Inner Worlds

The Mahavishnu Orchestra--led by guitar giant John McLaughlin--defined jazz-rock fusion in the 1970s. Inner Worlds, relesed in 1976, was the band's '70s swan song. Featuring Narada Michael Walden, this album is the band's funkiest, adding layers of contemporary R&B to Mahavishnu's already rich blend of jazz, rock and world music (ragas from India, sambas from Brazil, flamencos from Spain). Inner Worlds features the usual McLauglin trademarks (blistering guitar, especially on the opener "All In The Family", where he duets with himself on electric guitar and guitar synthesizers; and bits of Indian classical music -- even a taste of his ancestral Scotland, in the lovely "Morning Calls"). McLaughlin says goodbye to the Mahavishnu Orchestra days screaming his virtuosic head off.