and explosive drumming providing a powerful backdrop for the compositions played by a band that features ( in addition to Cobham ) McLaughlin, Bill Evans ( saxophones ), Mitchell Forman ( keyboards ) and Jonas Hellborg ( electric bass ).

"Radio-Activity", beginning with a rock-solid electronic vamp, features a soft yet piercingly menacing upper register line, giving way in turn to a burning, modally constructed solo by McLaughlin ( a la "Birds of Fire" ) and a darting, filigree improv by Bill Evans on soprano sax.

The aptly named "Nostalgia" opens with a beautiful raga-like call and response ( played over a pedal point "drone" ) by Evans and McLaughlin, who uses a reedy synth "patch" that perfectly catches the mood evoked in the title of this haunting composition.

"Nightriders" is a forgettable pop tune with a particularly unappealing keyboard obbligato.

"East Side West Side", an up-tempo tune with quasi-bop changes, features an exciting series of trade-off exchanges with Bill Evans ( the latter very much influenced by Michael Brecker ).

"Clarendon Hills", written by Bill Evans, is the weakest tune on the album, cloying and alarmingly close to a style that has been termed "fuzak".

"Jazz" is a hip, coruscating piece, a kind of homage to Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul as is "The Unbeliever", yet another tune reminiscent of Weather Report.

"Pacific Express" has a breezy, lyrical melody that somewhat redeems the noodling sections that bookend the piece.

The last tune, "When Blues Turns Gold", is a strange beauty. The band used in the 8 prior tunes is absent, in its place a one-time gathering where Katia Labeque's opening cadenza on classical piano morphs into a haunting blend of Hariprasad Chaurasia's flute, Zakir Hussain's tabla and McLaughlin's strummed acoustic steel-string guitar ( a la "Shakti" ), with the subtle backdrop of a chanted mantra appended to the closing moments. The effect, drawing on the analogy used at the beginning of the review, seems to indicate that "night" has ended its course and broken through yet again to the burnished beginning glory of yet another new "day".

After listening anew to "MAHAVISHNU", it is apparent that only McLaughlin and Cobham really operate at the same level. The group ( not surprisingly ) lacks the cohesiveness so characteristic of Weather Report and the ( original ) Mahavishnu Orchestra: a degree of communication that is very rare indeed and constitutes the gold standard of "fusion" groups. One more ( uneven ) album with the same band ( minus Cobham ) was cut in 1985.Years down the line ( 1997-98 ), McLaughlin would be far more successful with a similarly constructed "fusion" band ( "The Heart of Things" ) which, for the short time it was together, displayed the type of interplay and dynamism lacking in the group active in the mid 1980's.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A redefinition of sound...., March 28, 2003

By 

NDBx "NDBx" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mahavishnu (Audio CD)

Alot of people don't know this but John McLaughlin was one of, if not the first guitarist to utilize the guitar synthesizer. Now in this recording he utilizes it effectively on many pieces.

For those who are expecting commemoration of the old Mahavishnu Orchestra, you might be disappointed. It's a different band with a more "refined" sound without losing the propulsiveness and/or drive.

Bill Evans saxophone work lends this edition of the band a different feel. Jonas Hellborg is a marvelous bassist and provides a strong undercurrent throughout.

Remember this was done in '85, so the pieces are more structured than the runaway jams of the seventies. Yet the virtousity is there. This and the follow up "Adventures in Radioland" were two of the finer fusion recordings of the eighties.

There is less of the eastern influence in this recording. McLaughlin tone is frankly better here than in earlier recordings. He's less frenetic and is more to the point. Yes, you will find the flying fingers of the fretboard wizardry here but not as an end to itself.

This recording runs the gamut of fusion sensibilities. Bill Evans shines on tenor saxophone. Billy Cobham is Billy Cobham. Just a monster (I mean that in a good way). The pieces run the gamut from introspective to a down right fusion "throwdown".

Put aside your preconceptions and reminiscences about how you remember Mahavishnu. This is a new band and this is a very good recording, well worth getting.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars eighties revisited, February 7, 2007

By 

N. Franklin (Inverness, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mahavishnu (Audio CD)

I first bought this album on vinyl in 1986 at Tower Records, Piccadilly Circus, London. There came a point where I no longer had a turntable so I got rid of all my vinyl albums (big mistake!). I was delighted to see the album had been re-issued on CD as I could vividly remember the rush of first listening to this album. This album is a delight for any lover of good music and especially for fans of mclaughlin/mahavishnu/jazz/fusion. There is a veritable feast of delights inducing all kinds of emotions. Like all good jazz you must allow each of the tracks to develop and reach their climax to achieve the emotional high. Beautiful and Nostalgic.