The Mahavishnu Project is a fascinating venture into musically creative hero-worship. It's also unique as a "ghost band" devoted to an early-'70s jazz-rock fusion phenomenon. Most such outfits are devotees of big-band ensembles such as
Count Basie,
Duke Ellington, and
Glenn Miller, and the musicians whose work they're devoted to have usually passed on, often long ago.
John McLaughlin and his
Mahavishnu Orchestra associates are still around, but all of them approve of what the Mahavishnu Project is doing. And it is unique for good reason -- apart from the 21st Century Schizoid Band (which is comprised, in all but one case, of actual former members of
King Crimson), it's difficult to think of any other group devoted to the performing of music out of this movement and this particular era, or of any others that would be worthy. Why would anyone seek to emulate the
David Clayton-Thomas version of
Blood, Sweat & Tears, or the original
Chicago's repertory? (And what could the latter legally call itself, with the "
Chicago" name trademarked, the Windy City Project? Besides, it could be argued that the current incarnation of
Chicago is its own "ghost band.")
Interzone drummer
Gregg Bendian -- an alumnus of
Pat Metheny,
Ornette Coleman, and
John Zorn -- who had already turned his talents (in collaboration with
Nels Cline) to the re-creation of
John Coltrane's work and sound on
Interstellar Space Revisited: The Music of John Coltrane, was a longtime fan of the original
Mahavishnu Orchestra from when he heard their two albums,
Inner Mounting Flame and
Birds of Fire, as a kid. In 2001, he decided to do something about it by creating the Mahavishnu Project with likeminded musicians. Ever since then, they've been carving out a little niche for themselves as jazz fusion revivalists, and impressing people with their work, building on the only significant band ever spawned by the jazz-rock fusion boom of the early '70s. Most notable among his collaborators have been guitarist
Pete McCann (a dedicated
McLaughlin devotee), keyboardist
Steve Hunt (who's played with
Billy Cobham and
Allan Holdsworth), and violinists
Todd Reynolds and
Rob Thomas (the latter of whom is an alumnus of
Andy Summers and
Tito Puente and a member of
the String Trio of New York). On tour, the group has also employed the services of
Ennio Morricone collaborator Rocco Zifarelli. Among the album releases by this intiguing "ghost band" are 2002's Live Bootleg and 2004's Phase 2, both issued by Aggregate Records, and
Return to the Emerald Beyond, which appeared from Cunieform Records in 2007. ~ Bruce Eder