Mahavishnu orchestra biography examples
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Matt Phillips
ISBN 9781538170946 (e-book also available)
288 pages
Rowan & Littlefield (2023)
John McLaughlin is a guitarist whose jazz, rock, fusion and world music explorations have wowed music fans and critics, and inspired countless bands and musicians. Miles Davis and Jeff Beck both loved McLaughlin’s playing.
Trying to describe, distil and deconstruct McLaughlin’s musical career is a challenging prospect, because as author Matt Phillips notes, McLaughlin is a ‘moving target,’ a man who straddles many musical genres and is constantly looking for new ways of expressing himself through his guitar. One of the most striking things that hits you when reading this book is McLaughlin’s refusal to stand still, even when achieving great success; he has a restless – and relentless – musical curiosity.
One time, he’s playing in a classical guitar trio; in another, he’s leading a jazz-rock combo whose volume makes your ears bleed. He’s played in jazz duos and trios,
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The Mahavishnu Orchestra was the name of two jazz-fusion groups led by John McLaughlin, in 1971–1976 and 1984–1987.
The band's original lineup featured "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, Czech Republic; Goodman from Chicago, Illinois; and Laird from Dublin, Ireland. This group was considered an important pioneer in the jazz fusion movement. McLaughlin and Cobham met while performing and recording with Miles Davis dur
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The first Mahavishnu Orchestra
In its first utgåva, the grupp was led by "Mahavishnu" John McLaughlin on acoustic and electric guitars, with members Billy Cobham on drums, Rick Laird on electric and acoustic bass, Jan Hammer on electric and acoustic piano, and Jerry Goodman on violin. The group is best known for their two most popular albums: The Inner Mounting Flame (1971) and Birds of Fire (1973). This group was considered an important pionjär in the jazz fusion movement, founded by Miles Davis. McLaughlin and Cobham met while performing and recording with Davis. McLaughlin was also influenced in his conception of the band bygd his studies with Indian guru Sri Chinmoy, who encouraged him to take the name "Mahavishnu." McLaughlin had particular ideas for the instrumentation of the group, in keeping with his highly original concept of genre-blending in composition. He particularly wanted a violinist. As the group evolved, McLaughlin adopted what bec