John McLaughlin, frequently known as Mahavishnu John, is an English guitarist, bandleader, and composer. A pioneer of jazz fusion, his music combines elements of jazz with rock, world music, Indian classical music, Western classical music, flamenco, and blues. After contributing to several key British groups of the early 1960s, McLaughlin made Extrapolation, his first album as a bandleader, in 1969. He then moved to the U.S., where he played with drummer Tony Williams's group Lifetime and then with Miles Davis on his electric jazz fusion albums In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, Live-Evil, and On the Corner. His 1970s electric band, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, performed a technically virtuosic and complex style of music that fused electric jazz and rock with Indian influences.
Hot Rats is the second solo album by Frank Zappa, released in October 1969. It was Zappa's first recording project after the dissolution of the original version of the Mothers of Invention. Five of the six songs are instrumental; while "Willie the Pimp", features vocals by Captain Beefheart. In his original sleeve notes, Zappa described the album as "a movie for your ears".
Steve J. Morse is an American guitarist, best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs and as the guitarist for Deep Purple from 1994 to 2022. Morse has also enjoyed a successful solo career and was briefly a member of the group Kansas in the mid-1980s. Most recently, Morse became a member of the supergroup Flying Colors.
Fly is the fifth studio album by American country music band Dixie Chicks, released in 1999. The album was very successful for the group, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200. It has received diamond status by the RIAA on June 25, 2002, in the United States, for shipments of 10 million units.
Jimmy Herring is the lead guitarist for the band Widespread Panic. He is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jazz Is Dead and has played with The Allman Brothers Band, Project Z, Derek Trucks Band, Phil Lesh and Friends, and The Dead.
Dixie Dregs is an American jazz rock band from Augusta, Georgia, formed in 1970. They released six studio albums before disbanding in 1983, and have reunited occasionally since 1988. The band's instrumental music fuses elements of rock, jazz, country, and classical music. Their recording "Take It Off the Top" was used for many years as the signature theme tune by disc jockey Tommy Vance for his BBC Radio 1 Friday Night Rock Show.
What If is the second studio album by the Dixie Dregs, released in 1978.
Jerry Goodman is an American violinist who played electric violin with The Flock and the jazz fusion ensemble Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Feeding the Wheel is the fifth of many albums by keyboardist Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater and Dixie Dregs fame. Many other musicians perform on tracks on this album including Terry Bozzio, Steve Morse, and Dream Theater bandmate John Petrucci, who also worked with Rudess on Liquid Tension Experiment.
Purpendicular is the fifteenth studio album by the English rock band Deep Purple, released in 1996. It is their first album with guitarist Steve Morse from Dixie Dregs, who replaced Ritchie Blackmore.
? is a Christian progressive rock concept album by multi-instrumentalist Neal Morse, his fifth studio album. Released in 2005, this single-CD album is about the Israelite tabernacle in the wilderness found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers of the Hebrew Bible. Morse has stated that this album should be considered one long epic track rather than twelve separate tracks.
Industry Standard is the sixth studio album by the Dregs, released in 1982. The album garnered the group their fourth Grammy nomination. This was the final album by the Dregs before their split in 1983, and their last one for 12 years until the release of Full Circle in 1994.
Night of the Living Dregs is the third album by Dixie Dregs, released in 1979. The first half of the album was recorded in the studio, and the second half at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 23, 1978.
Terry "T" Lavitz was an American keyboardist, composer and producer. He is best known for his work with the Dixie Dregs and Jazz Is Dead.
The Great Spectacular is a self-produced demo album by the Dixie Dregs, recorded in 1975 on campus at University of Miami and released in 1976 only on limited vinyl. By the time the band had risen in popularity in the late 1970s, the record had been out of print, becoming a highly sought-after collector's item, and was re-released for the CD format in 1997.
Dregs of the Earth is the fourth studio album by Dixie Dregs, released in 1980. This album was the band's first release on Arista Records, their last one before changing its name to The Dregs, and contains a re-recording of one of their earlier songs, which appeared on their 1976 demo The Great Spectacular.
Unsung Heroes is the fifth studio album by the Dixie Dregs, released in 1981. This was the band's first album released under the moniker The Dregs. It also received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
Andy West is an American bass guitarist and composer who is an original founding member of the Dixie Dregs along with Steve Morse. Since the breakup of the original band in 1983, West has been on albums with Mike Keneally, Henry Kaiser, Paul Barrere, Vinnie Moore, and many others. His frequent style of playing bass is with a guitar pick, although he has performed in fingerstyle on several occasions. Since 1985, West has simultaneously pursued a career in the software industry while continuing to release albums sporadically. He currently works as a vice president for Analytics and Adaptive Learning at Pearson Education.
Full Circle is the seventh studio album by the Dixie Dregs, released in 1994. This was their first studio album in over a decade, since 1982's Industry Standard, and the first album released under The Dixie Dregs since 1980's Dregs of the Earth, whereas Unsung Heroes and Industry Standard were released under the moniker The Dregs. It includes an instrumental cover of The Yardbirds song, "Shapes of Things". Although the Dixie Dregs have continued to be active in the years after its release, Full Circle is the last studio album by the band as of 2022.
In the Morse Code of Brake Lights is the eighth studio album by Canadian indie rock band the New Pornographers, released on September 27, 2019. The album was preceded in August by its lead single, "Falling Down the Stairs of Your Smile".
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