Page 2 - Inner Mounting Flame News Today

Rick Laird, bassist at the forefront of fusion, dies at 80 “The Inner Mounting Flame” (1971). by Giovanni Russonello (NYT NEWS SERVICE) .- Rick Laird, a bassist who played a central role in the jazz-rock fusion boom as a founding member of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, then retired from music to pursue a career in photography, died on July 4 in New City, New York. He was 80. His daughter, Sophie Rose Laird, said the cause was lung cancer. Guitarist John McLaughlin called Laird in 1971 with an inv...