Fusion, jazz-rock, jazz-funk

Style · 1966-67 → · New York · Hybrids and world

In a Silent Way (1969), Bitches Brew (rec. August 19-21, 1969, released March 30, 1970), Weather Report (Dec. 1970), Head Hunters (October 26, 1973). Electric instruments, rock and funk rhythms.

How to recognize it by ear

• Electric instruments: electric piano, electric guitar, electric bass, then synthesizers.
• Rock and funk rhythms: a steady pulse and a repetitive groove, in place of swing.
• Long tracks: the studio is used to build, edit, and layer. Bitches Brew is as much a work of editing as of playing.
• Bands more than soloists: Weather Report, Return to Forever, Herbie Hancock's Headhunters.
• A wider audience: fusion fills rock venues and sells records by the hundreds of thousands.

Where to start

• Chameleon — Herbie Hancock (1973, Easy): A funk bass line played on synthesizer and a groove that never stops: the best way in.
• Birdland — Weather Report (1977, Easy): The biggest hit by Weather Report, a group founded by Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter.
• Spain — Chick Corea (1972, Easy): An introduction that quotes the Concierto de Aranjuez, then a danceable theme.
• In a Silent Way — Miles Davis (1969, Classic): The moment Miles Davis goes electric, in a calm atmosphere.
• Bitches Brew — Miles Davis (1970, Advanced): To save for the end: a dense record, better appreciated after the others.
• Lingus — Snarky Puppy (2014, Classic): Fusion today, played by an American collective.

Fusion and modal jazz

Fusion is born in part from modal jazz. When you improvise over few chords, there is room left for a groove and for electric sounds. In a Silent Way (1969) sits at the hinge: still modal in its construction, already electric in its instruments.

Where it comes from

• Modal
• Soul jazz, boogaloo
• Hard bop
• Free jazz
• Brazilian instrumental music
• Indo-jazz
• Modern big bands
• Clube da Esquina (Minas Gerais)

What it gave rise to or influenced

• Harmolodic funk, Prime Time
• Downtown New York, No Wave
• M-Base
• Acid jazz, jazz-rap, nu jazz
• Renaissances (Los Angeles, London)
• Japanese jazz
• Afrobeat, makossa, highlife-jazz
• Flamenco jazz
• Canterbury scene and British jazz-rock

Artists

• Miles Davis (1926–1991, trumpet)
• Herbie Hancock (1940, keyboards)
• Wayne Shorter (1933–2023, tenor and soprano saxophones)
• Joe Zawinul (1932–2007, keyboards)
• Chick Corea (1941–2021, piano, keyboards)
• Pat Metheny (1954, guitar)
• Hiromi Uehara (1979, piano)
• Hermeto Pascoal (1936–2025, multi-instrumentalist)
• Biréli Lagrène (1966, guitar)
• Ibrahim Maalouf (1980, trumpet)
• Quincy Jones (1933–2024, trumpet, arrangement, composition)
• Donald Byrd (1932–2013, trumpet)
• Erik Truffaz (1960, trumpet)
• Jowee Omicil (1977, saxophones, clarinet, cornet)
• Manu Katché (1958, drums, percussion)
• Jean-Luc Ponty (1942, violin, keyboards)
• Candy Dulfer (1969, alto saxophone)
• Christian Scott (1983, trumpet, flugelhorn)
• Fela Kuti (1938–1997, saxophone, keyboards, vocals)
• Manu Dibango (1933–2020, saxophone, vibraphone)
• Tony Allen (1940–2020, drums)
• Richard Bona (1967, bass, vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion)
• Snarky Puppy (band (bass, keyboards, guitars, brass, drums, percussion))
• Didier Lockwood (1956–2018, violin, electric violin)
• Ludivine Issambourg (1983, flute)
• John McLaughlin (1942, guitar)
• Zakir Hussain (1951–2024, tabla)
• Trilok Gurtu (1951, drums, tabla, konnakol)
• Mario Canonge (piano)
• Michael Brecker (1949–2007, tenor saxophone, EWI)
• Sadao Watanabe (1933, alto saxophone, sopranino, flute)
• Terumasa Hino (1942, trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn)
• Ronnie Foster (1950, organ, electric piano, piano, synthesizer)
• Fred Wesley (1943, trombone)
• Betty Davis (1944–2022, vocals)
• Donny McCaslin (1966, tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet)
• Al Jarreau (1940–2017, vocals)
• Jack DeJohnette (1942–2025, drums, piano, melodica)
• Thundercat (1984, bass, vocals)
• John Scofield (1951, guitar)
• Soft Machine (band (keyboards, saxophone, bass, drums))
• Ian Carr (1933–2009, trumpet, flugelhorn)
• Colosseum (band (organ, saxophones, guitar, bass, drums))
• Aydın Esen (1962, piano, keyboards)
• Volker Kriegel (1943–2003, guitar)
• Médéric Collignon (1970, cornet, vocals, keyboards)
• Cory Henry (1987, Hammond organ, keyboards, vocals)
• Keyon Harrold (1980, trumpet, vocals)
• Braxton Cook (1991, alto saxophone, vocals)
• Cindy Blackman Santana (drums, composition)
• Benjamin Herman (1968, alto saxophone, C melody saxophone, flute)
• Jasper van 't Hof (1947, keyboards, piano, synthesizers)
• Eric Vloeimans (1963, trumpet, effets)

Sources

• EN : Jazz fusion

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The editorial sections of this page (how to listen, where to start, landmarks) are written by Jazzency and are being proofread.