Memories of Mahavishnu

 

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

I've been spending the Festival Of Lights with The
Inner Mounting Flame. While that may sound like a 'light'-hearted pun, the reference is to the iconic 1971 album of jazz guitarist John McLaughlin's band Mahavishnu Orchestra.

November 3 marked 50 years since the record was released, and the immediate action was to have yet another listen. Clearly, here is an album which not only sounds great each time one hears it, but an instance where one remembers every single note and nuance of each of the eight tracks, and yet learns something new each time.

Of the Mahavishnu albums, one always keeps debating whether this or Birds Of Fire is a bigger favourite. But The Inner Mounting Flame is extra-special, as it was my exposure not only to the band but to the entire generation of jazz-rock.

The year was 1983, and like some of my classmates in Hansraj College, New Delhi, I was into rock music. I would visit a record store at Guru Nanak Market near Pamposh Enclave, near Greater Kailash 1. The owner, who we knew as Bittu, would sell second hand records and also record albums on blank cassettes. On the request of another customer, he played The Inner Mounting Flame on his system.

The opening track 'Meeting Of The Spirits' completely blew me with its sheer energy, and I soon realised McLaughlin also played for the Indo-jazz fusion band Shakti, which some friends adored. The next day, I told my college friend Pankaj Mridul about my experience, and music mentor that he was, he explained the entire jazz fusion movement to me, also talking of McLaughlin's work with Al Di Meola and Paco De Lucia, and how Mahavishnu was the name given to McLaughlin by his spiritual guru Sri Chinmoy (Pankaj passed away earlier this week, and the current listening of The Inner Mounting Flame is dedicated to him).

I returned to the store and Bittu informed me that though he had already sold that record, he would arrange another copy. Those days, second-hand LPs cost Rs 35, and one had to save from one's pocket money to build a collection. The store also had the album Black Market by the jazz-rock band Weather Report, something which Pankaj had also mentioned.

So I picked up these two LPs, and for a couple of weeks, I only lit up the house with The Inner Mounting Flame, keeping Weather Report for a rainy day, pun unintended. Besides McLaughlin, that line-up of Mahavishnu consisted of keyboardist Jan Hammer, violinist Jerry Goodman, bassist Rick Laird and drummer Billy Cobham, who became an instant hero because of his work on 'Vital Transformation'.

As a 20-year-old first-time jazz-rock listener without any music theory background or playing experience, the things that initially struck me about the Mahavishnu Orchestra were the technical virtuosity and McLaughlin's rapidfire improvisations, specially on 'Meeting Of The Spirits' and 'The Noonward Race'. But as I delved deeper, other things became clear. The build-up of 'Dawn' and 'The Dance Of Maya' were so smooth, with new melodic phrases coming out of nowhere, and 'Lotus On Irish Streams' touched me with its sheer melancholy and Hammer's deft playing.

It took a few listens to get deep into the roles of bassist Laird and violinist Goodman, but over time, one realised how crucial they were to the overall effort, That Goodman solo on 'Awakenings' is a masterclass.

My favourite tune, of course, is 'You Know, You Know'. It's a work of art, as much as Weather Report's 'Birdland', the Chick Corea Elektric Band's 'Got A Match', Mahavishnu's own 'Miles Beyond from Birds Of Fire or Shakti tracks like 'Face To Face' and 'Lotus Feet'. A few lines of review copy won't suffice to describe its brilliance, and one remembers the joy one had when McLaughlin's band The 4th Dimension played it as the encore at Mumbai's Royal Opera House in 2018.

For obvious reasons, one never got to see Mahavishnu Orchestra live but that Mumbai show was the closest as they did a throwback with a set-list that also included 'Lotus On Irish Streams' from The Inner Mounting Flame.

Even after 38 years, these tunes just don't fade away. From personal experience, Mahavishnu was the beginning of a river journey that sailed into the ocean that also had Weather Report, Shakti, Return To Forever, AL Di Meola, Jean-Luc Ponty, Ian Carr's Nucleus and many more. The Flame shines on forever.