By: Robert Silverstein
ecorded during the Summer of '72, "Birds Of Fire" was the follow-up album to the 1971 Mahavishnu Orchestra debut, "The Inner Mounting Flame". Considered a milestone for the flourishing '70s instrumental jazz-rock fusion movement, "Birds Of Fire" offered further evidence of just how great a band guitarist John McLaughlin had assembled. For his Mahavishnu bandmates McLaughlin employed the finest musicians of the era including Billy Cobham (drums), Jerry Goodman (violin), Rick Laird (bass) and Jan Hammer (keyboards). Produced by the group and engineered by studio wiz Ken Scott (who back then had just worked with George Harrison on "All Things Must Pass"), "Birds Of Fire" was a quantum lead beyond what anyone had done, including McLaughlin, within the realm of instrumental jazz-rock music. The successor to "The Inner Mounting Flame" and McLaughlin's great '69 solo album, "Devotion", "Birds Of Fire" was released in January, '73 and swiftly landed in Billboard's top 10 going gold.
The group never survived long enough to see the release of their third studio album, although Legacy did issue that unreleased gem in late '99 under the name "The Lost Trident Sessions".
Perhaps the legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra keyboardist Jan Hammer sums it up best when he says, "It is my hope that hearing this music will make some young people appreciate the idea of somebody who is truly capable of playing an instrument. Because that used to mean something. I would hate to think that sort of thing has been forgotten forever." An album filled with meticulous musicianship, thundering arrangements and musical ideas that were considered by many to be way ahead of it's time, Legacy's new "Birds Of Fire" is now complete with 20-bit remastering, restored cover art, vintage photos and revealing liner notes.
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