Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Mahavishnu: Mahavishnu

127

Mahavishnu: Mahavishnu

By

View read count
Mahavishnu: Mahavishnu
1984's Mahavishnu was supposed to mark the return of drummer Billy Cobham to John McLaughlin's side, in an attempt to recreate the spirit of the original Mahavishnu Orchestra. Although business disagreements led to the reunion ending badly behind the scenes, the record did manage to display some of the historic interplay these musicians had shared in the past.

The album does suffer from a lack of focus that should be blamed on McLaughlin's new guitar synthesizer, which he uses way too often. Many times the listener is not even aware McLaughlin is playing because his damn synthesizer didn't sound like a guitar at all! It can be quite maddening, really. John was in the forefront of the technology at the time, and so his indulgence should be forgiven. He would eventually employ synthesizer patches to good effect on his acoustic Trio recordings several years later.

Mahavishnu consisted of ex-Miles' sax man Bill Evans, outrageous bassist Jonas Helborg, brilliant keyboardist Mitchell Forman and an ever-developing drummer Danny Gottlieb, replacing Cobham on tour. This band would not realize its full potential until its next album, Adventures In Radioland.

Since McLaughlin’s unprocessed electric guitar is rarely heard here, the highlights of Mahavishnu can be found in its compositions. "Clarendon Hills", a tune authored by Evans, is a full-out sonic attack and stands among the best compositions McLaughlin has ever recorded. Katia LaBeque, McLaughlin’s ex and a wonderful pianist, once again effectively adds her talents on the Indian piece "When Blue Turns Gold," which brings the album to a droning close. Recently rescued from the fusion scrap heap by Wounded Bird Records, Mahavishnu even features a talking camera. Remember, “Too Dark. Use Flash.”

Related link: John McLaughlin Reviews @ All About Jazz .

Track Listing

Radio-Activity; Nostalgia; Nightriders; East Side West Side; Clarendon Hills; Jazz; The Unbeliever; Pacific Express; When Blue Turns Gold

Personnel

John McLaughlin- Synclavier II, Digital Guitar, Les Paul Special (all too briefly!); Billy Cobham- drums; Jonas Hellborg- bass; Bill Evans- sax; Mitchell Forman- keyboards; Danny Gottlieb- percussion; Katia LaBeque- keyboards; and others.

Album information

Title: Mahavishnu | Year Released: 2002 | Record Label: Wounded Bird Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.