The Mahavishnu Orchestra

The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz-rock fusion group, led by John McLaughlin, that debuted in 1971 and dissolved in 1976 and reunited briefly from 1984 to 1987. In its first version, the band was led by "Mahavishnu" John McLaughlin on acoustic and electric guitars, with members Billy Cobham on drums, Rick Laird on bass guitar, Jan Hammer on electric and acoustic piano and synthesizer, and Jerry Goodman on violin. This first incarnation of the en... more

The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz-rock fusion group, led by John McLaughlin, that debuted in 1971 and dissolved in 1976 and reunited briefly from 1984 to 1987. In its first version, the band was led by "Mahavishnu" John McLaughlin on acoustic and electric guitars, with members Billy Cobham on drums, Rick Laird on bass guitar, Jan Hammer on electric and acoustic piano and synthesizer, and Jerry Goodman on violin. This first incarnation of the ensemble was a multinational group: McLaughlin is from Yorkshire, England; Cobham from Panama; Hammer from Prague, Czechoslovakia; Goodman from Chicago, Illinois; and Laird from Dublin, Ireland. Jean-Luc Ponty was actually McLaughlin's first choice for violinist, but the idea was stalled by "immigration problems". Ponty would later play with McLaughlin on both Apocalypse and Visions of the Emerald Beyond. The group is best known for their albums The Inner Mounting Flame (1971) and Birds of Fire (1973). This group was considered an important... less