For those of you patiently awaiting our next installment of classic lineup Mahavishnu Orchestra performances, we will be adding another remarkable recording in this week's batch of new shows. It features material from the second night of the two night stand at Avery Fisher Hall on December 28, 1973. Those of you familiar with the band's itinerary will notice that this date is one of last shows by the original lineup, as their last performance ever was on December 30, 1973, just two nights later.

Although I initially prefered the more eloquent and cohesive playing of their 1972/early 1973 era, I'm now beginning to prefer the staggering intensity of the late 1973 shows and this set is a prime example why. It features some of the most ferocious and adventurous playing I've ever heard and fans of Jan Hammer are in for a particular treat. He takes an extended solo spot during "Awakening" that is truly out of this world.

Be on the lookout for this one and enjoy! Alan

Wow, deja vu all over again!  ;-)

Simply THANKS VERY MUCH!!!happy new year by the way!!!

Really great. Thanks for keeping them coming!

 

An old pal of mine who was a long-time McLaughlin/Mahavishnu fan and collector was listening to the Yale University show, and said that the track that begins with Jan Hammer's solo...around 12:00 into the last track as presented here...was announced from the stage on more than one occasion as "Muse Blues" (gigs he attended in the DC/Baltimore area). I cannot provide any additional confirmation but trust my pal 'cuz he just has one of those baseball-card-collector brains when it comes to Old Things McLaughlin & Mahavishnu.

omark:

An old pal of mine who was a long-time McLaughlin/Mahavishnu fan and collector was listening to the Yale University show, and said that the track that begins with Jan Hammer's solo...around 12:00 into the last track as presented here...was announced from the stage on more than one occasion as "Muse Blues" (gigs he attended in the DC/Baltimore area). I cannot provide any additional confirmation but trust my pal 'cuz he just has one of those baseball-card-collector brains when it comes to Old Things McLaughlin & Mahavishnu.

Hi Omark,
I'd have to respectfully disagree with your friend on this one. According to several scholars of the band, this solo is part of "Awakening" here. This holds true for many of the late 1973 shows in which "Awakening" is performed. Jan does a variation on this impressive solo in all of them. He is usually the first to take an extended solo within the context of this composition.

For the sake of thoroughness, I googled "Muse Blues" and "Jan Hammer" to see what might surface and I did get a few hits, but they were in regard to Jan's later stint with Jeff Beck in the Beck/Hammer Band circa 1977. Perhaps your friend is recalling stage announcements from that era?

On an unrelated note, but possibly of interest to you and other fusion fans of this era, I am currently logging Larry Coryell's opening set for the 1973 MO SUNY @ New Paltz show. We will have that available for you soon. It's quite interesting, capturing one of the final days of his pre-11th House band. Surprisingly, they perform some material destined for the first 11th House album and it's quite interesting to hear this material performed live by the earlier "Offering/Real Great Escape incarnation of his band.

Stay tuned! Alan

Thanks for your reply, Alan.

Mark

In addition to Larry Coryell's 3/17/73 New Paltz set (mentioned a few posts back and coming soon), we just added Return To Forever's 9/2/73 Lenox set this week. It's the earlier lineup with Bill Connors on guitar. Personally, I find Connors far more engaging than Dimeola, so I'm biased toward this lineup, but I encourage you to have a listen. If you've never heard Connors, you're in for a treat. This set pairs up with the incredible Weather Report Lenox set that we added last year and completes the picture of that momentous night. Alan

With the load of great MO shows now available, any turn up with the later Michael Walden/Ponty lineup?

Looking forward to hearing that Coryell show, and will grab the RTF show over the weekend.

My question:  will you be offering an option to purchase lossless files at some point?  I've bought several of the Mahavishnu shows and the quality is decent but sure would sound better without MP3 compression.

And let me add my voice to those clamoring for more MO 72 shows!

Its been exactly 35 years since KBFH show #0001 was aired this week in 1973. We'll be celebrating with the unveiling of the complete recordings of the artists featured on that very first program - which of course included Mahavishnu Orchestra, right after "Birds Of Fire" was released, no less! This is a staggering performance phenomenally recorded. Be on the lookout for it. MrBB

thank you so much for this!!!amazing performance and great quality!!Thanks!

Hey Fellow MVO'ers,
I've recently been handed a CD to review - it's Lindsey Boullt 'Composition'. It has Jerry Goodman-violin; Derek Sherinian - kys; Suhkawat Ali Khan - vox and more. It IS the legacy of the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the 21st Century. Lindsey has even received the endorsement of Walter Kolosky - author - Power, Passion & Beauty: the Story of the Mahavishnu Orchestra!!!

Bad-ass stuff!!

JB

Great show, and best sound quality so far of the Mahavishnu shows that have been put up.

I see this is the only one that is "streaming only"...are there plans to make it available for download?

Thanks very much!

Thanks a bunch for making this available.