Jazz for aficionados

"Elegant People" by Weather Report is most certainly one of my favorite cuts of that era, and genre.



              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThF63iql478


Enjoy the music.

****are you ready to go into fusion in depth; I mean to cover it to your hearts content, rather than just skim over it?****

Sure, and I’m glad to see that you want to cover it in depth, because all too often "skim over it" is exactly what has happened with other topics. For me, "in depth" means that, for starters, things have to be put in a chronological or historical perspective. How did it all began? Where did "fusion" come from? What are the earliest examples of it? How did it evolve?

By the mid sixties traditional Jazz was considered to be practically commercially dead by record producers, while rock and pop where increasing in popularity and young musicians who were growing up with this music started experimenting with mixing elements of jazz in rock projects and vise versa. The increasing use of electric instruments was a major force in all this. Early fusion projects sound very different from what "fusion" would become, but the lineage is clear and interesting.

Guitarist Larry Corryell’s band "The Free Spirits" is considered by many to be the first jazz "fusion" band (1966):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLa7DwXF9n16EYojdIWL-PFQc_be9iUzvp&params=OAFIAVgG&v=Zf95lF...

Formed around 1968 the band "Dreams" with the Brecker brothers on horns and Billy Cobham on drums was on the forefront of the fusion movement:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UFK_S-ILmGo

In 1969 Frank Zappa released "Hot Rats" which predated much of what fusion would become:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FFNQQpsOMF4

Acman3 already mentioned and posted Tony Williams’ "Lifetime"; classic early fusion band and VERY influential.

That same year Miles Davis would release "In A Silent Way", his first fusion record and first record from his electric period:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PL407832509983DB72&v=AOy-pJ1xQe0

One year later (1970) Miles would release "Bitches Brew" and would blow things wide open for the fusion genre; it was here to stay. Hugely influential record:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1a1Ph-ioxoA

A slight (☺️) detour before getting back to fusion.  I thought some, and Rok in particular, would appreciate this.  Ted Nash of JALC, friend and one of the biggest young(er) talents on the scene today writes about Joe Temperley, longtime baritone saxophone in Wynton's band and who passed away recently.

http://tednash.com/blog/celebrating-joe-temperley

And, btw, I highly recommend signing up for Ted's mailing list for very interesting jazz news, commentary and peeks into JALC.

Frogman, although I've heard Miles mention "In a Silent Way", it was one of his albums that eluded me. That album was released at about the same time I saw Miles live in Chicago. This wasn't in a club setting, but in a huge auditorium, and somebody bought the cheap seats, consequently I don't remember the personnel on that performance, but I'm assuming they were similar to the record. Nina Simone and Herby Mann were on the same bill, that's why it was in such a huge place.


Miles Davis – trumpet
Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone
John McLaughlin – electric guitar
Chick Corea – electric piano
Herbie Hancock – electric piano
Joe Zawinul – organ
Dave Holland – double bass
Tony Williams – drums


However, I do remember the sound of that performance and it was what the above cast would produce; electric piano, Tony Williams on drums, Wayne Shorter, John Mclaughlin, electric guitar. That sound coming from Miles Davis was a shock that I wasn't prepared for, but my New Yorker friend clued me in.

Musicians at the clubs I went to began to duplicate that "electric sound". By that time the shock had worn off and I kind of liked it.



Enjoy the music