kearn1tm
02/06/09, 12:26 PM
A recent discovery of mine, I'd describe them, but let this wiki synopsis do it for me.
The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz-rock fusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz-rock_fusion) group, led by John McLaughlin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McLaughlin_%28musician%29), that debuted in 1971 and dissolved in 1976 and reunited briefly from 1984 to 1987.
This group was considered an important pioneer in the jazz fusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_fusion) movement. McLaughlin and Cobham met while performing and recording with Miles Davis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Davis) during the "Tribute to Jack Johnson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Tribute_to_Jack_Johnson)" sessions.
Their musical style was an unprecedented blending of genres: they combined the high-volume electrified rock sound that had been pioneered by Jimi Hendrix (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimi_Hendrix) (who McLaughlin had jammed with on his initial arrival in New York as part of the Tony Williams (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Williams) Lifetime), complex rhythms in unusual time signatures that reflected McLaughlin's interest in Indian classical music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_classical_music) as well as funk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk), an improvisational concept that was rooted in jazz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz) as well as Indian music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_classical_music), and harmonic influence from European classical music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_classical_music). The group's early music was entirely instrumental; their later albums had songs which sometimes featured R&B (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%26B) or even gospel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel)/hymn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymn) styled vocals.
Start with The Inner Mounting Flame. It's their most well-known and accessible.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofi le&friendid=33323228
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:auknikmhbbc9~T1 (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:auknikmhbbc9%7ET1)
Fans of The Mars Volta will clearly hear the huge impression they've had on Omar, Cedric and the boys.
The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz-rock fusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz-rock_fusion) group, led by John McLaughlin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McLaughlin_%28musician%29), that debuted in 1971 and dissolved in 1976 and reunited briefly from 1984 to 1987.
This group was considered an important pioneer in the jazz fusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_fusion) movement. McLaughlin and Cobham met while performing and recording with Miles Davis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Davis) during the "Tribute to Jack Johnson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Tribute_to_Jack_Johnson)" sessions.
Their musical style was an unprecedented blending of genres: they combined the high-volume electrified rock sound that had been pioneered by Jimi Hendrix (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimi_Hendrix) (who McLaughlin had jammed with on his initial arrival in New York as part of the Tony Williams (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Williams) Lifetime), complex rhythms in unusual time signatures that reflected McLaughlin's interest in Indian classical music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_classical_music) as well as funk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk), an improvisational concept that was rooted in jazz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz) as well as Indian music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_classical_music), and harmonic influence from European classical music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_classical_music). The group's early music was entirely instrumental; their later albums had songs which sometimes featured R&B (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%26B) or even gospel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel)/hymn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymn) styled vocals.
Start with The Inner Mounting Flame. It's their most well-known and accessible.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofi le&friendid=33323228
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:auknikmhbbc9~T1 (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:auknikmhbbc9%7ET1)
Fans of The Mars Volta will clearly hear the huge impression they've had on Omar, Cedric and the boys.