William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

From: Adventures in Radioland ; Year: 1987; Genre: Jazz Fusion I guess you could more or less call this album the last gasp of the storied jazz fusion band Mahavishnu Orchestra; other than some unreleased tracks from the '70s, greatest hits and live albums, this would be it. Really, the last two records post-reformation were quite different from the material in the 1970s, but that does not make it bad by any means, on the contrary, this one is quite a fun disc to hear. Anyway, this synthesizer-heavy instrumental piece was penned by the song's namesake: composer/keyboardist Mitchell Foreman . You can certainly hear influences from the album if you ever played Japanese RPG video games back in the 1980s and 1990s; the music in some of those games must've been somehow, if not influenced by this band, someone similar for sure.   Hear Mitch Match on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: George Harrison - This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying)   My song pick 2 y...

From: Apocalypse ; Year: 1974; Genre: Jazz Fusion/Symphonic Rock It's another day of "spinning the wheel" so to speak and I came up with this one from the Mahavishnu Orchestra. It's kind of half symphonic and half jazz fusion, so it's kind of unique. Hear Smile of the Beyond on YouTube. My song pick 1 year ago today: Jerry Reed - The Bandit My song pick 2 years ago today: Disco Dream and the Androids - Dream Machine My song pick 3 years ago today: Neil Young - Mr. Soul My song pick 4 years ago today: Lobo - A Simple Man My song pick 5 years ago today: Yes - Fly From Here (Suite) My song pick 6 years ago today: Pat Benatar - Invincible My song pick 7 years ago today: Porcupine Tree - Anesthetize My song pick 8 years ago today: Freddy Taylor and His Swing Men from Harlem - Blue Drag My song pick 9 years ago today: Hans Zimmer - Fighting 17th My song pick 10 years ago today: Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) - I Put a Spell on You My ...

From: Mahavishnu ; Year: 1984; Genre: Jazz Fusion Wasn't sure about the song I was going to pick on this Funky Friday , however, after I happened to have one of their songs come on this morning I knew I had a pick. The funky rhythm section is definitely what drives this song and makes a great platform for the synth and other lead instruments to do their job. Hear Radio-Activity on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: Toto - Stranger in Town My song pick two years ago today: Dream Theater - Hell's Kitchen My song pick three years ago today: Styx - Come Sail Away My song pick four years ago today: Alestorm - You Are a Pirate My song pick five years ago today: Bill Evans Trio - Waltz for Debbie My song pick six years ago today: The Box Tops - The Letter My song pick seven years ago today: Azteca - Mazatlan My song pick eight years ago today: Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) - Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

From: Birds of Fire ; Year: 1973; Genre: Jazz Fusion/Funk Here's my nineteen-hundredth-and-seventy-third song picked, and as I've been doing as of late, this one from John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra was released in the year that coincides with today's pick number: 1973. There were a couple of other songs I was wanting to pick off this album, but I couldn't find them on YouTube, so I finally ended up picking this 10-minute funky jazz fusion instrumental. Not a bad song at all, actually on the contrary it's an excellent piece of music, it's just probably not appreciated as much by those who like a more mainstream sound. All and all an excellent song to close out 2012 with! Hear One Word on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Alan Parsons Project - The Raven My song pick two years ago today: Béla Fleck and the Flecktones - The Sinister Minister My song pick three years ago today: Rammstein - Reise, Reise My song pick four ...

1560 Mahavishnu Orchestra - You Know You Know From: The Inner Mounting Flame , Year: 1971 Genre: Jazz Fusion/Progressive Rock Here's a nice soulful grooving track from John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra; this one's a treat even for those who don't like technical music such as Jazz Fusion. The song is held together by a waltzing groove line, which carries it quite well while the other instruments solo around it. I really like Jan Hammer's keyboards and, of course John McLaughlin's guitar throughout; as with most Jazz Fusion bands the drums are incredible, Billy Cobham is just mind blowing. When listening to these Fusion bands, to me the drums are almost like the sun with the other instruments likened to planets orbiting it. Many who are into Hip-Hop/Rap should recognize this song as well, it has been sampled many times over the years by various acts. Hear You Know You Know on YouTube. Watch an incredible Live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago t...

1456 Mahavishnu Orchestra - Can't Stand Your Funk From: Visions of the Emerald Beyond , Year: 1975 Genre: Jazz Fusion/Funk I haven't done a " Funky Friday " for a while now, so I thought I would get one in today with this song from John McLaughlin's Jazz Fusion group Mahavishnu Orchestra. Even though it's only two minutes in length, it's still an awesome piece of funky Jazz. Hear Can't Stand Your Funk on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Styx - Suite Madame Blue My song pick two years ago today: Rush - Malignant Narcissism My song pick three years ago today: Molly Hatchet - Flirtin' With Disaster +