Sound Colour Vibration (Music | Art | Film)

In the year 1926, a bright nebula formed in the booming Uptown District of Chicago. A man by the name of Andrew Karzas decided to design and open a prolific and beautiful dancing ballroom. The idea of dancing in a commonplace dance hall back in those days was considered unhealthy, immoral and shunned upon. Venues like those often led to the practice of prostitution (for both men and women) while also supplying the then-illegal sales of alcohol.

Mr. Karzas seeked out to reverse these thoughts. It was then that he constructed the amazing Aragon Ballroom. Aragon was to be a very grandiose and beautiful dancehall ballroom, with a courteous staff and strict policy against consumption. The Aragon helped bring the beauty and art of dancing back into the city of Chicago.

After decades and decades of providing the most intimate and wonderful venue services to the fine public of Chicago, the rise of television haunted the age-old art. It was around the mid ’60s that the enormous ballroom could not hold up in the competition anymore. Over the next half century the Aragon Ballroom had been made to host a variety of events whether it be wrestling matches, rock concerts, disco nights or even roller skating. In the present day the magnificent Aragon Ballroom is primarily used for concerts and the occasional dancing.

Snap back to the fruitful and innovative period of the 1970′s, John McLaughlin was on top of the music world. His short but vital stint with Miles Davis and his electric bands of the 60′s and 70′s put him on the map as one of the best and most sought after guitar players. Instead of joining band after band. McLaughlin took it upon himself to assemble one of the greatest jazz fusion bands to ever record, Mahavishnu Orchestra. When his band Mahavishnu Orchestra crossed paths with the infamous Aragon Ballroom Theater, his band was in high velocity mode and nothing was impossible for this group. Break neck tempos, advanced time signatures and multi-layered harmonies that took so much time for the band to rehearse that it became the ultimate demise of this first phase of the band.

The band is on fire for the city of Chicago and those lucky to be there at the Aragon. Nobody holds back in any way possible and you hear some of the most glorious music ever performed live. Billy Cobham crushes the drums, covering every piece of his kit imaginable in the 2 hours of the recording we are presenting of Mahavishnu Orchestra at the Aragon Ballroom in November of 1972. The Aragon had a very harsh reputation with the advent of the “Monster Rock Shows” in the late 60′s into 1970. With some events lasting up to 6 hours, it was a haven for the worlds top jam acts and were legendary cultural statements. 2 years later at the Aragon , McLaughlin and the rest in Mahavishnu would show Chicago why Miles Davis brought him over from England in the 60′s and used him on almost every pivotal 60′s and 70′s album he released.

A year later the group would be doing a full tour with Frank Zappa and the Mothers and their reputation would soar into new territory. This was the beginning before this group dissolved and the characteristics of what Mahavishu represented changed quite a bit. The Aragon was a harsh venue acoustically and the recording does have a harsh presentation. This is being released in our series Love Devotion Surrender for our love with the city of Chicago and to give respect to the cultural landmark that the Aragon Ballroom has begun. If you have heard all of the Mahavishnu Orchestra releases, we highly recommend you check out this audience recording. – Pouya G. Asadi

Download: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RAK8ZXM1

The first photo is the Mahavishnu Orchestra performing live in 1974 and comes from Massimo’s Mahavishnu Gallery. The second photo is Mahavishnu Orchestra performing live in 1973 and comes from the same source as the first photo.

Original Notes from bpthree:

Mahavishnu Orchestra …. November 3, 1972
Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
(Low Gen AUD)(Rare???)

John McLaughlin – Guitar
Jan Hammer – Keyboards
Jerry Goodman – Violin
Rick Laird – Bass
Billy Cobham – Drums

Taper: Unknown
Taping Gear: Unknown
Lineage: Scotch 207 trade reels @ 7 1/2 IPS> Akai GX-220D playback> TASCAM CDRW-700> Trade CD-R> (wav) EAC (secure mode)> (flac) Trader’s Little Helper level 6 (align on sector boundaries)
Quality: vg+
Length: 110:08 minutes
Artwork: none.
Samples: none.

Set List:

(Disc One: 77:48m):
01. Birds Of Fire>Miles Beyond
02. Vital Transformation
03. The Dance Of The Maya (Tape Flip)
04. One Word
05. Resolution (Tape Flip)

(Disc Two: 32:20m):
01. Hope>The Noonward Race (Stop)
02. ?????? (Encore)

Here’s a Mahavishnu show that I’ve had since the 70′s. Might be a rare one? How this guy was able to get decent sound out of the sonic cesspool that is the “Aragon Ballroom” I’ll never know. I suspect he was close to the P.A. I did my best on the
set list, but I’m no Mahavishnu expert by a long shot, and don’t have all their stuff. Feel free to correct the set list, and if anybody knows the last song, please post that in the comments section for everybody’s benefit. Enjoy.

bpthree

Also of interest is this film that has surfaced of the Mahavishnu Orchestra performing in New York, May of 1972. The audio comes from the radio broadcast made from WBAI 99.5 FM of this very concert.