Jazz for aficionados

Did something happen while I was away?  And what are those thumping sounds?...like the banging of sticks  ☺️

Don’t worry Rok, take a deep breath and check this out; it’s going to OK. Here’s another for 1976. Non-fusion from one of the best and most interesting piano players that most have never heard of:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T01se2ZNnBg

Back to fusion, 1976:

Weather Report’s breakthrough album:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jp-cwoZWoGA

Weather Report member Jaco Pastorius would forever change the way that the electric bass was played and previous ideas about what was possible on the instrument::

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-0NNA6w8Zk4

Chick Corea’s "Romantic Warrior":

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=giup9k87MMo

I am afraid that I am not doing Return To Forever's (Chick Corea) "Romantic Warrior" justice with the lack of some commentary.  This recent romp through Fusion has led to my revisiting some of these records and I have to say that this record is an absolute masterpiece of the genre.  Amazing compositional values from one of the most creative minds in contemporary music (including jazz-jazz), Chick Corea. This should be approached like one approaches listening to a symphony.  Elements of Baroque music can be found along with strong rock and traditional jazz fusings.  Just like Kind Of Blue is often cited as possibly THE record to play for someone who has never heard jazz, this could be my pick for demonstrating the genre Fusion to the curious.  I recommend listening to it beginning to end.  Even if you generally don't like Fusion, give it a shot and see what you think at the end of the ride.  Their last record as a band:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=giup9k87MMo

I don't get it.  But, I realize it could be me, so I read a lot of the reviews and comments on you-tube and Amazon.

"Corea is a god".
"This is the best record ever recorded"    Yikes!!!

I'm thinking, what planet are these people from.   I'm thinking, how can people get all that from this music, when I get nothing.  Then I ran across a review on Amazon that provided a little insight.

paraphrasing:

It depends to a large degree on your age.  He said during the formative years when he became interested in music, Fusion was Jazz.  He was not aware of anything else.   There was Rock, and there was Jazz(fusion).   Fusion being a more 'sophisticated'  form of Rock??  Bebop was no where to be heard.
Several people said after being 'raised' on Fusion, they later discovered Bebop, and never looked back.  As if Fusion prepared their ear for real Jazz.

I say, whatever!  I know the first music I ever heard with which I associated the word 'Jazz' was probably Duke Ellington, Count Basie maybe Cab Calloway..  That was the type of music my family listened to.  We also listened to Church music, Broadway tunes, Blues, R&B and early R&R..

Which means, Rock was noise to my ear from day one.   Still is mostly.   And that includes this so-called Fusion.  Everyone can't like everything, although I wish I could.

My son loves Rock.  That was the music he heard during his formative years.  If I had known that, I would have locked him in my stereo room with Monk and Mingus going 24/7.  Hindsight.

Back in the day, one professional Jazz critic once said, "Young people think any instrumental music is Jazz".  He may have been on to something.

Romantic Warrior:  For what it is, not extremely irritating.  There are a few measures here and there where you could almost think it is Jazz.

Cheers

Has the final obituary been read for "fusion", or is it coming back again?

I wish I had something good to say about fusion. If somebody can find something good to say about my bright yellow double knit low waist bell bottomed trousers, I'll find something good to say about fusion. They both were current at about the same time.

Somehow, I'm slightly disoriented, and I think It's a result of too much fusion; that art work on the album covers is so discombobulating, plus all that space music; where do you think "Hymn To The Seventh Galaxy" came from?

Fusion is surrealistic art, put to music, and when combined with intoxicants, is designed to send one to the farthest reaches of the seventh galaxy, all the way out past Orion number 9.; that's what it was good for.

Now that we're back down to earth, where do we go from here?



Enjoy the music.

I like Chick Corea's Romantic Warrior as well.