The Mahavishnu Orchestra

Mahavishnu Orchestra
At New York Philharmonic Hall, December 1973, (l-r) Jerry Goodman, Jan Hammer, John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, Rick Laird
Background information
Origin	New York City, United States
Genres	Jazz rock progressive rock jazz fusion (later) classical (with the London Symphony Orchestra)
Years active	1971–76, 1984–87
Labels	Columbia
Associated acts	Shakti, The One Truth Band, The Translators, The John McLaughlin Guitar Trio
Past members	John McLaughlin Billy Cobham Jan Hammer Jerry Goodman Rick Laird Ralphe Armstrong Narada Michael Walden Gayle Moran Jean-Luc Ponty Stu Goldberg Bill Evans Jonas Hellborg Mitchel Forman Danny Gottlieb Jim Beard

Mahavishnu Orchestra were a multinational jazz-rock fusion band formed in New York City in 1971 by English guitarist John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across two stints from 1971 to 1976 and 1984 to 1987.

The band's first lineup featured English guitarist "Mahavishnu" John McLaughlin, Panamanian drummer Billy Cobham, Irish bassist Rick Laird, Czechoslovakian keyboardist Jan Hammer, and American violinist Jerry Goodman. McLaughlin had worked with Cobham and Goodman on his third solo album My Goal's Beyond (1971), and asked Cobham to become the drummer in his new jazz-rock fusion band he wished to form, which he accepted. The violin was an instrument that had interested McLaughlin since childhood, and could not have Jean-Luc Ponty, his first choice, due to immigration problems. After listening to various albums with a violinist, he hired Goodman of The Flock. Although bassist Tony Levin was the first person McLaughlin wanted to join the band, Laird had known McLaughlin for several years and accepted the invitation. Hammer was found through the mutual friendship with Miroslav Vitous of Weather Report.

The group first met in July 1971, and rehearsed for one week. Their first live performance followed at the The Gaslight Cafe in New York City, where they were the opening act for bluesman John Lee Hooker. McLaughlin recalled: "The first set was shaky but the second set just took off and every night it was great. They wanted to hold us over and a few days after the second week ... , we went into the studio".

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 an integral contributor to its overall sound. As the group evolved, McLaughlin adopted what became his visual trademark — a double neck guitar (six-string and twelve-string) which allowed for a great degree of diversity in musical textures—and Hammer became one of the first to play a Minimoog synthesizer in an ensemble, which enabled him to add more sounds and solo more freely, alongside the guitar and the violin.