The Mahavishnu Effect

I come from the world, from a perspective, of Progressive Rock Music. In 2007, I was as surprised as many people are upon discovering that many Prog Lovers have space in their beloved world for a sub-genre that is precariously labeled either "Fusion" or "Jazz-Rock Fusion." What is even more confounding is the fact that most Jazz-Rock Fusion lovers have a list of hundreds of bands and albums that they openly welcome into their den of iniquity whereas most loyal Progheads have room for about three or four fusion bands in their world: a list that usually consists of Return To Forever, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Al Di Meola, sometimes Weather Report. Rarely--and I mean scarcely ever--a proghead will deign to mention Larry Coryell, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham or Pat Metheny. Any artist who associated with or even guested with one of the above bands will sometimes be reluctantly allowed. Guilt by association, of course. 

     If we bounce back to the Fusionists we often come to find that they will include under their vast umbrella virtually any and all artists from the Jazz world who might have even dabbled at anything electric or progressive--even if that artist vehemently opposed or later rejected and refuted all association to the fusion-related sub-genres. Thus we have the confusing, and even volatile, phenomenon of Jazz artists in the ProgArchives as well as that of Prog and Fusion artists in the JazzMusicArchives.

     I know, I know: the high ground would see it all as just Music, but outside the Citadel of Free Speech and Esoteric Wisdom lie camps of lesser-evolved beings, all huddled aloofly around their fires so they can protect and reinforce their perspectives on what is Truth and what is blasphemy (of late, eschewing most anything that might be in-between). Well I am here to lay before you the pillars of One Truth. Not the one truth, but just someone's . . . current truth. While I aspire to reach and earn residency on that Citadel, I have much learning to do (and much learning to undo) in order to secure my ticket. Consider this essay one of my many attempts to earn that ticket.

On April 14, 1971, The Mahavishnu Orchestra burst onto the music scene with the release of their paradigm-shattering album, The Inner Mounting Flame. Why do I call it 'paradigm shattering'? Because the music on that album was not only unlike any that had come before it but also because it released shock waves around the world of possibilities that that had never before been conceived much less realized. Five virtuosos, gathering forces together on one stage, in one sound studio, to perform highly-sophisticated, mind-bogglingly challenging jazz and blues-rock-founded compositions with electronically-treated rock 'n' roll instruments--in explosive bursts and dynamic waves and exquisitely-beautiful passages delivered as one--in unison--or in competition: in duels--or in sophisticated harmonic weaves as well as deeply-respectful respites. It was, for the first time, a display of the power of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Led Zeppelin, and Cream being channeled through the virtuosity of a world class symphonic orchestra--while using only five musicians to do it! 

     Many of you will recoil and then assert that Miles Davis had the greatest "world class" jazz combos or jazz "orchestras" with either his Great Quintets of the late 1950s or mid-1960s or the expanded lineups he used in the studio (and on stage) during the 1969 to 1974 period in which Columbia Records released the albums, In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, A Tribute to Jack Johnson, On the Corner, Big Fun, and Get Up With It as well as three live albums (and several more in the "bootleg" and "anthology" series compiled and released in the 21st Century). And then there are those of you who will come in with your "Tony Williams Lifetime" claims--especially since Herbie and Miles are quoted to have called them the loudest band/music/concert experience they'd ever been exposed to. And, of course, a very small number of you will incite your loyalties to The Graham Bond Organization, Gary Burton, The Free Spirits, and/or Larry Coryell.

     My response to those of you reluctant to endorse my main supposition here is that these other artists, bands, projects, and events are but stepping stones: key foundational pillars that helped to build the temple and put on the roof--but that it was The Inner Mounting Flame that blew off the roof. The temple that Miles and his collaborators thought they were building was being destabilized by the racket Tony Williams Lifetime (and Larry Coryell) were making, but it took the power quintet of Rick Laird, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, Billy Cobham, and Mahavishnu John McLaughlin to blow it apart and let the world feel the radioactive power of this new form of virtuosic rock. 

Below I'm going to mention some of the dates and names associated with some of the albums, artists, and/or songs that were among the first to break out into Mahavishnu-like "Power Fusion." Since The Inner Mounting Flame came out on August 14, 1971, we are, of course, talking about songs, albums, and artists that would have been responding and/or appearing in 1972 and 1973.

* Embryo Steig aus (1973)

Though not released by German label Brain until 1973, the music of this album was recorded over several months (23 December 1971 - September 1972) by this already-established band from München. The album shows a distinctive shift in energy and skills when compared to the band's previous albums. Some of this change can be attributed to the band's rental flat being located directly above a bar that played/hosted Arabian music and Arabian bands on weekends and part of it is due to their admiration of and inspiration taken from the music of The Mahavishnu Orchestra.

** Atmospheres (Featuring Clive Stevens and Friends) Atmospheres (recorded on Feb. 5, 1972; released in Jan. 1974). 

The one-day studio recording session included The Mahavishnu Orchestra's Billy Cobham and Rick Laird--who were both convinced to join Clive during one of the very seldom days off from The Mahavishnu Orchestra's very rigorous touring schedule. 

** Santana Caravanserai (recorded between Feb. 21 and May 5, 1972). 

Still riding the creative high of their post-Woodstock explosion, Carlos and Santana co-founder Michael Shrieve had become obsessed with The Inner Mounting Flame since Michael had first heard and picked up the album. Their obsession became great enough that they become groupies of The Mahavishnu Orchestra: going to as many of the band's concerts as possible, ramping up their own stage and studio performances, and even recruiting new musicians to the band who seemed to be channeling the same kind of fire that John McLaughlin and his band were (like  guitarist 17-year old guitar phenom, Neal Schon, and, from the dynamic stage band of The Voices of East Harlem, young bassist extraordinaire Doug Rauch and guitarist Doug Rodrigues). A winter of ceaseless jamming and performing helped hone the music that became recorded as Caravanserai. 

     Caravanserai is a flow-through album: meant to be played, each side, continuously start to finish. Side One is opened with two songs that feel as if they would be quite at home on one of the Mahavishnu Orchestra's albums: "Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation" (4:28) (9.25/10) and "Waves Within" (3:53) (10/10), while Side Two, often referred to (by the band members) as "the percussionists' side," is definitely charged with the same kind of fire and abandon that The Mahavishnu Orchestra inspired in them.

* Frank Zappa The Grand Wazoo (recorded in April & May of 1972). 

The opening song of this album seems to indicate that Frank was listening: that his manhood was feeling questioned enough that he felt compelled to try to meet the challenge. "For Calvin (and His Next Two Hitch-Hikers)" (6:06) (9.25/10).

* Kraan Kraan (recorded in May 1972 at Studio 70 in Munich, Germany; released in July 1972). 

The spirit of The Mahavishnu Orchestra comes shining through on this album despite the fact that neither the styles or musicianship are up to those standards for comparison.

** In the summer and autumn of 1972 three different iterations of Klaus Doldinger's Passport project stepped into Dieter Dierks' studios in Stommeln to record material that would end up on three different albums, each one exhibiting Klaus' drive to rise to the level of power, virtuosity, and creativity established by The Mahavishnu Orchestra. The albums were released as: Second Passport, in September; Hand Made in May of 1973; and Looking Thru in November of 1973. 

     With Looking Thru Klaus had finally found the perfect ensemble of musicians that were capable of performing his high-powered compositions. This included drummer Curt Cress, bassist Wolfgang Schmid, and keyboard specialist Kristian Schulze. Check out songs 5. "Tarantula" (3:48) (9.5/10), 7. "Eloquence" (5:18) (9.333/10), and 8. "Things to Come" (2:45) (8.875/10) to experience some of that Mahavishnu/RTF magic.

** Carlos Santana & Mahavishnu John McLaughlin's Love Devotion Surrender (recorded in October of 1972 and March of 1973; released by Columbia Records on July 20, 1973.) 

As mentioned above, Carlos Santana Santana co-founder Michael Shrieve had become obsessed with The Inner Mounting Flame ever since Michael had first heard and picked up the album. Their obsession became great enough that they felt inspired, even impelled, to reform the focus of the band, recruit new power players, and jam with a whole new focus. The result of this was the band's album, Caravanserai. But Michael and Carlos' obsession did not stop there. They went so far as to become groupies of The Mahavishnu Orchestra, following the band around to attend concerts on their 1971 and 1972 tours until they finally got to meet and get to know John McLaughlin (resulting in Carlos' famous period as devoté/follower of John's guru, Sri Chimnoy--and, thus, the addition of his own honorific prefix, "Devadip" that Chimnoy had personally bestowed upon him). The Santana band got to jam with John and his band in October of 1972, some members even going on stage with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in concert formats throughout the ensuing winter and spring, before collaborating in a studio setting in March of 1973. The two studio recording sessions would eventually become the source of the material that Columbia Records released on July 20 as Love Devotion Surrender.

*** March 27, 1973: the release date of The Mahavishnu Orchestra's second album, Birds of Fire. Perhaps the first release of a band exhibiting an entirely new set of parameters has a numbing effect on its recipients--as if the overwhelm of the new musical boundaries is too much for a person to comprehend and thus they tune it out or set it aside for future accommodation and assimilation. If that might have been the case with the release of The Inner Mounting Flame upon an unassuming, unwitting, and, ultimately, ill-prepared audience, the release of a follow-up effort can often confirm that this is, in fact, not just a one-off albatross, not just a spectre of imagination, that this new phenomenon is real and replicable. I think this might have been the effect of the arrival of Birds of Fire: the world could confirm that the oddity that was The Inner Mounting Flame was sustainable (despite the fact that this would be the final studio album of the founding lineup).

Obviously, not every jazz-, rock-, or fusion-interested artist of the era felt capable much less compelled to replicate or be inspired by Mahavishnu John McLaughlin's musical ideas. In fact the Mahavishnu followers, devotees, and imitators were actually quite few in number. In my opinion, the snowball effect of that which The Mahavishnu Orchestra set in motion really didn't gather momentum until the occurrence of two major events in the musical world. First of all, the event that really confirmed the ripple force of the Mahavishnu Effect was the release of the band's own second album, Birds of Fire, in March of 1973. With this release (as well as their near-constant touring to play live concerts), the band was able to prove to the world that their debut sound and energy was not a fluke--that they really did have a unique and explosive sound and style that could be sustained and expanded upon. From there on the number of bands transitioning to or appearing new to high-powered fusion virtuosity began to multiply.

     The second event that had to occur in order for there to be a registration and consolidation of the Mahavishnu Effect was the release of an album of similar, nearly-as-good, or even better material than that which The Orchestra had (so far) released: there had to be the occasion of another band of virtuosi to step up and replicate Mahavishnu's fire and power and speed--and it had to be released by a major record label so that it would receive the promotional force necessary to garner worldwide attention.

     Though many imitators and Mahavishnu Orchestra-inspired songs and albums had appeared in 1972 and 1973, the event that had the necessary world-wide repercussions finally came about with the release of material recorded by Chick Corea's October 1973's release of Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy by Polydor Records.

Earlier in 1973, Chick Corea had made moves to revamp his Return To Forever lineup with the specific goal of upping his game--of being able to perform, as a band, the demanding, severely-complex compositions that had been whirling around in his brain. In Stanley Clarke he already had a hungry, creative, uber-talented and charismatic super-genius equal to himself. Where he needed to raise the bar was in the drumming department. Chick's previous drummer/percussionist, Airto Moreira, was somewhat limited by both his Brasilian roots and the attached-at-the-hip wife, virtuoso singer, Flora Purim. Chick asked his preferred drummer and childhood great friend with whom he occasionally worked, Steve Gadd, but Steve declined. (Steve preferred variety in his musical surroundings--kind of "playing the field"; he did not want to commit to one thing, to one band). Chick asked young drumming phenom, Lenny White--with whom he'd worked in the recording sessions for Miles Davis' Bitches Brew back in August of 1969. Lenny was a good enough fit to remain with the band for four amazing albums before his own creative juices led him down some different paths than those conceived by RTF's rather-dictatorial band-leader. 

     Then there was the question of another voice in the band: someone who could join the rhythm section as well as provide melodic leads and contribute to weaves and multi-instrumental ostinato runs and syncopated statements. This meant possibly eschewing the traditional horns like trumpets and saxophones and, in the true effort to jump full-force into Mahavishnu-like power fusion, the electric guitar was the most obvious choice.

     After a one-night session with Chick Corea-wannabe, 23-year old West Coast guitar phenom Bill Connors (whose dream as a musician had, coincidentally, evolved into becoming Chick Corea on guitar) in which the two really clicked, Chick brought Bill into the band. After some live concerts to fine tune the new lineup and try out some song ideas, they went into the studios at The Record Plant in New York City to record. This was August of 1973. The result of these sessions was the October release of Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, the album that would cement the Mahavishnu Effect as one of the most significant contributions to the evolution of both Jazz-Rock Fusion as well as Progressive Rock music.

** Volker Kriegel and Friend's Lift! (recorded March 5-10 of 1973; released in June). 

Two songs come shining through with the Mahavishnu spirit: 2. "Three Or Two In One" (6:07) (8.875/10) and Eberhard Weber's 5. "Electric Blue" (8:55) (19/20).

*** THE ELEVENTH HOUSE Introducing The Eleventh House with Larry Coryell (released in February of 1974). 

With the 19 month delay in releasing an album from his 1969 recordings that would make up his Spaces album, it may have felt to guitarist Larry Coryell that his record label (Vanguard Apostolic) might have been a little reluctant to jump fully on board the heavier side of the Jazz-Rock Fusion movement. But then Apostolic folded the mother label must have noticed the sales (and popular acclaim) being generated by Spaces collaborators John McLaughlin and Billy Cobham with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miroslav Vitous with Weather Report, and Chick Corea with his Return To Forever project--enough to back a series of albums from Larry's own Power Fusion idea that he called "The Eleventh House." Tapping into some of his more adventurous New York City-based friends this was what they came up with in their June 1973 recording sessions at Vanguard 23rd Street Studio in New York City. The album's sixth song, "Yin" (6:23) (9.75/10) is by far its best evidence of The Mahavishnu Effect.

* Perigeo's Abbiamo Tutti un Blues da Piangere (September 1973). 

Recorded in Rome throughout the summer of 1973, the album--the band's second--was released in September of 1973. It included two songs (the last two songs on Side Two) which fit the mold of Mahavishnu-inspired: 6. "Nadir" (3:46) (9.5/10) and 7. "Vento, Pioggia e Sole" (9:40) (18/20).

** Area's Arbeit Macht Frei (September 1973).

The recording of this, the Italian "International POPular Group'"s first album, started in their home city of Milano in July of 1972. The album was released in September 1973 by Cramps Records. The album displayed the band members' influences from around the world--including from leader Demetrios Stratos' own Greek heritage, from American band leader Don Ellis, and from the Middle East. After the release of their debut album the lineup went through some modifications until they solidified into their "classic" lineup of Stratos, Capiozzo, Fariselli, Tofani, and Tavolazzi--the lineup that would produce such amazing songs as: 2. "ZYT (Crescita zero)" 5:27) (10/10) and "Mirage" (10:27) (17.75/20) from 1974's Caution Radiation Area; 1975's Crac!--my favorite non-Anglo-American Jazz-Rock Fusion album of all-time, and; 3. "Gerontocrazia" (7:30) (13.5/15) from 1976's Maledetti.

** Cervello's Melos (released October 1973). 

An Italian band that had formed in 1970 as a group of musically-oriented Napoletano teenagers, they latched onto the new sounds and styles of Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Van Der Graaf Generator and the manifestations of these influences on other Italian artists like Le Orme, Panna Fredda, The Trip, Premiata Forneria Marconi, and Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso.

     The band member who was definitely fully-under the spell of Mahavishnu John McLaughlin is 17-year old guitarist Corrado Rustici--younger brother of Osanna's fiery blues guitarist, Danilo Rustici. Despite the enthusiasm of young Corrado's spirit bursting at the seams to express his Mahavishnu fire (and skill), the full Mahavishnu Orchestra displays are rather few: the finale of the album's title song, 5. "Melos" (4:58) (9.5/10); the second half of 4. "Scinsione (T.R.M.)" (5:43) (9/10), and; the undeniable early-Crimsonian sounds oozing through in the second half of 3. "Euterpe" (4:32) (9.5/10).

*** Return to Forever's Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy (recorded in August of 1973; released in October). 

After two albums of more gentler (but wonderful) music, Chick Corea renovated his Return To Forever lineup according to a newly Mahavishnu-inspired energy, shedding the usage of flute, saxophone, Latin percussion, and vocals, as presented by Joe Farrell, and husband-wife team of Airto Moreira and Flora Purim, respectively, and going with a four-person Power Fusion lineup that introduced dynamic guitarist Bill Connors to the world as well as the animated drumming of recent Joe Henderson and Miles Davis grad Lenny White to the world. With Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, Return To Forever became the first Power Fusion band to seriously challenge The Mahavishnu Orchestra for supremacy in the sub-genre that they created. Also, the engineering and production of the string of four Return To Forever albums that Hymn started elevates the sub-genre to a new level of of sonic clarity to which all other bands (including and maybe especially, progressive rock bands) will aspire to for the next 50 years.

* Pop Workshop's Vol. 1 (recorded in 1973 & released in October 1973) 

An all-star band that formed and recorded in Sweden to included Polish ex-pats Wlodek Gulgowski on keys and young saxophonist Zbigniew Namysłowski along with future legends of bands Baltik, Ablution, Egba, as well as guitarist of solo fame, Janne Schaffer. Other than the display of pure-Mahavishnu fire that is the song "Perforated Mind" (3:52) (9/10), the only elements and instances of the Power Fusion on this album are few and far behind. It does, however, definitely project the melodic and harmonic complexity of recent works of Herbie Hancock, Billy Cobham, and Michał Urbaniak.

     For their second and only other studio album release, 1974's Song of the Pterodactyl, this international conglomerate of global expats came back to the Europa Film Studio in Stockholm to cover eight tunes, four by producer-keyboard artist Wlodek Gulgowski and four by saxophonist Zbigniew Namyslowksi. This time, instead of imitating Tony Williams, they got Tony Williams--the real Tony Williams--to play on their album!

*** The Mahavishnu Orchestra Between Nothingness & Eternity (November 1973). 

Columbia Records published this album from material gathered from recordings of the band playing at the Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park, New York, on August 17–18. 

     Between Nothingness & Eternity was yet another concrete illustration of the sustainability of the new Power Fusion dynamic as well as a tribute of memorabilia for the many concert goers who might have seen the band perform live over the two-and-a-half years that the band toured. The exhausted band members would call it quits at the end of the year with the final concert performance of the original incarnation being in New York on December 30 and the official dissolution being announced in January of 1974.

* The Chris Hinze Combination Mission Suite (released in December of 1973). 

Flutist, bandleader, and recording studio owner Chris Hinze went through a pretty serious exploration of and commitment to Jazz-Rock Fusion in 1973 and  (before his life-transforming trip to India and Japan in the second half of 1974). From this excellent album one song (composed by bassist John Lee) exudes the Mahavishnu spirit: "Deliverance" (11:22) (18/20). Chris' Jazz-Rock Fusion foray would culminate in the recording sessions that would occur in late May of 1974--material that would be included in the album release the Power Fusion album, "Sister Slick"--as well as the albums Toots Thielemans, Philip Catherine & Friends, Cascade by Charlie Mariano, and Infinite Jones by John Lee & Gerry Brown--all of which offered songs that showed the varying degrees of influence of the Mahavishnu Effect, especially "Locus" (4:37) (/10) from the Charlie Mariano album, "Skyrider" (8:35) (19/20) from Sister Slick, and Infinite Jones' own excellent version of John Lee's "Deliverance" (13:43) (28/30).

TOM SCOTT AND THE L.A. EXPRESS Tom Scott and The L.A. Express (recorded in L.A. during August and September of 1973; released in February of 1974).

Despite Tom Scott's predisposition toward more melodic, "easy listening" and, later, Smooth Jazz song expressions, his L.A. Express venture can be seen as his brief attempt to throw his hat into the Power Fusion ring. The album was recorded during a period of 1973 when he and his "L.A. Express" crew (several of whom had also served as members of The Crusaders [formerly The Jazz Crusaders]) were riding high after also working with Joni Mitchell, recording material for her Court and Spark album. The album was released by Ode Records in February of 1974 and included one great Mahavishnu-spirited song called "Nunya" (3:55) (9.333/10) (which also sounded remarkably similar to some of the work coming from Klaus Doldinger's Passport project at this time). Sadly, this would be Tom's only release in the independent L.A. Express incarnation.

GEORGE DUKE Faces in Reflection (released early in 1974)

Fairly freshly freed from the employ of Frank Zappa, George had some pent up energy that needed expressing--which he did in a trio format with Stanley Clarke-clone John Heard on the bass and dynamic power drummer Leon "Ndugu" Chancler. The best Mahavishnu-like tune is the RTF-like opener, entitled "The Opening" (3:19) (9/10) .

HORACEE ARNOLD Tales of the Exonerated Flea (released in April of 1974).

With a lineup that included the likes of John Abercrombie, Ralph Towner, and Jan Hammer one would not be without reason for having high expectations of this album. An overall amazing album of exploratory Jazz-Rock Fusion, the title song, "Tales of the Exonerated Flea" (3:45) (9.25/10) is by far the band's best foray into Mahavishnu/RTF territory.

RETURN TO FOREVER Where Have I Known You Before (recorded in July and August 1974; released in September). 

The fickle and enigmatic musician who wowed music listeners with his electric guitar contributions to RTF's previous year's Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy but began to feel disconnected with the loud rock direction that Chick's Power Fusion quartet was heading; his passions lay with try jazz music. So, after the band finished its tour of Europe and Japan, he announced his departure. Replacing fan favorite Bill Connors was no easy feat, but 20-year old Berklee College of Music phenom Al Di Meola brought a lot more to the table besides technique and jaw-dropping speed: he was also an avid percussionist and product (and student) of Latin musical traditions. Recording at the Record Plant in New York City in July and August of 1974, the world was introduced to guitar sensation Al Di Meola with Polydor's release of Where Have I Known You Before in September. 

MOOSE LOOSE Elgin Er Løsen (1974)

The debut album release from this group of young Norwegian jazz-rockers exhibits one of the most truly quintessential examples of Mahavishnu Power Fusion ever. Incredible album. Check out the opening song, "Eber's Funk" (6:45) (14.25/10) for one of the best Mahavishnu rides you're going to find. "Flytende Øye" (6:39) (9.25/10) and "O Kjød" (9/10) are also quite excellent J-R Fusion songs though a little less like The Mahavishnu Orchestra (more Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea-like).

ISOTOPE Illusion (recorded late in 1974; released early in 1975).

A quartet of accomplished and highly-skilled British musicians under the leadership of guitarist Gary Boyle. Though the the album's fifth song, "Frog" (2:31) (8.75/10) offers some great Mahavishnu/"Vashkar" energy, it is the final song, "Temper Tantrum" (3:46) (9.510) that really hits all of the criteria.

ELECTROMAGNETS Electromagnets (recorded in July thru September of 1974; released in July of 1975).

A Texas-based band that debuted with this remarkable album of Jazz-Rock Fusion while introducing to the world the talents of guitar sensation Eric Johnson--a man whose career has gathered legendary status. This excellent sports one supreme example of the Mahavishnu's Power Fusion effect in the song "Blackhole" (6:51) (15/15). 

1975 saw the beginning of a flood of releases of a gradually expanding variety of Power Fusion songs and albums from bands both already practicing the form, like the newly formed second incarnation of The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever and its members, Chick Corea, Lenny White, Al Di Meola, and Stanley Clarke, and Billy Cobham, Tony Williams, Hermann Szobel, Arti E Mestieri, Area,  Jean-Luc Ponty, while it would also see the beginning of a flood of imitator/inspired artists like Jeff Beck, Nova, Czech band Fermáta, Finland's Jukka Hauru and Finnforest, Spain's Iceberg, Britain's Brand X, France's Édition Spéciale, and Argentina's Arco Iris and many others. To this day, it is my belief that the "Mahavishnu Effect" is a uniquely recognizable category of sound and energy that continues to be inspiring to and explored by many artists expressing in all of the Progressive Rock music sub-genres as well as on the fringes of Jazz, Rock, and even Classical genres of music.