Richard Quentin Laird was an Irish musician, best known as the bassist and a founding member of the jazz fusion band Mahavishnu Orchestra, with which he performed from 1971 to 1973.
Thomas Richard Bolin was an American guitarist who played with Zephyr, The James Gang, and Deep Purple, in addition to maintaining a notable career as a solo artist and session musician.
John McLaughlin, also known as Mahavishnu, is an English guitarist, bandleader, and composer. A pioneer of jazz fusion, his music combines elements of jazz with rock, world 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.
The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion band formed in New York City in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of activity, from 1971 to 1976 and from 1984 to 1987. With its first line-up consisting of musicians Billy Cobham, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, and Rick Laird, the band received its initial acclaim for its complex, intense music consisting of a blend of Indian classical music, jazz, and psychedelic rock as well as its dynamic live performances between 1971 and 1973. Many members of the band have gone on to acclaimed careers of their own in the jazz and jazz fusion genres.
Jan Hammer is a Czech-American musician, composer, and record producer. He first gained his most visible audience while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the early 1970s, as well as his film scores for television and film including "Miami Vice Theme" and "Crockett's Theme", from the 1980s television program Miami Vice. He has continued to work as both a musical performer and producer.
Return to Forever was an American jazz fusion band that was founded by pianist Chick Corea in 1972. The band has had many members, with the only consistent bandmate of Corea's being bassist Stanley Clarke. Along with Weather Report, The Headhunters, and Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever is often cited as one of the core groups of the jazz-fusion movement of the 1970s. Several musicians, including Clarke, Flora Purim, Airto Moreira and Al Di Meola, came to prominence through their performances on Return to Forever albums.
William Emanuel Cobham Jr. is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Spectrum is the debut solo album by jazz fusion drummer Billy Cobham.
Splendido Hotel is a double album by jazz guitarist Al Di Meola that was released in 1980.
Teaser is the 1975 debut solo album from American guitarist Tommy Bolin.
The Lost Trident Sessions is a studio album by jazz fusion group the Mahavishnu Orchestra, released on 21 September 1999 through Sony Music Entertainment. It was originally recorded in June 1973 at Trident Studios but was not released until 26 years later. According to the album's detailed liner notes, in November 1998 Columbia Records producer Bob Belden stumbled upon two quarter-inch tapes in Columbia's Los Angeles vault whilst gathering material for a remastered reissue of the Mahavishnu Orchestra's 1973 album Birds of Fire. The tapes were otherwise unlabelled besides the recording location, but upon further inspection, they were revealed to be the two-track mixes for what would have been the Mahavishnu Orchestra's third studio album at the time.
Between Nothingness & Eternity is the first live album by jazz fusion band Mahavishnu Orchestra, released on November 1973 by Columbia Records. According to the Mahavishnu Orchestra Gigs listing by Walter Kolosky, it was recorded live at the Schaefer Music Festival, held in Central Park, New York, on August 17 and 18, 1973, even though available recordings indicate that all of the material from the album was taken from the second night only. Originally, Mahavishnu Orchestra's third album was to be a studio effort, recorded in June 1973 at Trident in London, but was scrapped during the final days of the project; the live album, containing versions of three of the original six tracks, was released instead as the last album during the period of the original line-up of the band. The original studio album was released in 1999 as The Lost Trident Sessions.
Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live is a live album by Jeff Beck, released in 1977 on Epic Records.
Hits! is a compilation album by Boz Scaggs, first released in 1980. It focuses primarily on material released in 1976 and 1980. The album has been certified platinum by the RIAA.
Smackwater Jack is a 1971 studio album by Quincy Jones. Tracks include the theme music to Ironside and The Bill Cosby Show.
Merry-Go-Round is an album by American jazz drummer Elvin Jones recorded in 1971 and released on the Blue Note label.
On the Mountain is a jazz album by drummer Elvin Jones with keyboardist Jan Hammer and bassist Gene Perla recorded in 1975 and originally released on Perla's PM label.
Like Children is an album by Jan Hammer and Jerry Goodman. It was released in 1974 by Nemperor Records. Both musicians were members of the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
The Complete Columbia Albums Collection is a box set by Mahavishnu Orchestra. It came out in 2011 and it contains remastered versions of all the albums by the first incarnation of the band, including The Lost Trident Sessions, which was to be the band's third studio album, recorded in 1973 but only released in 1999. Additionally, the first album, The Inner Mounting Flame, contains a bonus live track; the live album Between Nothingness & Eternity was remixed and expanded; and the box includes a previously unreleased live CD called Unreleased Tracks from Between Nothingness & Eternity. The box comes with a 16-page booklet with short liner notes by John McLaughlin and Richard Seidel.
Some Shapes to Come is the debut album by American saxophonist Steve Grossman. It was released in 1974 by PM Records.
