WIRED

Customarily, I like to begin my reviews with a point of reference to the Seventies, the decade of "classic," progressive rock. Here, I am recalling a July of 1975, all day affair at the Tad Gormley stadium in New Orleans. The headliner, ZZ Top was joined by Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac, and Jeff Beck. Two of my best friends and I, somehow, were permitted to bring into the stadium an ice chest filled with beer. Thus, my fifty year old memory is a bit cloudy. But I do remember hearing "Sweet Emotion" and "Freeway Jam" for the first time.

"Freeway Jam" became an integral vehicle for improvisation during my garage band days. Fortunately, the enduring influence of the music of Jeff Beck transcends this 1975 concert and my clumsy pursuit of the guitar.

The crystallization of Jeff Beck's contribution to the genre of Jazz/Rock Fusion can be found in his mid-Seventies albums, "Blow by Blow" and "Wired." Notably, both albums were produced by George Martin with Beck as guitarist and catalyst for a significant union of a wide range of contemporary musical influences: Max Middleton, Phil Chen, Richard Bailey, and Stevie Wonder (uncredited) on "Blow by Blow" and, on "Wired," Middleton, Bailey, Jan Hammer, Wilbur Bascomb, and Narada Michael Walden.

Surely, there was "something" in the "Zeitgeist" of 1975 and 1976 that fostered the proliferation of Jazz/Rock Fusion. Earlier, in 1969, Chicago with "The Chicago Transit Authority" established a "first floor" in the incipient edifice of Jazz/Rock. Soon to follow, we have John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, Return to Forever, and, throughout, Miles Davis. Compositionally and, inspirationally, Charlie Parker and Charles Mingus have given "depth and breadth" to this movement.

As a function of this "Zeitgeist," Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan fully embraced jazz as they approached the mid-Seventies.

With her studio album, "Mingus," and live album, "Shadows and Light," Joni Mitchell firmly established herself in the territory of Jazz/Rock. To this day, the genre of Jazz/Rock Fusion is a prodigious kettle of creativity uniting a superabundance of influences. Yet, the preceding could also be a description of progressive rock, in general.

Over time, detractors have observed none of the music on "Wired" originated with Jeff Beck: four pieces from Narada Michael Walden; one from Max Middleton; one from Wilbur Bascomb and Andy Clark; another from Jan Hammer; and "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" from Charles Mingus. Nevertheless, Beck postured himself as interpreter and prism through which we have encountered these works.

Perhaps Hammer's "Blue Wind" served as the entry point to "Wired" in the mid-Seventies. Beck and Hammer engaged in an intensive, instrumental dialogue that continues to exemplify this whole album.

Beck's perception of "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" unfolds a treatment that translates Mingus' work into the vehicle of Jazz/Rock. Three years later, Joni Mitchell released her album "Mingus," which is the fruit of her collaboration with the composer and bassist during the final stages of his life.

An album of the magnitude of "Wired" accentuates the concept of artistic fraternization, to which Bill Buford has referred, addressing his departure from Yes in 1972. Indeed, musical collegiality is a leitmotif that substantiates music we call "progressive."

Through his albums, "Blow by Blow" and "Wired," I would like to suggest we can find intimations of the direction Jimi Hendrix may have taken. I am especially thinking of Hendrix's solo in his version of "All Along the Watchtower."

Thus, in that summer of 1975 concert, little did my friends and I know the gravity of Jeff Beck's performance. And, in conclusion, I would like to mention Billy Gibbons, ZZ Top's guitarist, over time, has joined the ranks of players we might consider progressive.

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