Ch. 14 Jazz/Rock Fusion

Point of View

"Swing Street," demonstrates a characteristic jazz/rock feel. although swing style is implied, the meter has definite rock attributes. It begins with a straight-ahead feel but soon develops a half-time rockbackbeat, leaving the swing feel to the smaller beat subdivisions.-trademark of fusion groups.

Zawinul and Shorter's This Is This

1986 and showed another personnel shift. Last record together as Weather Report Victor Bailey (bass) and Mino Cinelu (percussionist/vocalist who had been playing with Weather Report) remained, but Peter Erskine returned on drums, and, more important, John Scofield was added on guitar.

Four Corners

1987 exemplifies the Yellowjackets use of synthesizers to give the impression of brass sections and their use of bop solo lines over intricate jazz/rock-flavored backup

Eye of the Beholder

1988 Returned to a live recording process that allowed more room for performer interaction.

Origin

1997 Primarily acoustic and boasts a membership that brings a variety of cultural influences—Israeli, Afro-Cuban, Middle Eastern (Avishai Cohn, bass), world music (Jeff Balard, percussion), Celtic (Tim Garland, saxophone), and R & B and funk (Steve Wilson). Corea brings a rich background of jazz styles from working with such groups as Mongo Santamaria, Miles Davis, and his own Return to Forever band.

Letter from Home

By Pat Metheny Makes use of rhythmic settings that show strong Brazilian influences. q

Light Years

Corea tried to make music that would it the radio format. 4min songs with a consistent rhythm

Pat Metheny

Guitarist-popularity because of his proficiency Proficiency with his blend of jazz, rock, and Latin influences. 1986: collaborated with Ornette Coleman to create an album, "Song X". the sounds of this l were to be viewed as a songs that cannot be names and only experienced for their imagination and creativity.

David Sanborn

Viewed many as the new saxophone sound in jazz. Imported strong blues and rhythm and blues influences. "Even when I do think in categories, I never think of myself as a jazz musician. I've never called myself a jazz musician in the public forum or privately." Trademark sound: the very high range of the saxophone, called the altissimo register, now widely used by most players Offers a stylistic bridge connecting the commercial world of pop with the jazz tradition.

Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter: Weather Report

Like Corea, they formed one of the most commanding fusion bands of the 1970s and 1980s Special chemistry seems to have existed between Zawinul and Shorter that gave their band a distinctive, popular sound. Zawinul did the majority of the writing. Zawinul: an accomplished pianist, who moved comfortable into the electronic medium of synthesizers. The song most associated with Weather Report is Zawinul's "Birdland" from the album Heavy Weather reappeared later in settings by the Manhattan Transfer and Quincy Jones.

First fusion album

Miles Davis' : In a Silent Way Tony William's: Lifetime

John McLaughlin: The Mahavishnu Orchestra

Most responsible for the sound of rock heard in "In a Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew". First appearance in the American musical arena was in The Tony Williams Lifetime. High energy albums: Inner Mounting Flame, Birds of Fire,and Between Nothingness and Eternity

Chick Corea: Return to Forever and Elektric Band

One of the most popular fusion groups of the 1970s and 1980s Well-schooled piano player Return to Forever was formed in 1970. Skill in technique and ensemble Themes are often quite angular and complex rhythmically yet quite accessible to the listener. Records were commercially successful. His music flows smoothly between up-tempo jazz, complex rock, and a more commercial rock style. Experimented with smaller bands. Acoustic Album: Akoustic Band.

Laughlin and Shakti's virtuoso guitarists

Paco De Lucia and Al Di Meola, and the resulting albums Passion, Grace & Fire, and Friday Night in San Francisco.6

Sound System

by Herbie Hancock fall into the category of beat or breaker music, music for break dancing Hancock may very well have accomplished what he had intended: to clearly leave the jazz out.

Back on the Block

by Quincy Jones 1989 album he album swings from rap to jazz fusion with singers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, and Take 6; rappers like Ice-T and Melle Mel; instrumentalists Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, George Benson, Joe Zawinul, and Herbie Hancock; and on and on. The blend of individual and commercial styles is impressive and a tribute to Jones's production skills. Particularly interesting is the arrangement of Zawinul's "Birdland," which blends fusion and pop elements quite effectively.

Morning Dance

by Spyro-Gyra, first became popular with this album latin feel, good as establishing a type of jazz groove with a rock underpinning

Yellow Jackets

formed in 1980 follow the legacy established by weather report The four members of the group—Russell Ferrante on piano and synthesizers, Jimmy Haslip on bass, Marc Russo on saxophones, and William Kennedy on drum Create complex, energetic arrangements that not only borrow from several previous jazz styles. Also blend in sounds more accessible to the popular listening audiences. The angularity of the melodic lines and the harmonic punches used by the Yellowjackets is particularly reminiscent of Weather Report. The harmonic accents work in much the same fashion that brass punches do in big-band ensembles. Blend Latin influences into their music, generally including a rock feel.

Backbeat

the second and fourth beats are often referred to as backbeats, or a song that has strong accents on these beats is often considered a backbeat

Double Vision

Sanbron worked with Bob James Demonstrates his improvisatory in a more pop-sounding environment.

Herbie Hancock

Had an earlier association with the Miles quintet. VSOP: Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Tony Williams on drums, and Freddie Hubbard taking the place of Davis. An album important to the jazz fusion genre is Hancock's 1973 studio album, Head Hunters, performed by a band by the same name. Hancock carries to these later albums is the technical skill and approach more typical of an accomplished jazz player.

1986: Elektric Band

Album by Chick Corea His selection "Got a Match," from theElektric Band album, offers an effective juxtaposition of jazz and rock phrasing. Returned to this Band in 1990 after making an acoustic album.

Inside Out

Corea used both acoustic piano and synthesizers The playing and melodic design continue in the complex, angular, and virtuosic style normally associated with fusion jazz.

Bitches Brew

Dave Holland shares his bass role with Harvey Brooks, who plays electric bass. John McLaughlin plays electric guitar, not necessarily new to jazz, and Joe Zawinul, Larry Young, and Chick Corea join in with electronic piano. Besides the horn players—Wayne Shorter on soprano sax, Bennie Maupin on bass clarinet, and Miles Davis on trumpet—the ensemble is completed with percussionist Jim Riley and with three drummers: Lenny White, Jack DeJohnette, and Charles Alias. The harmonies used in this recording move slowly and function modally rather than in a more tonal fashion typical of mainstream jazz.

Weather Report's 1980 album Night Passage

Several examples if fusion at different points along the jazz/rock line. "Rockin' in Rhythm" is based on an Ellington tune and uses synthesizers to fill out a saxophone section sound under Shorter. The rhythm and style are mainly swing, and little is borrowed from the rock idiom. "Fast City" offers the soloists an energetic arena for a type of virtuosity often associated with fusion groups. The thematic material is again rhythmically complex and punctuated with ensemble motives. Jaco Pastorius, often joins the ensemble in the complex unison lines.

Fusion

Took a new turn in the 1970's & 1980's. Many saw the changes being made as a commercialization of jazz and a significant move away from the jazz ideal. The rock instrumentation, the increased volume, and the rock-based rhythmic feel were sometimes viewed as denials of the jazz tradition. But there were also some undeniably jazz-rooted traditions: rhythmic complexity, commitment to improvisation, virtuosic and individual expression, and syncopated ensemble passages.

Still Life (Talking)

By Pat Metheny Released in 1987 Grammy award winner

Michael Brecker

Saxophonist 1970: he and his brother Randy were at the forefront of the development with their first band, Dreams. 1987: led his own group with the album Michael Brecker, showed the EWI (electronic wind instrument) could be a viable jazz instrument. Established him as a leader of high-energy jazz strongly influenced by blues (often with a backbeat funk style) on his next album, Don't Try This at Home.

Spyro-Gira

Second generation after Return to Forever and Weather Report les by saxophonist Jay Beckenstein jazz/rock/latin fusion Although pianist Jeremy Wall was later replaced by Tom Schuman, he continues as producer/composer/arranger and studio pianist. Beckenstein and Wall, together with guitarist Chet Catallo, bassist David Wolford, drummer Eli Konikoff, and percussionist Gerardo Velez, created a sound that falls somewhere between the complexities of groups such as Weather Report and a more pop style.