The Jazz-Rock/Fusion Appreciation Thread

Check out Miles Davis' Miles in the Sky, In A Silent Way, and Filles de Kilamajaro.  Also check out Billy Cobham's solo stuff.  Medeski, Martin, and Wood are one of the best fusion groups around today (along with John Scofield).  Allan Holdsworth has some great 70's/80's releases as well. 

Try a band called Dreams.  Follow the 60's era Miles Davis family tree of performers and you have your list.

micky wrote: earlier someone suggested Tony Williams and those albums seem to easy to find here in the states.... they are great albums..and essential.

 WOW! You weren't kidding Mickey! I took a quick listen to Tony Williams Lifetime: The Collection and was blown away! Thanks for the heads up on this guy!

Here's a first, I do believe. The bassoon as lead jazz rock fusion instrument, in the hands of Paul Hanson on his new album Frolic In The Land Of Plenty (Abstract Logix Records). The press release inevitably talks of Hanson being the Jaco Pastorius of the bassoon.... and indeed the opening track smacks JP's Continuum, wrt to complexity of playing and musician virtuosity. Elsewhere the bassoon takes the lead where a tenor or soprano saxophone might have taken it in a jazz rock fsuion group - and there moments when I may think I'm hearing organ (rather like Mike Ratledge being fast and dirty on the Lowry) and then I realise Hanson is doing something unusual on the bassoon and on an album of great jazz rock tunes and arrrangements. A great and novel jazz fusion album to start 2008.

I second Brian Auger! Also, if you can locate any Stomu Yamashta, makes for interesting listening. I would include any Jerry Goodman (The Flock, etc.). After hearing one tune from "Controlled By Radar" from McGill-Manring-Stevens, that's something I'm going to look out for. Absolutely cosmic sounding if you're into that.

I am completely irrelevant to jazz rock/fusion (Mr. Heath's show is a good source to discover some lately...) but I would recommend the two albums produced by Bozzio_Levin_Stevens. Great work and much better than the Bozzio_Sheehan project, at least for my own taste. What does Master Heath say about this? 

kibble_alex wrote: mahavishnu orchestra incedible musicians, john mcaughlin is one of the best ever UK guitarists IMO, Billy Cobham is a drumming god, Jan Hammer is superb... One Word is my favourite jazz/fusion song of all time, and Mahavishnu are one of my fav bands. jazz/fusion is incredible music, period.

Dick Heath wrote:     Received my copy today and so far been immersing myself in the live and long version of Behind The Yasmack. Amused by one line in the Liner notes, where one of the trio writes about listening to his favourtie album Rush's Fly By Night before a gig - try as I might I hear no cross-over influence.

Yeah!
Listened to it myself yesterday, the mood is, as always, lovely, the jazz is not bad at all. Must be of the same Tuesday Afternoon Tour in which they arrived in my town...what a spectacle was that for me (and in general)!

Edited by Dick Heath - December 07 2007 at 08:26

WalterDigsTunes wrote: King Crimson776 wrote: A Tribute to Jack Johnson by Miles Davis is in my opinion the greatest jazz fusion album of all time, and it's on iTunes for $1.99. If you don't have it, pick it up, it's essential. Crickey, they're practically giving it away!

That's what I'm sayin'! Those f**k-ups!