BETWEEN NOTHINGNESS & ETERNITY

4.5 stars really!!!!

As I explained in the BoF review, the tensions between Hammer and Goodman on one side and McLaughlin and Cobham on the other, started destroying the group and taking into the abyss the third album's recording sessions with the group, Columbia decided to bring out as a third offering a live album, which consisted of brand new and unreleased material: the three extended tracks on the live album being found in their original dimension on the Lost Trident Sessions. What really happened is that Mc and Cobham wanted to release the LTS tapes as a finished album, while Hammer, Goodman and now joined by Laird opposed it. This led to an imminent break-up, but the group owing one more album to Columbia settled on recording their august 73 Central Park concert. The group would soldier on until New Year's Eve in Toledo. After which, McLaughlin build from scratch a new line-up of MO that would go on to record three albums of its own.

Out of seemingly nowhere gongs are chiming, but nowhere is there a spaceship (even if the album would have a very celestial artwork), so where back down to Mahavishnu planet and its superb Trilogy (not RGI, you potheads!! ;-)), Cobham being astoundingly virtuosi, while every other musician in the group works for great unity. The first movement Sunlit Path seems to be providing Goodman's violin some rays of exposure, the second Mère De La Mer (mother of sea) is more Hammer's moment, while the closing Tomorrow's Story is highlighting Mc's blistering guitar. The crowd is overwhelmingly enthusiastic as can be heard between trilogy and Sister Andrea, the only known MkI line-up track that isn't McLaughlin penned (until much later, when Lost Trident will be released), but by Jan Hammer. And unfortunately the live version does not stand much comparison to its studio version, but still remains a scorching beauty.

The flipside is filled by the gigantic Dream, which finds itself expanded to twice its original length. In the middle is an extended and delightfully slow violin-laced spacey session, until the track picks up for the last 14 minutes where the group climbs from one climax to another, soaring higher than the Himalayas, sometimes slightly over-stretching the track and solos, but nothing scandalous, either. Even at this final stage of the line-up's life, it's impossible to find the cracks in the varnish in their incredibly tight music; although the seeds were already sown, troubles would really blossom after McLaughlin's return from his Santana collaboration. .

Some thirty years later, we now know that the three gigantic extended tracks on this Live BNAE album were actually part of the LTS released at the turn of the millennium, recorded less than a month before the concert. On the downside of this album, we are still waiting for Columbia to reissue the remastered version of this album as TIMF and BoF have received it. On the plus side, though the very same Columbia label never destroyed the artwork with their red frame around the original covers as they had done for all the other MO albums as they did so with all of WR's repertoire. How not to recommend a MO MkI line-up? Simply impossible not to, but this album should be discovered after the studio ones, including the LTS album.

The best example, live, of their versatility and creativity as well, although some parts are prolix and tired too, at the end...I like to remark also the important job at the electric violin, very experimental here.

This work is recommended, even though I prefer another kind of Fusion, that one more "Progressive oriented" and less "jazz rock", in the vein of NIACIN or ala ECHOLYN.

This is the best album in the world. I always thought it was a giagantic free jam. I wondered how did these guys pullthis off. Then i heard the trident lost tapes album. This was almost note for note to the studio version. Sonically the most hyper-alive concert ever performed. I had seen mahavhisnu 2 or 3 times ( with this basic line up) from the first note they grabbed you up out of your seat. Lifted you higher than high, held you there for 45 min to an hour and dropped you like a rocket back to earth with the last note played. I left their concerts exhausted. And this album takes you right along, next best thing to being thier live. Peter leinhos, a fan.

Having been there on that New York City, muggy summer night at the Shaffer Music Festival in Central Park where this album was recorded, so many years ago I will tell you that The Mahavishnu Orchestra was the most techincally brilliant, creatively daring and unabashedly as incredible live as they were in the studio. In rapture from the first bang of the the signature gong notes and phase shifitng tonalities, to the very last oncore this live recording is fairly close to being there. The sound is balanced and some of the hard edges that make live concerts what they are is toned down a bit. The sonic waves that pennetrated those in attendence from incredible solos of Mc Laughlin soaring Gutar trading off with Goodman on electric Violin and Jan Hammer on Keygboards held deftly together by the power house Cobhan on Drums and Laird on Bass could be experienced once more if you turn the stereo up and let your soul soar along with them. This five piece unit was the seminal outfit that so many fusioin groups would follow after, like Chick Corea's Return to Forever and the 11th House helmed by Larry Coreyell on guitar. John Mc Laughlin being guided by his spiritual mentor Sri Chinmoy brought to this world a vision of musical perfection with all the heavy metal screams, power and soul piericing atonal juxtopositions of Jimi Hendrix combined with the inprovisational genius that Mc Laughlin finely honed while he played on Miles Davis's Bitches Brew and his solo debute albums My Goals Beyond album and Extrapolations. Mahavishnu John Mc Laughlin ushered in a new kind of music one that was unafraid to be sophistitcated and technically unparalled and perhaps was the introduction to true improvisational jazz for many aspiring musicians who up until that point were only listening to R&B and metal groups for inspiration and like myself knew that what I heard was something like I never heard before and have yet to hear again. This album is a piece of living music history, unadulterated and pure like the music that it is a testament too. John Mc Laughlin. Billly Coban, Yan Hammer, Jerry Goodman and Rick Laird will remain in my mind the first and formost seminal Jazz/Rock Fusion Group and this album is the last recorded live with this line up other than bootlegs of other live concerts.

I was first introduced to MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA in 1972 by my music instructor. I have never heard anything so facinating as DREAM. The way all the artists do their thing is incredible. The violin hooked me. My best description would be is they do to the violin what Hendrix did to the guitar. Listening to this was like following a path in a dream world through its highs and lows to a massive climax. The beginning of the Air-Violin(air-guitar).

After Birds Of Fire the Mahavishnu Orchestra were going through an identity crisis. While McLaughlin was band leader the other members, Billy Cobham, Rick Laird, Jan Hammer and Jerry Goodman, felt that they too were putting in an equal input into the band yet it was McLaughlin whose name was featured below the credits of every song. The sessions which would have resulted in the third release by the original band would remain locked away in a CBS vault for the next couple of decades. In 1973 the Mahavishnu Orchestra showcased the new material which this album which only featured the new and unheard material. It was released as an album which also proved the the swan song release from the line up that had created such a powerful and intense collaboration like nothing that had come before. The live album itself suffers from a dated sound but the chemistry within the band is still at a white hot and super fused intensity as the band build and create a multi expressive layer of colours and sounds in that intricate and complex method that the Mahavishnu Orchestra were known for. The interplay between Hammer's keyboard, McLaughlin's guitar and Jerry Goodman's violin is at a tremendous high juxtaposed against the solid and hypnotic dual rhythm of Cobham and Laird, and perhaps the inner conflict was producing even more fireworks that pushed the band to a different level. Drummer Billy Cobham for one complained that he never felt his personality come through in the music at the latter stages of the Mahavishu Orchestra's days but you would hardly believe it, though his Spectrum album released in the same year as From Nothingness To Eternity is a very different entity with a varying facet of funky grooves. From Nothingness To Eternity is the recording of a band that never peaked as they exploded prematurely, but that must have been seen on the horizon. The ego's involved with such talent would have to make their presence known some time, that much is inevitable. The material from this album which was only recently released as the Lost Trident Sessions is a band going through a new stage and a new exploration of fusion. The Mahavsihnu Orchestra were the living essence of the fusion era and all that was good and bad, reaching highs with the music but equal lows with ego causing discord. A rare live album from one of the most explosive units to emerge from jazz/rock scene in the seventies in their all too brief catalogue.

Very strong live album. In my opinion, this is a record every rock-lover must hear for sure. The playing of members John McLaughlin, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, Rick Laird and Billy Cobham is teriffic. So much power and virtuosity.. It's more exciting than the music on the previous albums, although this is more orientated on playing rough and fast than the previous one (Birds Of Fire) which was more orientated on melodic and compositional playing. Anyway, this is a must have because of the great excitement, instrumental climaxes (check the very fast and powerful sequence in the middle of "Trilogy" and the stunning part at 12 minutes on "Dream", no one beats this!) and good compositions too!

Also check out "The Lost Trident Sessions" for the very good (and way better sound-quality) studio-versions, discovered 25 years after this album!!

In a Billly Cobham concert during the late 1970s, he stated, "If you think it smells sweet now, the last time I was here in 1973 the Mahavishnu Orchestra opened for Pink Floyd." If you wonder why Gen Xer's are jealous of baby boomers, one reason is that concerts like this were prevalent and in small theaters and clubs, not arenas and football stadiums. This album, of course, was the last album by a band that was born to explode and destined to implode. Four of its members went on to outstanding careers in music. This document gives you a glimpse into what it would have been like back in 1973 to be sitting beneath the stars in NY's Central Park while Mahavishnu took the stage. The three tracks made up the better part of the studio album that was not released after the bands break up. They are intense and glorious . The ensemble is really beginning to sound like an orchestra. The original Mahavishnu Orchestra became one of the what ifs of musical history. Its successor was brillliant , but not as great as the original. It dissipated into R and B tunesmithary. But if the original had gone on to make just two more albums . . . .

The third album of Mahavishnu Orchestra is a live album featuring three long tracks namely "Trilogy" (12 minutes), "Sister Andrea" (8 minutes), and "Dream" (21 minutes). As far as musicality, this album continued what the band has already put with their first two studio albums where the music combined improvisational nature of jazz music, hard driving rhythm of rock music - all are delivered by talented musicians.

The live album starts off with noise from the crowd followed by repeated sounds of gong to let the crowd that show start to roll! Billy Cobham drum work enters and it remarks the work of other instruments which mainly electric guitar solo by John McLaughlin with main rhythm section of Jan Hammer's piano / moog, bass and drum. Violin then takes the lead for solo right after the electric guitar. Billy Cobham gives his powerful drumming in between. The music is a jazz-rock fusion. Jan Hammer gives his moog solo augmented with guitar solo. It's an excellent opening.

"Sister Andrea" maintains the same style as previous track but this time the beat is slower at beginning part, demonstrating guitar, violin and piano. Rick Laird gives his bass lines obviously during transition just before silent break with guitar solo. I can feel the live vibes here and it looks like a rock concert. Jan Hammer provides piano work occasionally. The music returns back in fusion mode with Billy Cobham comes back into the music. Jerry Goodman gives his wonderful violin solo as well. It's really rocking!

"Dream" kicks off with ambient, atmospheric nuance with Rick Laird's bass guitar solo augmented with Jan's piano. Guitar and violin follow gradually. Guitar solo takes the lead with other instruments (except drum) provide soft rhythm. Violin solo enters and then drum follows and the music flows in jazz-rock fashion with Jan Hammer's piano brings the music forward into a more intricate compositions. For those of you who like long instrument solo and improvisation, listening to this track (live) is a rewarding experience. This track moves from slow to medium to complex arrangements. It's a great track.

For my personal taste, this live album is an excellent addition to any prog music collection. Don's miss it. If you don't like the music, at least you can see how powerful John McLaughlin playing the guitar and Jerry Goodman playing the violin. Get it man! Keep on proggin' .!

Note: As usual, there are wise words by Sri Chinmoy at the CD sleeve titled "My Flute". The last two verses of "My Flute" say this: I am all alone / Between failure / And frustration. I am the red thread / Between Nothingness / And Eternity. [Printed here without permission of the author. My rationale is simple: Great wise words must be shared and disseminated to all human beings.]

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

For some reason it was decided to release this live album instead of the studio recordings which were to become The Lost Trident Sessions released on CD in 1999. It was recorded in Central Park in the summer of 1973 and most of the material from those sessions can be found here.

Everything that you would expect from the early Mahavishnu Orchestra can be found here, tempos clocking in at the speed of light, time signatures that only Albert Einstein could comprehend and amps cranked to eleven. Play this one loud and be afraid. Be very afraid. There was absolutely no band playing at altitudes this high in the the stratosphere in 1973 or ever!

At first one might suspect that it was an all out pedal to the metal jam session with all the material made up on the spot, but if one consults the Lost Trident sessions one will discover that these were well played compositions sticking to the program more or less albeit with more energy in the live environment. Jazz critics in the past have slammed the album for being non-musical and I would have to agree with this to a certain extent. Each track does start off with a melodic theme but that`s not what we`re here for is it? What we want here is speed and determination of the individual players to pulverize each other in this last man standing wins fusion battle royale of battle royales.

Because it was recorded outdoors it suffers from some flaws most obvious being the recording of the bass parts. Also at times it can be difficult to discern which instrument is playing what which is probably because amps are turned up to eleven and due to the sheer intensity of the playing. Another qualm I have is the absence of material from the previous studio albums The Inner Mounting Flame and Birds of Fire. One must consult shoddy bootleg albums which were circulating back in the seventies for live recordings of this material.

Recommended for those into demonstrations of technical wizardry or escape velocity freakouts. The last Mahavishnu Orchestra album with this unbeatable combination of musicianship.

Here is a great live al bum capturing one of the great all time fusion legends at work. Complete with 2 epic tracks (Trilogy 12 mins and Dream 21 mins) this album will completely blow your mind. The Mahav's were John McLaughlin (guitars), Jan Hammer (piano & moog), Jerry Goodman (violin), Billy Cobham (drums) and Rick Laird (bass). The end result is a controlled but free roaming fusion with great excitement and vitality. Mclaughlin's guitar playing is amazing with the entire band doing their best to support him and take the music in new direction... something they do very well live. Cobham's drumming is simply amazing as is the violin quirks from Goodman. Kind of a melting pot of all genres and styles coming together in one amazing place. Go get this album !

This was my first introduction to Mahavishnu Orchestra and the genre of Jazz/Rock Fusion. It striked me as being very technical and vituosic, with decent writing.

To me, all three tracks are very similar so it won't be necessary to differentiate between them.

First off, strong points: The electric violin on this album was a big plus for me, after hearing "Plain Truth" from Gentle Giant I crave all offerings of this instrument. It's got such a great sound. It's used on this album very "fiddly". What I mean is, there isn't much symphonic type soaring notes, but more of a disjointed, faster playing style. Another good aspect is the guitar playing of John McLaughlin. He's an amazing virtuso, and fails to dissapoint live. Everything is so technically flawless, very fast and intricate playing. This leads to a different side of the spectrum..

Weaker points: The guitar playing of Mclaughlin is so very fast and prescise, he loses emotion and feeling behind his playing. I will not speak of his work outside this album, but I'll judge the playing on this particular work to be very fast and technical, but without emotion and feeling. The keyboard playing is largely annoying, that one specific type of sound that is also used extensively on Return t Forever's "Romantic Warrior" gets on my nerves. Its so obnoxious, transparent and fake. That is largely a figure of opinion though, I'm certain others will like it.

The compositional structure is typical of Jazz/Rock Fusion, with alot of improvisation, and when that gets drawn out, a member contributes a pretentious riff that the whole band plays together symphonically before trailing off into individual solos again.

It might seem like I'm being a little harsh, but I actually enjoy this album a good amount. It's music for the brain, and not for the soul.

Warmer than the Mahavisnu studio albums, thanks to the communion with the public and the mystical atmosphere. All the pieces are original material. More spacey and less demonstrative than usual, alternating very calm, meditative moments with furious dissonant flights with strident violin. A mystic jazzrock classic.

Heck, you gotta give these guys a star just for having the bon bons to try this. Recording your third album with all new material in a live concert setting where you only get one shot to get it right. Outdoors. In New York's Central Park, no less. Anyway, one of the things I love about their first two albums was how their light-speed madness was countered with very delicate and emotional passages. I think the fact that they were in a studio environment was the key to their success because it gave them the ability to control it all and give the songs an identity. Unfortunately, too much of that is lost on stage.

A gong starts things off with a trilogy of John McLaughlin tunes joined together. "The Sunlit Path" is a ferocious duel between his turbo charged guitar and Jan Hammer's Rhodes piano, "La Mere De La Mer" features violinist Jerry Goodman and drummer Billy Cobham firing rounds at each other and "Tomorrow's Story Not The Same" finds things taking on a rock feel where the violin, guitar and Moog battle it out until they all collapse in a frantic ending. Hammer's "Sister Andrea" establishes a funky rhythm before it drops into a kind of free-form segment between the piano and guitar. They climb back into the funk again and the violin and Moog get the spotlight for the rest of the song. McLaughlin's "Dream" is an aggressive, adventurous attempt at an almost 22 minute epic that probably worked better if you were there in person than it does on record. It has a subtle beginning with John playing acoustic guitar in a flowing duet with Goodman's violin. A fast paced undertow rises up from the band to change the mood before they drop out again and the guitar starts playing a blazing pattern while the piano solos overhead. After a wild, manic moment you are treated to what sounds like a jazz/rock fusion interpretation of the highly recognizable guitar riff from Cream's "Sunshine of your Love." Yes, it's strange. They then retreat to a blistering musical argument between the drums and guitar that goes on for way too long. Things get crazy again before Rick Laird's steady bass calms things down for the violin and guitar to shine before the piece ends quietly.

This was the last album we'd get from the original lineup. When musicians are as uniquely talented as they obviously are it's nearly impossible to keep them in one band for very long. This was a bold move for them that fell short of the mark and may well have hastened their breakup. I highly recommend the first two albums but this one is only for those who want to hear how fast they could play outside the confines of the studio or just want to own everything they recorded. It's by no means terrible but I rate it as a 2.8 overall.

The sigh heard at the end of one section says it all....I've loved this album from the moment I first heard it 30+ years ago, and it's appeal has not waned. When McLaughlin's 7/8 ostenato first begins to be heard at the last throes of the gong hits, one experiences an almost nirvanic (yeah, I think I did just make up that word) sensation that conveys what one is hearing is truly inspired and unique. The high energy interplay between the musicians (Cobham's drumming is Supra-Human) intensifies the experience which no mere mantra could possibly achieve. Sit back, put the headphones on, close your eyes, and listen deeply.

If I had a Hammer

Although this the third release by the Mahavishnu Orchestra is a live album, it contains entirely new material. The tracks had in fact previously been recorded in the studio, but those sessions would not see the light of day for over 20 years. This performance took place in Central park, New York in August 1973.

Right from the outset here, there is an air of over indulgence. The album consists of three lengthy tracks, of which two appear on side one, with the third occupying the whole of side 2. John McLaughlin claims the writing credits throughout, although this seems somewhat presumptuous given the nature of the music. The opening "Trilogy" (nothing to do with ELP though) is a 12 minute improvisational romp featuring the violin of Jerry Goodman, the lead guitar of John McLaughlin, and the keyboards of Jan Hammer. There is at times a duelling banjos feel to the long answer and response interludes, but the underlying themes are hard if not impossible to distinguish.

"Sister Andrea", the shortest piece at just over 8 minutes, is a slower boogie based interlude. Even here though, the sound is much harder than the studio albums have led us to expect. There is little if any of the transcendental meditation of the studio albums, for this gig the band turned up the volume and rocked. That said, the underlying influences are still firmly rooted in jazz/fusion/improvisation.

The 21+ minute "Dream" occupies the whole of side 2. The track builds from a soft dreamy start into another lengthy jam, led off by Jan Hammer. By the way, the use of the words "jam" and "improvised" here are intended to be descriptive of the style. There are regular indications along the way that the performance is actually very tight and rehearsed.

While I can appreciate the mighty talents of the highly accomplished musicians on show here, for me the music fails to retain my attention. The three suites are overlong, and lack any kind of distinguishing character. Ultimately, I can only recommend this to those who already know what to expect, or those seeking technically gifted but dry musicianship.

Sometimes too long (Dream, 20 minutes, oh God), but this live album (the one and only live album from the first Mahavishnu Orchestra line-up) is excellent for me. Only three tracks (including a Trilogy), all of them were unreleased on studio albums at the time. Later (really later, on CD) will be released the Lost Trident Sessions, which included the studio versions of Dream, Trilogy and Sister Andrea. I really love this live album, sometimes underrated (never overrated anyway), but very interesting. Rather interesting than the following albums by the band (other line-up), like Apocalypse.

When I was seven years old, I had become a bit antsy with relying on whatever albums and tapes my older siblings would have lying around. There was a bit of luck now and then when I'd get the cast-off album that didn't find favor with them - The Beatles 'Revolver', Iron Butterfly's 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida', Blood Sweat and Tears self-titled second album, the UTTERLY underrated Apollo 100 'Joy' album (in it's entireity) - but as the seventies started to middle-out, the luck started to sputter-out and I'd be left with stale titles from John Denver or Helen Reddy (egads!) and the like. Something had to be done, so I decided it was time to starve myself by skipping lunch and then saving up that school lunch money from Mom to buy what I REALLY wanted to hear. First came Zep's 'Houses Of The Holy', then came Grand Funk Railroad being an American band. On Friday nights, after a grudgingly long elementary school week, I'd struggle to stay awake long enough to catch In Concert or Midnight Special, and on one of those Friday nights in 1973, I saw Mahavishnu Orchestra and they blew my little mind. So I starved myself some more and when the opportunity came to visit Dart Drug while my Mom was shopping, I was determined to buy 'Birds Of Fire' - alas, they did not have it in stock on their pegboards - but they did have 'Between Nothingness And Eternity' - and that money was burning a hole in my pocket, I couldn't go home without an LP! So, I bought it.

I played it on my crappy little kiddy system until the grooves bled out nasty white plastic shavings. But my ears and mind earned every little microgram of those shavings and the hundreds of spins it received before it was unplayable were crucial in my life - utterly invaluable. I feel blessed and lucky and thankful every day that I owned this album as a youngster - formative influence is an understatement.

I can still remember the feeling in my gut coming home on the school bus, the anticipation that the second I got home I would put the needle on side one, a couple of dudes would yell out some unintelligable words and a gong would be struck. A crowd would cheer. The gong was my cue that a journey was about to take place. So begins the Trilogy. Since I was already generally obsessed with 'Houses Of The Holy' and it's opening 'Song Remains The Same' (which in retrospect was proggy in it's own way, though I didn't realize it then), the Trilogy certainly shares a similar rhythmic quirkiness that completely appealed (appeals!) to me. Mahavishnu Orchestra were taking the whole dynamic thing of loud to quiet, busy to subdued, to this whole other level for me (and this was long before the Pixies! ha). And, hey, where's the singer?? There were just so many musical concepts that this album opened me up to - but it all boils down to the fact that this thing ROCKS, it absolutely smokes from start to finish. I was entranced by the structure of the Trilogy, it got faster and faster as it moved along, McLaughlin's guitar and Hammer's keyboard seemed to be talking to each other, were they having a conversation? Which side was Billy Cobham supporting? Or were they all just following his lead like a pied piper of tempo? Why am I feeling a strange sensation in my chest and feeling light-headed too? This is music I could not explain or fully understand, but it was music I certainly felt with every fiber of my being. And I was addicted to this album like a drug. When the audience cheers after this first track, I feel that too, it's like I'm at this concert (and obviously, I'd never been to a live concert yet).

The following (and only other) track on side one is 'Sister Andrea', a funky little jam that felt like a pay- off or reward for experiencing the Trilogy. But there's something dark and decadent (and delicious) going on in the middle. John McLaughlin's solo on this used to sort of scare me, and I liked the feeling of being scared by it. I always remember feeling some of it was out of tune, and it'd pull me and bend me and make me feel all weird inside. But I always knew the comfort of that funky jam bit would come back to save me, comfort me again - only to be followed by Jerry Goodman's demonic and hairy electric violin - possibly the strangest sound I'd heard up to that point (except for maybe that weird bit in 'Whole Lotta Love' that sounded like a strange cemetary orgy of the dead or something - that used to scare the hell out of me too as a kid). Then, back again to the funky comfortable place where Jan Hammer is going to get all freaky with the Moog. How on earth could he play that fast, I'd think. That's probably the biggest impression I really got initially from this album - how could all these people play their instruments so FAST! There's also a bit in this song where they'll be laying down the basic riff and these stabs out of nowhere come like a burp or a knife (it's different every time it happens in the song). Then a single gong stroke and side one concludes. I'd always be a little sad because I knew that all that was left was side two and...

'Dream' - with it's opening, so gentle and precious. On top of a simple bass figure based on an octave with a recurring and simply placed electric piano chord, McLaughlin once again opens up his soul and talks with his guitar, sometimes buddied up with Goodman's violin like brothers in arms until Goodman takes flight on his own and peers above the clouds as a lookout for the rest of the group - and he sees something that's definitely exciting him and juicing up the other guys. As with 'Trilogy', the way these guys shift tempo is swift and sure-footed. Dream's tempo change comes about five minutes into the track and it's Jan Hammer again on the Fender Rhodes just straight tearing it up. Back then I didn't realize it because I didn't hear Miles Davis until more than a decade later, but this is certainly in the Miles vein of improvisation. (Imagine yourself laughing at me when I finally did hear Bitches Brew and said 'wow, this sounds like Mahavishnu! HA!). There comes a breakdown with just McLaughlin and Hammer again, just doing some amazing interplay that's so beautiful and heartfelt and it's all so incredibly fast and intricate and woven together like a Persian rug, or maybe more honestly like a flying magic carpet. About halfway through 'Dream', Cobham drops another motif of solid funk down for the others to attach themselves to and we're off on a whole new adventure - Goodman seems to not want to come willingly and his violin screams about the wonderland they'd just left as if he's saying let's go back man!, and there's a little bit of stopping and starting, a sense of confusion, things get more dizzying, and yet again we're going faster and faster and the group decides to take stock of where they're at and look to McLaughlin to pull things together, which he does aided ably by Billy Cobham's tight syncopation and tasteful comments from Rick Laird's bass. This section of the track culminates with some seriously blistering lines from McLaughlin which in turn lend themselves to something that's bluesier than anything else on the album. Perhaps all this out-of-body flying around the astral plane has revealed something about the importance of roots to this journey - and so, after a strange bit of repetition that seems to comment on reluctance to abort the trip, we're led to a jazzy keyboard contemplation about what's been learned in the past 20 minutes - McLaughlin spikes in some plaintive distortion, mostly single note until he goes again into the stratosphere to pay homage to the spirits that guided their way and helped them safely back home. A gong is struck with respect and awe, bringing us back full circle to where we begin and end, somwhere between nothingness and eternity.

This album is beyond essential - it is the essence of music itself, and it's a document of the possibilities that music creates. It demonstrates that if you infinitely look forward, what you're eventually going to see is the back of your head. I notice that this album, among people who rate it not just here but in all forums of critical discussion, doesn't always get a lot of respect and is rarely deemed as Mahavishnu Orchestra's crowning glory, but those that have been moved by it, are often PROFOUNDLY moved by it. I count myself among the latter. Perhaps because I came to this album as a child and I allowed it to have a formative effect on me - which is the thing that makes me feel blessed and lucky to have been exposed to it at that time in my life. I can only hereby dedicate my musical life and gratefulness of musical experience to this album. To me, it's THAT important. Your milage may vary.

This live album that had been recorded in 1973 became the last album as an initial work of Mahavishnu. It is ..high quality work that draws the flow of the compilation and at the same time by an initial member.. finished. The creation that they did at that time of this influences very various musicians. It is also true that Mahavishnu influenced Chick Corea. And, it talks about the remark where a variety of guitar players also admitted the nature as his leader by the interview. The performance that explodes the feelings is a content to understand whether they always offered the listener the highest performance very live.

They have gone in live of this with Central Park. They before live was done decided the band already and it had been decided to dissolve. And, after having digested live, they declared the dissolution of the band on substance. Maclaughlin completely changes the band in 1974 and works on the production of "Apocalypse". It is guessed that the decision that he gave was time of a further leap for Mahavishunu. However, it is guessed that the performance at this time was time loved most for the listener.

Initial Mahavishunu was the energy for the member age. Mahavishnu was time when the creation that Maclaughlin had done exceeded our imagination and obtained one zeal and conviction though participated in the album of Santana and Miles Davis by Maclaughlin. It talks about Maclaughlin by the interview. ｢I always develop by music and have expanded. Meditation helps my life. ｣He is expressed, religious limited thought and creativity are expressed by music, and his music character at that time is made an embodiment by Mahavishnu exactly.

This thought gradually develops the music character of Mahavishnu and the thought of Maclaughlin is connected in competing with Shakti.

Halfway through... nothingness and ...eternity!

As far as I am concerned, the title is representative of the musical quality here. There are definitely moments of NOTHINGNESS (e.g. unconditional improvisation that often leads to long, tiring compositions) and there are moments of ETERNITY (e.g. really inspired musical ideas that build exceptionally interesting and novel fusion passages).

The first and only live CD of the band consists of 3 relatively long compositions; the two longest ones are composed by John McLaughlin (Trilogy and Dream) and the middle one by Jan Hammer (Sister Andrea). All compositions are new and could have easily been part of a studio album; although BN&E is a live album, it could be treated as a studio one but for the excessive improvisation...

Surprisingly, bearing in mind the year is 1973, the sound is crystal clear, the instruments are clearly distinguished and produce bright and shiny ''noises''. It is not really needed to comment on the technical skills of the musicians - history speaks for them. In terms of structure, the most loosely composed track is Dream where the individual skills of the band's members appear within the 21 long minutes... the longest a single rhythm section tune stays the same should be about 4 minutes - the session 9th-13th minute - and that is probably the most interesting part. Although there is a violin/keyboard-based jazzy start, McLaughlin's playing is dominant without leaving enough space for the others to evolve in the track after the 7th minute.

The other McLaughlin composition here, Trilogy, is based on a distinctive guitar-keyboard tune and is more down-to-earth (!) mainly because it flows on a relatively 'relaxed' rhythm section at least for the 3-4 first minutes. It gradually builds up and turns to a heavy fusion dynamite after the 6th minute with loads of virtuosic passages and lots of interchanging soloing between instruments. On the contrary, Sister Andrea shows some funky/blues elements and the compositional approach is somewhat different. Most of the track is based on a medium tempo before derailing completely after the 7th minute...

Presumably, fans of instrumental jazz/fusion that is based on improvisation will appreciate this record. I would probably not recommend that for a prog fan relatively unfamiliar with the genre (including myself) that wishes to make a start on jazz/fusion, but most of the listeners will find lots of boring and, at the same time, interesting pieces of music here.

I still think this album is midway through zenith and nadir, thus 2.5-3 stars.

This album introduced me to Mahavishnu. It is entirely composed of tracks that did not appear on any of their studio albums. And if they hadn't unearthed the studio sessions 2O years later, this might have been essential, even considering its flimsy sound. In a way it represents the pinnacle of the first Mahavishnu group and their playing never was tighter then this.

But hearing it back now for the first time in 10 years and also for the first time since I heard The Trident Sessions, the improvisations sound a tad too long-winded, not focused enough really. It's still an impressive live document from an amazing and unique band, but rather then a general recommendation, it's just an item fans will want to seek out.

Between Heavy Jazziness & Uncomprehensible Complexity

Between Nothingness & Eternity is a ticket to, well, nothingness and eternity, passing through all the diversity and virtuosity this line-up could offer back in the 70's, yes the whole unbelievable deal: the speed-of-light passages, the ear-bleeding rhythms, the eternal duels between members John, Jerry and Jan, the heavy blastings riffs, the delicate and intriguing indo material, and the ocassional intricating jazzy grooves.

While the same tracks featured here were later released as studio versions on the Lost Trident Sessions ''album'' which do present the tracks as they were intended to be, without any jamming nor noodling plus a clean production, I consider Between Nothingness & Eternity to be a much more rewarding listen since the intensity and capacity the players show on the live album is completely unique in it, which is totally withdrawn from the studio versions.

The live performance begins alike Birds of Fire and Inner Mountaing Flame, with the calling of the legendary gong and some very similar(if not identical) guitar lines to that of Meeting of the Spirits and the track Birds of Fire, however after that it becomes all new and unpredictable: From frenetic up-lifting melodies to the never ending duels of electric guitar, electric piano and moog, and violin; nobody is better than the other, each member shows they're highly capable of playing extremely difficult stuff but that's not it, they manage all this to make it appealing for the listener, even so that I'm sure that a *serious* heavy rock fan of stuff like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and the like can get a tremendous kick out of the playing in here since besides being prog and all, it rocks!

The concert moves on to Sister Andrea, a funkier treat as a whole, somewhat similar to the groovy but still heavy Miles Beyond from Birds of Fire. While composed by Jan Hammer, there's still a lot from all members, a evolving beast-alike guitar solo byJohn at the beginning, a fast and somewhat dissonant violin solo in the middle and ending finally with a fascinating moog show-off by the composer himself of course, Jan.

The live show finalises with the 20+ minute extravagant track called Dream. It may seem a chaotic mess when you first listen to it, full of unnecessary self-indulging sections, frenetic passages that seems to be played by people who dare more than what all a man can dare of, and in the end it is that! However, once again they've managed, above all that uncomprehensible indulgement, to achieve a incredible unique jazz rock piece which is seemed to be played by raging gods, in which in the very end of the track these ''gods'' seem to reconcile and tune things down.

Final words of this overlooked live gem is that it's essential for any Rock listener interested in listening to some of the wildest playing out there from the 70's played live, even if in parts it may seem incomprehensible. Not the best place to start though, but it's safe to purchase this after having bought and understood Birds of Fire and Inner Mountaing Flame.

An outstanding ''goodbye'' album from this unbelievable line-up, which no other band yet has showed such skill delivered in such a unique and rockin' way.

If I could make the album review really short, all I would need to say is, ''Mahavishnu Orchestra, live'' and be done. The sound quality isn't really all that great here to be honest. What makes this album different from other live albums is that all three songs haven't been on a studio album at the time, and wouldn't until THE LOST TRIDENT SESSIONS. I haven't heard the TRIDENT SESSIONS album yet, so I can't make any comparisons here.

NOTHINGNESS AND ETERNITY didn't seem to cure the boredom problem that Mahavishnu was giving me from APOCALYPSE, even if the latter came later. We still have the classic McLaughlin/Hammer/Cobham/Goodman/Laird lineup, but little from this album does much to please me. There a nice section in ''Trilogy'' that is superb, but the lengths of the songs and the general lack of anything going on anywhere makes it hard for me to defend the album. I can only grouse about how much better I think INNER MOUNTING FLAME and BIRDS OF FIRE are.

I don't mind lenghty jams if they can make me hold somewhat of an interest, but nothing on NOTHINGNESS AND ETERNITY really does that. Stick witht the first two Mahavishnu Orchestra albums if you want some jaw-dropping jazz fusion.

Man if the sound quality was better i'd give this five stars.These guys were on fire that day in the summer of 1973 in Central Park, New York. Actually in my vehicle I can get this to sound better with more bass. Just a shred fest at times.This band never ceases to amaze me with their virtuosity and intensity.The songs at the time were new to the audience and any who would purchase this live album.They had recorded them in studio and they would surface eventually on "The Lost Trident Sessions" many years later.

"Trilogy" has probably the worst sound quality especially early on. It opens with several gongs then the guitar comes in and builds. It kicks in then settles again. I like the piano and violin 2 1/2 minutes in. A calm 4 minutes in then it builds. Here we go ! They're on fire 9 minutes in. A big cheer 11 minutes in when they settle back and when the song ends.

"Sister Andrea" features an all out assault from McLaughlin at times. It's Goodman's turn on the violin. Just a killer track. "Dream" is the 21 1/2 minute closer. It's pastoral to start then starts to come to life before 5 minutes. So good. It settles back after 6 1/2 minutes with piano outfront. Here we go after 8 minutes. Incredible ! All hell breaks loose until after 12 1/2 minutes. Cobham is on fire 15 minutes in and so is McLaughlin. Just a light show really from John. It settles back before 19 minutes but not for long.Too much ! I'm not worthy.

Easily 4 stars.

I listened to this album for the first time two years ago with the view to review it. I just had to leave it due to simply being beaten up by the aural assault this album really is. Wisely, I thought it was a good idea to return to it when I had got some more experience within the fusion genre.

The history behind this live album is pretty well known. At the time of this live recording, there was no studio recording available (but possible as bootleg) so the band had no studio blueprint to play these songs from. So this is a live album with brand new material. Hence; this is not a sort of best off played live type of cash in live album.

But this album is by accident almost a best off anyway. The stuff on this album is just jaw dropping. This album still feels like being attacked straight in my face by the speakers on my stereo rack. This although the sound is a bit dubious. But that's the 1970s live albums for you. The music very, very intense with John McLaughlin's guitars shredding through the songs like a hot knife through butter. He more than proves that he was one of the best guitarists around back then. Listen to the final track Dream which is an guitar orgy. The rest of the band also backs him up superbly.

The quality is great throughout and all three suites here excellent. The intensity of the material does not leave much space for subtleties....... which there is none of here. My only gripe is the lack of any truly excellent tracks. But that is only a minor gripe. This album is a fusion fest and a celebration of life. Enjoy & admire.

4 stars

The only live album from the original Mahavishnu Orchestra lineup might have been a godsend when it first came out, but it's since been supplanted in importance by The Lost Trident Sessions: all three songs from this album are there, plus more songs on top of that, and the sound quality is significantly better. (Well, obviously, it's a studio recording and this is a live album, but even so for a live album from the era the sound quality here is only mediocre-to- average).

The setlist here consists of expanded versions of the first three songs from the Sessions, but the studio versions are much tighter - in particular, Dream in this twenty-minute rendition simply lasts for too long, especially considering the five minutes of extremely quiet playing at the beginning - which, thanks to the recording standards, aren't easy to hear.

Ironically, the New York concerts the album documents were vividly described during the preamble of the infamous Crawdaddy magazine article on the band - in which the band members made no secret of their frustrations working under McLaughlin, which prompted the personal falling-out which ended this lineup of the group. Mahavishnu devotees may wish to own it simply for that reason; for everyone else, it's alright, but now that we have the intended studio followup to Birds of Fire available to us it's utterly redundant.

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Between Nothingness & Eternity (live) (1973)

A live album of the classic MO line-up, McLaughlin, Hammer, Goodman, Laird and Cobham. The material played comes from the later released lost trident sessions and was unheard of at time of at the time of this vinyl release.

This album has 10% composition and 90% improvisations with all musicians willing to show how well evolved our hands are when it comes to high speed, precise movements. The rhythmic section of the brilliant Cobham on drums and Laird on bass is often the main attraction, but some solo's of McLaughlin are quite bizarre & impressive and I like the chords played on the Fender Rhodes by Hammer. Sometimes the metal crimson abstract style comes to mind, but most of the time the band looses itself in noodlings.

I myself don't like violin solo's and I've yet to see a live performance of a violin player in a rock band that I do like. The combination of violin and guitar solo at once is also quite astonishing in it's dysfunctional and chaotic effect. Now I can't enjoy both.

The recording sound is acceptable for it's time, but I must say McLaughlin has a pretty nice heavy distorted rock guitar sound. His techniques are both likable for it's speed and sheer energy, but the sensibility is lacking in everything he does.

Conclusion. A nice live set from Mahavishnu Orchestra, but I would not call it essential. There's little melodic playing here but a lot of strong improvised solo's (if you like it fast that is). Three stars. Recommended to fans of the band and people who like to listen to technical jam- sessions.

The only official live album by Mahavishnu Orchestra has a very ambitious name, lengthy tracks and star-filled line-up so one would have highest expectations of the album. What comes out is a jam masterpiece full of great and sometimes overblown playing that lacks structure and coherence. The audio quality is not good enough to enjoy all single tones of instruments, especially violin, keyboards and bass guitar. Quite understably, Cobham and McLaughlin are mostly visible, followed by Hammer as he has one number - 2nd track. In the first track, there is a furious rock'n'roll section with notable violin soloing, then come guitar and Moog as duett. The dexterity and speed of playing is phenomenal and not easily matched on other fusion records.

"Sister Andrea" has Fender all around but guitar easily beats it with intensity. "Dream" is overly long and difficult to be focused to from the beginning till its end.

This album has an important documentational band character but it is not an excellent or essential live fusion album.

By 1973, Mahavishnu Orchestra was seeing quite a bit of turbulence. Their previous album "Birds of Fire" had seen some success and the band seemed to be on their way up. The follow up album (their third) was planned to another studio album, however, tensions in the band led to the scrapping of that album, and it was decided to release "Between Nothingness & Eternity", a live album which featured songs from the scrapped studio album. Jan Hammer (keyboardist) and Jerry Goodman (violinist) had said in an interview that they didn't like the way John McLaughlin was managing the band. Failed recording session resulted in band members not talking to each other. The band was exhausted from their extensive touring. Things had reached a boiling point in this first line-up of the band.

With all of this turbulence going on, it is hard to believe that the band could still sound so cohesive on this album that took the place of the planned studio album. What we ended up with was a 3 track album that includes the 3-part suite "Trilogy", an excellent showcase of just how talented the band was which features amazing solos from Goodman, Hammer and McLaughlin which becomes a wonderful fusion piece; "Sister Andrea", a more avant style of improvisation where the band proves they could still work well together; and the side-long "Dream" which is a progressive, instrumental delight. Everything about this album is five-star material, however, the sound quality is not up to that standard and ends up knocking this excellent performance down a star. However, this is still a worth-while album for progressive lovers to have anyway.

Unfortunately, this would also be the last album this line-up would put out. There was an unsuccessful attempt to bring the band back together, but it didn't work out, the band dissolved, and McLaughlin came back in 1974 with a brand-new line-up. At last, McLaughlin was able to recruit his first choice in violinists, Jean-Luc Ponty, who couldn't join the band originally because of some immigration issues. The band also increased in membership at this point, for their fourth album which would also include the London Symphony Orchestra.

The scrapped studio album featuring the first line-up would end up being released 30 years later (1999) and would be titled "The Lost Trident Sessions" which would feature the three tracks on this "Between Nothingness...." in their studio form along with the other three tracks intended for that album. McLaughlin felt that the lost studio album was much better than the live album that got released. However, this live album is quite amazing and still sounds excellent to this day, except for the less than perfect sound quality. Still, it is an excellent addition to your collection and is an album that I think most progressive fusion lovers would enjoy immensely.

MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA's ascent to stardom was a quick one with the band dazzling the world as the first supergroup of technical wizards of jazz-rock weaving music magic in ways the 60s only hinted upon. Initiated by the ex-Miles Davis guitarist John McLaughlin, the band was taken into the stratosphere with some of the best musicians the world of jazz and rock had nurtured up to the year 1971 when this group was formed in New York City. McLaughlin, who led the supporting cast of Jan Hammer (keyboards), Rick Laird (bass), Jerry Goodman (violin) and Billy Cobham (drums) had his work cut out as bandleader, main composer and guitar god and although the band synergized its talents for a brief moment in time crating timeless seemingly otherworldly fusion music that blurred the distinctions between jazz, rock, gypsy folk, funk and traditional world music, the clash of personalities and sudden ascent into the spotlight was too much for this cast of behind the scenes musicians and the project ended after two albums and three years after it started.

During this first lineup's tenure, two albums ("The Inner Mounting Flame" & "Birds Of Fire") were released but enough extra material was written and recorded but never came to be due to the band's untimely disintegration. While the world would have to wait for the 1999 archival "The Lost Trident Sessions" to finally emerge from the vaults, this live album BETWEEN NOTHINGNESS & ETERNITY which came out in November 1973 somewhat served as the next best thing to the final third installment of the original lineup's output. Recorded live at the Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park in New York City on August 17 and 18, 1973, the album featured three tracks that were to be on the band's third album which never came to be. For decades this album was the only game in town when it came to the material presented and although has been somewhat eclipsed by "Trident Sessions" still remains relevant as a testament to the uncanny musical genius that these five musicians delivered in their fiery and mind-numbingly complex compositions that surely must've required unthinkable hours to master.

McLaughlin once again wrote the bulk of the material including two of the three tracks leaving Jan Hammer to contribute the rare self-penned composition "Andrea" which showed McLaughlin stepping out of the control freak's seat for a brief moment. The album only spanned the playing time of a normal album at 42:24 but when re-released as part of the 2011 compilation "The Complete Columbia Albums Collection" included new songs and extended versions from these same live performances. While the material presented here won't sound much different than what's presented on the superior production of "The Lost Trident Sessions," BETWEEN NOTHINGNESS & ETERNITY featured extended versions that offered more improv and live performance spontaneity. "Dream" for example is nearly twice as long as its studio version, a boon for some but a bane for others. The musicians are all on the top of their game here and the beauty of a live album like this is to fully comprehend that this band was by no means a studio gimmick and could crank out those wild roller coaster rides of virtuosity in a seemingly effortless manner.

The downside of this live album is that it seems woefully short. This easily could've been a double album and i honestly wish it was. The other major flaw is the production which is thin but contains a rawness complete with audience participation and extended jamming liberties. While the album's relevance has clearly been demoted in the wake of "The Lost Trident Sessions," the album still very much deserves the attention of any true MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA buff as it captures all the magic that the albums did in full regalia. For production snobs this may be a hard sell but for those who are more interested in the actual performances then this one will not disappoint one little bit. The first rendition of the MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA took rock music to unthinkable heights that has never really been exceeded and despite the flaws, this only live album from this era displays that in its incredible run of three well-crafted tracks that dazzle the senses with emotive strongholds as well as the technical soloing tradeoffs that are unparalleled therefore this live album is a must.

Between Nothingness & Eternity presents the original Mahavishnu line-up at its absolute best and is, in my opinion, one's best bet for a quintessential release by this mighty ensemble. The instrumental performances are unbelievably stellar as far as improvisation-heavy live performances go, rare mistakes only arising due to the occasional minuscule breakdown in coordination. McLaughlin, Goodman and Hammer work seemingly without end to outdo each other in pumping out stellar instrumental solos while Cobham backs them up with his furious drum pounding. Additionally, "Trilogy" and "Dream" both rank among McLaughlin's greatest compositions, perfecting and harmonizing his trifecta of complexity, catchiness and a sense of transcending into heaven. The album's only real obstacle is that the sound quality and the live mixing aren't the greatest, yet somehow this adds an approachable, garagey quality to what is obviously still a highly professional performance of amazing celestial music. Between heaven and earth, perhaps even between nothingness and eternity, McLaughlin and his compatriots succeed in providing the best of both worlds.