Discussion about Jazz Fusion

I listened to Gary Burton, Larry Coryell and Miles Davis. Both three are credited to submit Jazz-Fusion. I wonder why Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew is acclaimed very important even more important than music which is much more earliet than Miles’ fusion (Gary Burton - Duster, Larry Coryell - Free Spirits) and what makes jazz fusion music?

Miles was more popular so more attention was given to him. Personally, I don't understand why "Bitches Brew" is considered a fusion masterpiece.

Grumpyprogfan wrote: Miles was more popular so more attention was given to him. Personally, I don't understand why "Bitches Brew" is considered a fusion masterpiece.

Grumpyprogfan wrote: Miles was more popular so more attention was given to him. Personally, I don't understand why "Bitches Brew" is considered a fusion masterpiece.

Satoshi48 wrote: I listened to Gary Burton, Larry Coryell and Miles Davis. Both three are credited to submit Jazz-Fusion. I wonder why Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew is acclaimed very important even more important than music which is much more earliet than Miles’ fusion (Gary Burton - Duster, Larry Coryell - Free Spirits) and what makes jazz fusion music?

Correct, Bitches Brew is hardly the first fusion album. It did receive a huge promotional push from Columbia records, it was fronted by a very charismatic and attention grabbing band leader and it featured an all-star cast of young jazz musicians, thus all the fuss.

I've been playing fusion and soul jazz professionally for many years. Here is a definition I wrote for another site:

Rock and RnB came from jazz in the 1940s via the jump blues genre. Needless to say, over the years jazz, rock and RnB have enjoyed a close relationship and have cross-influenced each other from the beginning. In the mid to late 60s, rock and RnB under went major changes with rock becoming much louder and more experimental under the influence of artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Cream, while RnB became more syncopated and abstract with the new funk sound created by James Brown, Bootsy Collins, Sly Stone and Larry Graham. Meanwhile, Latin jazz was undergoing similar experimental changes under the guidance of artists such as Hermato Pascoal and Flora Purim.

At this point in the mid to late 60s, any intersection between jazz, rock, funk and Latin became a radically different form of music that eventually came to be called fusion. Pioneers in the world of fusion include Larry Coryell, Jermy Steig, Gary Burton, Don Ellis, Chico Hamilton, Charles Lloyd, Jack DeJohnette, John McLaughlin, Tony Williams, Soft Machine, Brian Auger, Miles Davis, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea and Dreams (Billy Cobham and the Brecker Brothers)

Edited by Easy Money - November 19 2021 at 17:15