what Jazz/fusion album are you listening to ?

Dick Heath wrote: Jan Hammer Group: Oh Yeah!

darkshade wrote: Dick Heath wrote: Alan Pasqua, hot from touring Europe with Allan Holdsworth, found in the company of  Nels Cline   what's the deal with that album? looks interesting.

John McLaughlin: The Essential John McLaughlin (Sony Columbia), unlike the recent Clapton release The Complete Eric Clapton, this compilation has clearly had some thought and effort put into the track selection, taken from McLaughlin's full career and sampled from a broad variety of recording labels: from being part of Graham Bond's Organisation through Lifetime, Miles, Mahavishnu to McLaughlin's latest album Industrial Zen. Therefore there are a very large number of  musicians to be heard playing with McLaughlin: a veritable who's who of the modern jazz scene. The liner notes are excellent by (the Jaco Pastorius biographer) Bill Milkowski , along with pretty thorough details of the tracks used - and making apologies for not being able to access certain tracks (because record labels didn't want to collaborate - shame on them, e.g. Extrapolation, whilst finding alternative versions (to me an unknown version of Arjen's Bag  with McLaughlin as part of a Joe Farrel group). You move from McLaughlin the bebop player of the early 60's, to the innovative jazz rock fusionist of the 70's, to the Indo-jazz rock, flamenco/Latin jazz fusion and through to the modern day. and via the digression in to modern serious music.  Perhaps more tracks representing this output from the 90's might have been included. However, as a starter for a music fan who come this music for the first time and wants to hear why John McLaughlin is seen and heard as one of the best guitarist in world, this double CD is an excellent place to start.

Edited by Dick Heath - December 09 2007 at 08:41

Reminder. Please go to the Poll section and vote for your jazz rock fusion album of 2007.

Edited by Dick Heath - December 20 2007 at 13:17

Exploding Star Orchestra - We are All From Somewhere Else

(neo big band jazz courtesy of Rob Mazurek and the Tortoise/Chicago scene playaz......)

Hectic Watermelon & Oz Noy's "Fuzzy"

Well, if Hectic Watermelon can be mentioned in this thread: today I listend to SBBs The Rock and Mar de Robles Indigina. Both great albums released in 2007.

Billy Cobham-Magic

Marcus Tockhausen feat. Terje Rypdal - Karta (this one has got Supersilent 5 vibes....more ambient spaced-out jazz n' tronics)

(Probably one for Gecko):
Just dropped through the letterbox as a promo:

Clear Frame (Lol Coxhill, Charles Hayward, Hugh Hopper, Orphy Robinson, and with Robert Wyatt guesting on cornet) - improv/free jazz, on Charles Hayward's own label Continuity (through ReR Records). A strong Canterbury contingent playing  RIO.