Jazz Fusion Wiki Information
Fusion
or, more specifically, jazz fusion
or jazz rock
, is a musical genre that developed in the late 1960s from a mixture of elements of jazz such as its focus on improvisation with the rhythms and grooves of funk and R&B and the beats and heavily amplified electric instruments and electronic effects of rock. While the term "jazz rock" is often used as a synonym for "jazz fusion", it also refers to the music performed by late 1960s and 1970s-era rock bands when they added jazz elements to their music such as free-form improvisation.
After a decade of development during the 1970s, fusion split into different branches in the 1980s. While some 1980s performers continued the improvisatory and experimental approaches of the 1970s, others moved towards a lighter, more pop-infused easy-listening style called smooth jazz which often included vocals. Since the 1990s, some fusion bands have also incorporated electronica, hip hop, and heavy metal.
Fusion albums, even those that are made by the same group or artist, may include a variety of styles. Rather than being a codified musical style, fusion can be viewed as a musical tradition or approach. Some progressive rock music is also labeled as fusion. [1] Fusion music is typically instrumental, often with complex time signatures, metres, rhythmic patterns, and extended track lengths, featuring lengthy improvisations. Many prominent fusion musicians are recognized as having a high level of virtuosity, combined with complex compositions and musical improvisation in complex or mixed metres.
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JAZZ FUSION TICKETS
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History
Late 1960s
All Music Guide states that "..until around 1967, the worlds of jazz and rock were nearly completely separate." However, "...as rock became more creative and its musicianship improved, and as some in the jazz world became bored with
hard bop and did not want to play strictly
avant-garde music, the two different idioms began to trade ideas and occasionally combine forces."
[2] Music critic Piero Scaruffi argues that "credit for "inventing" jazz-rock goes to Indiana-born white jazz vibraphonist
Gary Burton, who "began to experiment with rock rhythms on
The Time Machine
(1966)". Burton recorded what Scaruffi calls "the first jazz-rock album,
Duster
" in 1967, with guitarist
Larry Coryell.
[3] Scaruffi argues that Coryell is "another candidate to inventor of jazz-rock", in that the Texas-born guitarist released the jazz-rock recording
Out of Sight And Sound
in 1966.
[4]
Trumpeter and composer
Miles Davis had a major influence on the development of jazz fusion with his 1968 album entitled
Miles in the Sky
. It is the first of Davis' albums to incorporate electric instruments, with
Herbie Hancock and
Ron Carter playing
electric piano and
bass guitar. Davis furthered his explorations into the use of electric instruments on another 1968 album,
Filles de Kilimanjaro
, with pianist
Chick Corea and bassist
Dave Holland.
In 1969, Davis introduced the electric instrument approach to jazz with
In a Silent Way
, which can be considered Davis's first fusion album. Composed of two side-long suites edited heavily by producer
Teo Macero, this quiet, static album would be equally influential upon the development of
ambient music. It featured contributions from musicians who would all go on to spread the fusion evangel with their own groups in the 1970s: Shorter, Hancock, Corea, pianist
Josef Zawinul, guitarist
John McLaughlin, Holland, and Williams. Williams quit Davis to form his own group,
The Tony Williams Lifetime. Their debut record of that year
Emergency!
is also cited as one of the early acclaimed fusion albums.
thumb is an English guitar player from the improvisation-fuelled 1960s rock band
Cream
Jazz rock
The term "jazz rock" is often used as a synonym for the term "jazz fusion". However, some music scholars make a distinction between the two terms. During the late 1960s, at the same time that jazz musicians were experimenting with rock rhythms and electric instruments, rock groups such as
Cream and the
Grateful Dead were "beginning to incorporate elements of jazz into their music" by "experimenting with extended free-form improvisation". Other "groups such as
Blood, Sweat and Tears and
Frank Zappa's
Mothers of Invention directly borrowed harmonic, melodic, rhythmic and instrumentational elements from the jazz tradition".
[5] Scaruffi notes that the rock groups that drew on jazz ideas (he lists
Soft Machine,
Colosseum,
Caravan,
Nucleus,
Chicago, and Frank Zappa) turned the blend of the two styles "upside down: instead of focusing on sound, rockers focused on dynamics" that could be obtained with amplified electric instruments. Scaruffi contrasts "Davis' fusion jazz [which] was slick, smooth and elegant, while "
progressive-rock" was typically convoluted and abrasive."
[3]
Allmusic states that the term "Jazz-rock may refer to the loudest, wildest, most electrified fusion bands from the jazz [fusion] camp, but most often it describes performers coming from the rock side of the equation." The Guide states that "Jazz-rock first emerged during the late '60s as an attempt to fuse the visceral power of rock with the musical complexity and improvisational fireworks of jazz. Since rock often emphasized directness and simplicity over virtuosity, jazz-rock generally grew out of the most artistically ambitious rock subgenres of the late '60s and early '70s: psychedelia, progressive rock, and the singer/songwriter movement."
[7]
Allmusic lists the following jazz-rock categories:
[7]
- Singer-songwriter jazz-rock (Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, and Tim Buckley)
- jam- and improvisation-oriented rock groups (Traffic, Santana)
- jazz-flavored R&B or pop songs with less improvisation or instrumental virtuosity (Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chicago, Steely Dan)
- Groups with "quirky, challenging, unpredictable compositions" (Frank Zappa, the Soft Machine)
1970s
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Davis' 1970 recording
Bitches Brew
abandoned traditional jazz and instead was based on a
rock-style
backbeat anchored by
electric bass grooves. The recording "...mixed free jazz blowing by a large ensemble with electronic keyboards and guitar, plus a dense mix of percussion".
[9] Davis also drew on the rock influence by playing his trumpet through electronic effects and pedals. While the album gave Davis a
gold record, the use of electric instruments and rock beats created a great deal of consternation amongst some traditionalist jazz critics.
Davis also proved to be an able talent-spotter; much of 1970s fusion was performed by bands started by alumni from Davis' ensembles, including
The Tony Williams Lifetime,
Weather Report,
The Mahavishnu Orchestra,
Return to Forever, and Herbie Hancock's funk-infused
Headhunters band. In addition to Davis and the musicians who worked with him, additional important figures in early fusion were
Larry Coryell and
Billy Cobham with his album
Spectrum
.
Herbie Hancock first continued the path of Miles Davis with his experimental fusion albums, such as
Crossings
in 1972, but soon after that he became an important developer of "
jazz-funk" with his seminal albums
Head Hunters
1973 and
Thrust
in 1974. Later in the 1970s and early 1980s Hancock took a more commercial approach. Hancock was one of the first jazz musicians to use synthesizers.
At its inception,
Weather Report was an avant-garde experimental fusion group, following in the steps of
In A Silent Way.
The band received considerable attention for its early albums and live performances, which featured songs that might last 30 minutes or more. The band later introduced a more commercial sound, which can be heard in
Joe Zawinul's hit song "
Birdland". Weather Report's albums were also influenced by different styles of Latin and African music, offering an early
world music fusion variation.
Jaco Pastorius, an innovative
fretless electric bass player, joined the group in 1976 on the album
Black Market
, and is prominently featured on the 1979 live recording
8:30
.
Heavy Weather
is the top-selling album of the genre.
In England, the jazz fusion movement was headed by
Nucleus, led by
Ian Carr, and whose key players
Karl Jenkins and
John Marshall both later joined the seminal jazz rock band
Soft Machine, leaders of what became known as the
Canterbury scene. Their best-selling recording,
Third
(1970), was a double album featuring one track per side in the style of the aforementioned recordings of Miles Davis. A prominent English band in the jazz-rock style of
Blood, Sweat & Tears and
Chicago was
If, who released a total of seven records in the 1970s.
Chick Corea formed his band
Return to Forever in 1972. The band started with Latin-influenced music (including Brazilians
Flora Purim as vocalist and
Airto Moreira on percussion), but was transformed in 1973 to become a jazz-rock group that took influences from both
psychedelic and
progressive rock. The new drummer was
Lenny White, who had also played with Miles Davis. Return to Forever's songs were distinctively melodic due to the Corea's composing style and the bass playing style of
Stanley Clarke, who is often regarded with Pastorius as the most influential electric bassists of the 1970s. Guitarist
Bill Connors joined Corea's band in 1973, recording Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy. Connors describes his sound as a mix of Clapton and Coltrane.
Guitarist
Al Di Meola, who started his career with Return to Forever in 1974, soon became an important fusion guitarist.
John McLaughlin formed a highly-regarded fusion
band, the
Mahavishnu Orchestra with drummer
Billy Cobham, violinist
Jerry Goodman, bassist
Rick Laird and keyboardist
Jan Hammer. The band released their first album,
The Inner Mounting Flame
in 1971. Hammer pioneered the
Minimoog synthesizer with distortion effects making it sound more like an electric guitar. The sound of Mahavishnu Orchestra was influenced by both psychedelic rock and classical Indian sounds.
The band's first lineup split after two studio and one live albums, but McLaughlin formed another group under same name which included
Jean-Luc Ponty, a jazz violinist, who also made a number of important fusion recordings under his own name as well as with
Frank Zappa, drummer
Narada Michael Walden, keyboardist
Gayle Moran, and bassist
Ralph Armstrong. McLaughlin also worked with Latin-rock guitarist
Carlos Santana in the early 1970s.
Initially Santana's San Francisco-based band blended Latin
salsa,
rock,
blues, and
jazz, featuring Santana's clean
guitar lines set against
Latin instrumentation such as
timbales and
congas. But in their second incarnation, heavy fusion influences had become central to the 1973-1976 santana band. These can be clearly heard in Santana's use of extended improvised solos and in the harmonic voicings of
Tom Coster's keyboard playing on some of the groups' mid 1970s recordings. In 1973 Santana recorded a nearly two-hour live album of mostly instrumental, jazz-fusion music,
Lotus
, which was only released in Europe and Japan for more than twenty years.
Other influential musicians that emerged from the fusion movement during the 1970s include fusion guitarist
Larry Coryell with his band
The Eleventh House, and electric guitarist
Pat Metheny. The Pat Metheny Group, which was founded in 1977, made both the jazz and pop charts with their second album,
American Garage
(1980). Although jazz performers criticized the fusion movement's use of rock styles and electric and electronic instruments, even seasoned jazz veterans like
Buddy Rich,
Maynard Ferguson and
Dexter Gordon eventually modified their music to include fusion elements.
The influence of jazz fusion did not only affect the US and Europe. The genre was very influential in Japan in the late 1970s, eventually leading to the formation of
Casiopea in 1976 and
T-Square (The Square) in 1978. The younger generations embraced this new genre of music and it gained popularity quickly approaching the early 1980s. T-Square's song
Truth
would later become the theme for Japan's Formula One racing events.
1980s
Smooth jazz
By the early 1980s, much of the original fusion genre was subsumed into other branches of jazz and rock, especially
smooth jazz, a sub-genre of
jazz which is influenced stylistically by
R&B,
funk and
pop.
[10] Smooth jazz can be traced to at least the late 1960s. Producer
Creed Taylor worked with
guitarist Wes Montgomery on three popular records. Taylor founded
CTI Records. Many established jazz performers recorded for CTI (including
Freddie Hubbard,
Chet Baker,
George Benson and
Stanley Turrentine). The records recorded under Taylor's guidance were typically aimed as much at pop audiences as at jazz fans.
In the mid- to late-1970s, smooth jazz became established as a commercially viable genre. It was pioneered by such artists as
Lee Ritenour,
Larry Carlton,
Grover Washington, Jr.,
Spyro Gyra (with songs such as "
Morning Dance"),
George Benson,
Chuck Mangione,
Sérgio Mendes,
David Sanborn,
Tom Scott,
Dave and
Don Grusin,
Bob James and
Joe Sample.
The merging of jazz and pop/rock music took a more commercial direction in the late 1970s and early 1980s, in the form of compositions with a softer sound palette that could fit comfortably in a
soft rock radio playlist. The
Allmusic guide's article on Fusion states that "unfortunately, as it became a money-maker and as rock declined artistically from the mid-'70s on, much of what was labeled fusion was actually a combination of jazz with easy-listening pop music and lightweight R&B."
[11]
Artists like
Lee Ritenour,
Al Jarreau,
Kenny G,
Bob James and
David Sanborn among others were leading purveyors of this pop-oriented fusion (also known as "west coast" or "AOR fusion"). This genre is most frequently called "
smooth jazz" and is controversial among the listeners of both mainstream jazz and jazz fusion, who find it to rarely contain the improvisational qualities that originally surfaced in jazz decades earlier, deferring to a more commercially viable sound more widely enabled for commercial radio airplay in the United States.
Music critic
Piero Scaruffi has called pop-fusion music "...mellow, bland, romantic music" made by "mediocre musicians" and "derivative bands." Scaruffi criticized some of the fusion albums of Michael and
Randy Brecker as "trivial dance music" and stated that alto saxophonist
David Sanborn recorded "[t]rivial collections" of "...catchy and danceable pseudo-jazz".
[12] Kenny G in particular is often criticized by both fusion and jazz fans, and some musicians, while having become a huge commercial success. Music reviewer George Graham argues that the “so-called ‘smooth jazz’ sound of people like Kenny G has none of the fire and creativity that marked the best of the fusion scene during its heyday in the 1970s”.
[13]
Jazz fusion has been criticized by jazz traditionalists who prefer conventional mainstream jazz (particularly when fusion was first emerging) and by
smooth jazz fans who prefer more "accessible" music. This is analogous to the way
swing jazz aficionados criticized
be-bop in the mid-1940s, and the way proponents of
Dixieland or New Orleans style "jass" reviled the new swing style in the late 1920s. Some critics have also called fusion's approach pretentious, and others have claimed that fusion musicians have become too concerned with musical virtuosity. However, fusion has helped to break down boundaries between different genres of rock, jazz, and led to developments such as the 1980s-era electronica-infused
acid jazz.
Other styles
Although the meaning of "fusion" became confused with the advent of "smooth jazz", a number of groups helped to revive the jazz fusion genre beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s. In the 1980s, a critic argued that "...the promise of fusion went unfulfilled to an extent, although it continued to exist in groups such as
Tribal Tech and
Chick Corea's
Elektric Band".
[11] Many of the most well-known fusion artists were members of earlier jazz fusion groups, and some of the fusion "giants" of the 1970s kept working in the genre.
Miles Davis continued his career after having a lengthy break in the late 1970s. He recorded and performed fusion throughout the 1980s with new young musicians and continued to ignore criticism from fans of his older mainstream jazz. While Davis' works of the 1980s remain controversial, his recordings from that period have the respect of many fusion and other listeners. In 1985 Chick Corea formed a new fusion band called the
Chick Corea Elektric Band, featuring young musicians such as drummer
Dave Weckl and bassist
John Patitucci, as well as guitarist
Frank Gambale and saxophonist
Eric Marienthal.
1990s-2000s
Many
jam bands from the 1990s incorporated strong jazz influences, most notably
Phish,
Dave Matthews Band, and
Widespread Panic.
Joe Zawinul's fusion band, The Zawinul Syndicate, began adding more elements of
world music during the 1990s. One of the notable bands that became prominent in the early 1990s is
Tribal Tech, led by guitarist
Scott Henderson and bassist
Gary Willis. Henderson was a member of both Corea's and Zawinul's ensembles in the late 1980s while putting together his own group. Tribal Tech's most common lineup also includes keyboardist
Scott Kinsey and drummer
Kirk Covington - Willis and Kinsey have both recorded solo fusion projects. Henderson has also been featured on fusion projects by drummer
Steve Smith of
Vital Information which also include bassist
Victor Wooten of the eclectic
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, recording under the banner
Vital Tech Tones.
Allan Holdsworth is a guitarist who performs in both rock and fusion styles. Other guitarists such as
Eddie Van Halen,
Steve Vai and
Yngwie Malmsteen have praised his fusion and rock playing. He often used a
SynthAxe guitar synthesizer in his recordings of the late 1980s, which he credits for expanding his composing and playing options. Holdsworth has continued to release fusion recordings and tour worldwide. Another former
Soft Machine guitarist,
Andy Summers of
The Police, released several fusion albums in the early 1990s.
Guitarists
John Scofield and
Bill Frisell have both made fusion recordings over the past two decades while also exploring other musical styles. Scofield's
Pick Hits Live
and
Still Warm
are fusion examples, while Frisell has maintained a unique approach in drawing heavy influences from traditional music of the United States. Japanese fusion guitarist
Kazumi Watanabe released numerous fusion albums throughout 1980s and 1990s, highlighted by his works such as
Mobo Splash
and
Spice of Life
.
The late saxophonist
Bob Berg, who originally came to prominence as a member of Miles Davis' bands, recorded a number of fusion albums with fellow Miles band member and guitarist
Mike Stern. Stern continues to play fusion regularly in New York City and worldwide. They often teamed with the world-renowned drummer
Dennis Chambers, who has also recorded his own fusion albums. Chambers is also a member of
CAB, led by bassist
Bunny Brunel and featuring the guitar and keyboard of
Tony MacAlpine.
CAB 2
garnered a Grammy nomination in 2002. MacAlpine has also served as guitarist of the metal fusion group
Planet X, featuring keyboardist
Derek Sherinian and drummer
Virgil Donati. Another former member of
Miles Davis' bands of the 1980s that has released a number of fusion recordings is saxophonist
Bill Evans, highlighted by 1992's
Petite Blonde
.
Fusion shred guitarist, and session musician
Greg Howe has released solo albums such as Introspection (1993), Parallax (1995), Five (1996), Ascend (1999), Hyperacuity (2000), Extraction (2003) with electric bassist
Victor Wooten and drummer
Dennis Chambers, and Sound Proof (2008). Howe combines elements of rock, blues and Latin music with jazz influences using a technical, yet melodic guitar style.
Drummer
Jack DeJohnette's Parallel Realities band featuring fellow Miles' alumni
Dave Holland and
Herbie Hancock, along with
Pat Metheny, recorded and toured in 1990, highlighted by a DVD of a live performance at the
Mellon Jazz Festival in Philadelphia. Jazz bassist
Christian McBride released two fusion recordings drawing from the jazz-funk idiom in
Sci-Fi
(2000) and
Vertical Vision
(2003). Other significant recent fusion releases have come from keyboardist
Mitchel Forman and his band
Metro, former Mahavishnu bassist
Jonas Hellborg with the late guitar virtuoso
Shawn Lane, and keyboardist
Tom Coster.
Influence on progressive rock and metal
Jazz-rock fusion's technically-challenging guitar solos, bass solos and odd metered, syncopated drumming started to be incorporated in the technically-focused
progressive death metal genre in the early 1990s. Progressive rock, with its affinity for long solos, diverse influences, non-standard
time signatures, complex music and changing line-ups had very similar musical values as jazz fusion. One prominent example of progressive rock mixed with elements of fusion is the music of
Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
The band
Atheist produced albums
Unquestionable Presence
in 1991 and
Elements
in 1993 containing heavily syncopated drumming, changing time signatures, instrumental parts, acoustic interludes, and Latin rhythms.
Cynic recorded a complex, unorthodox form of jazz-fusion-influenced experimental death metal with their 1993 album
Focus
. In 1997,
G.I.T. guitarist
Jennifer Batten, Glen Sobel (drummer for Tony MacAlpine, Impellitteri, Gary Hoey), and Ricky Wolking working under the name of
Jennifer Batten's Tribal Rage: Momentum released Momentum - an instrumental hybrid of rock, fusion and exotic sounds.
Another, more cerebral, all-instrumental progressive jazz fusion-metal band
Planet X released
Universe
in 2000 with Tony MacAlpine, Derek Sherinian (ex-Dream Theater) and Virgil Donati (who has played with
Scott Henderson from
Tribal Tech). The band blends fusion-style guitar solos and syncopated odd-metered drumming with the heaviness of metal. Tech-prog-fusion metal band
Aghora formed in 1995 and released their first album, self titled
Aghora
, recorded in 1999 with
Sean Malone and
Sean Reinert, both former members of Cynic.
Gordian Knot, another Cynic-linked experimental progressive metal band released its debut album in 1999 which explored a range of styles from jazz-fusion to metal.
Influential recordings
This section lists a few of the jazz fusion artists and albums that are considered to be influential by prominent jazz fusion critics, reviewers, journalists, or music historians.
For a longer list, see the
List of notable jazz fusion recordings article.
Albums from the late 1960s and early 1970s include
Miles Davis' 1969 album
In a Silent Way
(1969) and his ambient-sounding, rock-infused
Bitches Brew
from 1970. Throughout the 1970s,
Weather Report released albums ranging from its 1971 self-titled disc
Weather Report
(1971) (which continued the style of Miles Davis album
Bitches Brew
) to 1979's
8:30
.
John McLaughlin, leaving Miles Davis, formed the
Mahavishnu Orchestra, their debut album
Inner Mounting Flame introduced a virtuosic and much louder style of jazz fusion.
Chick Corea's Latin-oriented fusion band
Return to Forever released influential albums such as 1973's
Light as a Feather
. In that same year,
Herbie Hancock's
Head Hunters
infused jazz-rock fusion with a heavy dose of
Sly and the Family Stone-style funk. Virtuoso performer-composers played an important role in the 1970s. In 1976, fretless bassist
Jaco Pastorius released
Jaco Pastorius
; electric and double bass player
Stanley Clarke released
School Days
; and keyboardist
Chick Corea released his Latin-infused
My Spanish Heart
, which received a five star review from
Down Beat
magazine.
In the 1980s,
Chick Corea produced well-regarded albums, including
Chick Corea Elektric Band
(1986) and
Eye of the Beholder
(1987). In the early 1990s,
Tribal Tech produced two albums,
Tribal Tech
(1991) and
Reality Check
(1995). Canadian bassist-composer
Alain Caron released his album
Rhythm 'n Jazz
in 1995.
Mike Stern released
Give And Take
in 1997.
Fusion music generally receives little radio broadcast airplay in the United States, owing perhaps to its complexity, usual lack of vocals, and frequently extended track lengths. European radio is friendlier to fusion music, and the genre also has a significant following in
Japan and South America. A number of Internet radio stations feature fusion music, including dedicated channels on services such as
AOL Radio, Pandora and Yahoo! Launchcast.