I was also lucky to have been able to catch the Mahavishnu Orchestra in a small club the 1st time I saw them, unbelievable! I saw them again in larger venues (2X) and while they always delivered, it never compared to that 1st nightclub show! When I think back for a minute, the club was My Father's Place in Roslyn, NY. I also caught Return to Forever there as well as Larry Coryell's Eleventh House, not to mention Jaco Pastorious small band! I lived close by so I was fortunate to have caught a lot of great music there (one especially memorable night was when I went to see Paul Winter's Consort and an unknown Bruce Springsteen & the E St. Band were 2nd billing!). When Billy Cobham premiered his Crosswinds band (according to the liner notes in his fantastic compilation; Rudiments), the very 1st gigs they had were at My Father's Place. I went 3 nights in a row!!! Us fanboys would gather around the stage at the end of a set, Billy would toss his used, frayed (from all the rimshots!) wooden drumsticks to us. I managed to get TWO from different nights!;)
A book I'd very strongly recommend to anyone interested in Fusion is Power, Passion, & Beauty - The Story of the Legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra (the greatest band that ever was) by Walter Kolosky. Very well researched and written, beyond telling the definitive history of the MO, it also is a narrative about the roots of Fusion Jazz, and paints a general picture of the Jazz world at a pivotal point in its history, it's a great read!
"....a most enjoyable read. Walter knows more about the MO than I do and I was the bass player!" - Rick Laird
