Mahavishnu Orchestra

The Mahavishnu Orchestra ranked among the foremost fusion ensembles of its time. Although numerous observers at the peak of their popularity regarded the group as a rock act, the intricate improvisations embedded in their high-powered sound actually situated the music at the crossroads of rock and jazz. John McLaughlin created and guided the ensemble after recent stints alongside Miles Davis and Tony Williams' Lifetime. Its original configuration placed McLaughlin on electric guitar with violinist Jerry Goodman, keyboardist Jan Hammer, electric bassist Rick Laird, and drummer Billy Cobham. That lineup produced three intense albums for Columbia spanning 1971-1973, after which an entirely different roster defined the second incarnation. In 1974 the band featured violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, Gayle Moran on keyboards and vocals, electric bassist Ralphe Armstrong, and drummer Narada Michael Walden; by 1975 Stu Goldberg had taken Moran's place while Ponty had exited. McLaughlin's simultaneous engagement with Eastern religion and acoustic guitar prompted the breakup in 1975. An effort to revive the Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1984, drawing on Cobham, saxophonist Bill Evans, keyboardist Mitchell Forman, electric bassist Jonas Hellborg, and percussionist Danny Gottlieb, proved unsuccessful and yielded only one Warner Bros. album. Even so, references to the Mahavishnu Orchestra continue to center on the original lineup, whose influence remained substantial throughout the 1970s.