Jazz fusion (also known as jazz-rock)[1] is a musical genre that developed in the late 1960s when

musicians combined aspects of jazz harmony and improvisation with styles such as funk, rock, rhythm
and blues, and Latin jazz. During this time many jazz musicians began experimenting with electric
instruments and amplified sound for the first time, as well as electronic effects and synthesizers. Many
of the developments during the late 1960s and early 1970s have since become established elements of
jazz fusion musical practice.
Fusion arrangements vary in complexitysome employ groove-based vamps fixed to a single key, or
even a single chord, with a simple melodic motif (a lick). Others can feature odd or shifting time
signatures with elaborate chord progressions, melodies, and counter-melodies. Typically, these
arrangements, whether simple or complex, will feature extended improvised sections that can vary in
length. As with jazz, fusion often employs brass and woodwind instruments such
as trumpet and saxophone as melody and soloing instruments but other instruments often substitute for
these. The rhythm section typically consists of electric bass (in some cases fretless), electric
guitar, electric piano/synthesizer (in contrast to the double bass and piano used in earlier jazz)
and drums. As with traditional jazz improvisation, fusion instrumentalists generally require a high level
of technical proficiency.
The term "jazz-rock" is often used as a synonym for "jazz fusion" as well as for music performed by late
1960s and 1970s-era rock bands that added jazz elements to their music. After a decade of popularity
during the 1970s, fusion expanded its improvisatory and experimental approaches through the 1980s,
in parallel with the development of a radio-friendly style called smooth jazz. Experimentation continued
in the 1990s and 2000s. Fusion albums, even those that are made by the same group or artist, may
include a variety of musical styles. Rather than being a codified musical style, fusion can be viewed as
a musical tradition or approach.

Contents
[hide]

1History

o 1.1Precursors

o 1.21960s

1.2.1Jazz-rock

o 1.31970s

o 1.41980s

1.4.1Smooth jazz

1.4.2Other styles

1.4.3Acid jazz, nu jazz and jazz rap

1.4.4Punk jazz and jazzcore

1.4.5M-Base

o 1.51990s2000s

2Influence on rock music

3Influential recordings
 4Jazz fusion record labels

5See also

6References

7Further reading

8External links

History[edit]
Precursors[edit]
Main article: Afro-Cuban jazz
See also: Latin jazz
Afro-Cuban jazz, one the earliest form of Latin jazz, is a fusion of Afro-Cuban clave-based rhythms
with jazz harmonies and techniques of improvisation. Afro-Cuban jazz first emerged in the early 1940s
with the Cuban musicians Mario Bauza and Frank Grillo "Machito" in the band Machito and his Afro-
Cubans, based in New York City. In 1947 the collaborations of bebop innovator Dizzy Gillespie with
Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo brought Afro-Cuban rhythms and instruments, most notably
the congas and the bongos into the East Coast jazz scene. Early combinations of jazz with Cuban
music, such as Dizzy's and Pozo's "Manteca" and Charlie Parker's and Machito's "Mang Mang",
were commonly referred to as "Cubop", short for Cuban bebop. [2] During its first decades, the Afro-
Cuban jazz movement was stronger in the United States than in Cuba itself.[3]

1960s[edit]
Allmusic Guide states that "until around 1967, the worlds of jazz and rock were nearly completely
separate".[4] While in the United States modern jazz and electric R&B may have represented opposite
poles of blues-based Afro-American music, the British pop music of the beat boom developed out of
the skiffle and R&B championed by well-known jazzmen such as Chris Barber. English fusion
guitarist John McLaughlin, for example, had played what Allmusic describes as a "blend of jazz and
American R&B" with Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames[5] as early as 1962 and continued with The
Graham Bond Organisation (with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker) whose style Allmusic calls "rhythm &
blues with a strong jazzy flavor".[6] Bond himself had begun playing straight jazz with Don Rendell,
while Manfred Mann, who recorded a Cannonball Adderley tune on their first album, when joined by
Bruce turned out the 1966 EP record Instrumental Asylum, which undoubtedly fused jazz and rock.
[7]
One of the earliest releases from Pink Floyd, London '66'67 incorporated jazz-influenced
improvisation to their psychedelic compositions.[citation needed]
Miles Davis (performing here in 1971) was among the principal innovators of jazz fusion.

Nevertheless, these developments made little impact in the United States. Jazz vibraphonist Gary
Burton was an "innovator" in the 1960s. In 1967, Burton worked with electric guitarist Larry Coryell and
recorded Duster, which is considered one of the first fusion records.[8] Texas-born guitarist Coryell was
also a pioneer of electric jazz in the same era.[9] Trumpeter and composer Miles Davis had a major
influence on the development of jazz fusion with his 1968 album Miles in the Sky. It is the first of Davis'
albums to incorporate electric instruments, with Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter playing electric
piano and bass guitar, respectively. Davis furthered his explorations into the use of electric instruments
on another 1968 album, Filles de Kilimanjaro, with pianist Chick Corea and bassist Dave Holland.
Davis' 1969 album In a Silent Way is considered his first fusion album.[10] Composed of two side-long
improvised suites edited heavily by record producer Teo Macero, this quiet, static album would be
equally influential upon the development of ambient music. It featured contributions from musicians who
would all go on to spread the fusion evangel with their own groups in the 1970s: Wayne Shorter,
Hancock, Corea, pianist Josef Zawinul, John McLaughlin, Holland, and drummer Tony Williams, who
quit Davis to form The Tony Williams Lifetime with McLaughlin and jazz organist Larry Young. Their
debut record Emergency! of that year is also cited as one of the early acclaimed fusion albums.
Jazz-rock[edit]
See also: Jam band

Jazz rock

Jazz
Stylistic origins
rock

jazz fusion

Cultural origins Late 1960s, United States

Typical instruments Electric guitar

piano

electric piano

drums

saxophone

trumpet
 electronic keyboards

bass guitar

vocals

Derivative forms Jam band

punk jazz

jazz metal

progressive rock

krautrock

Other topics

Jam band

jazz pop

The term "jazz-rock" (or "jazz/rock") is often used as a synonym for the term "jazz fusion". However,
some make a distinction between the two terms. The Free Spirits have sometimes been cited as the
earliest jazz-rock band.[11] During the late 1960s, at the same time that jazz musicians were
experimenting with rock rhythms and electric instruments, rock groups such as Cream, the Grateful
Dead and The Doors were "beginning to incorporate elements of jazz into their music" by
"experimenting with extended free-form improvisation". Other "groups such as Blood, Sweat &
Tears directly borrowed harmonic, melodic, rhythmic and instrumentational elements from the jazz
tradition".[12]

The Grateful Dead (pictured in 1970) grew to incorporate jazzy improvisations and grooves in the 1970s,
influencing further generations of jam bands.

The rock groups that drew on jazz ideas (like Soft

Machine, Colosseum, Caravan, Chicago, Spirit and Frank Zappa) turned the blend of the two styles
with electric instruments.[13] Davis' fusion jazz was "pure melody and tonal color", [13] while Frank Zappa's
music was more "complex" and "unpredictable".[14] Zappa released the solo album Hot Rats in 1969[15]
[16]
and had a major jazz influence mainly consisting of long instrumental pieces. [16][17] Zappa released two
LPs in 1972 which were also very jazz-oriented, called The Grand Wazoo and Waka/Jawaka. Prolific
jazz artists such as George Duke and Aynsley Dunbar played on these LPs.
AllMusic states that the term jazz-rock "may refer to the loudest, wildest, most electrified fusion bands
from the jazz camp, but most often it describes performers coming from the rock side of the equation."
The guide states that "jazz-rock first emerged during the late '60s as an attempt to fuse the visceral
power of rock with the musical complexity and improvisational fireworks of jazz. Since rock often
emphasized directness and simplicity over virtuosity, jazz-rock generally grew out of the most artistically
ambitious rock subgenres of the late '60s and early '70s: psychedelia, progressive rock, and
the singer/songwriter movement."[18]
According to jazz writer Stuart Nicholson, jazz-rock paralleled free jazz in how it was "on the verge of
creating a whole new musical language in the 1960s". He said the albums Emergency! (1970) by the
Tony Williams Lifetime and Agharta (1975) by Miles Davis "suggested the potential of evolving into
something that might eventually define itself as a wholly independent genre quite apart from the sound
and conventions of anything that had gone before." This development was stifled by commercialism,
Nicholson said, as the genre "mutated into a peculiar species of jazz-inflected pop music that eventually
took up residence on FM radio" at the end of the 1970s.[19]

1970s[edit]
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Trumpeter Miles Davis performing in Rio de Janeiro in 1984

"Go Ahead John"

MENU

0:00
Recorded on March 7,
1970, "Go Ahead John" is
an out-take from Miles
Davis's Jack
Johnson sessions.[20] It
features on the 1974
release Big Fun.

Problems playing this file? See media

help.

Davis' Bitches Brew sessions, recorded in August 1969 and released the following year, mostly
abandoned jazz's usual swing beat in favor of a rock-style backbeat anchored by electric bass grooves.
The recording "mixed free jazz blowing by a large ensemble with electronic keyboards and guitar,
plus a dense mix of percussion."[21] Davis also drew on the rock influence by playing his trumpet through
electronic effects and pedals. While the album gave Davis a gold record, the use of electric instruments
and rock beats created a great deal of consternation amongst some more conservative jazz critics.
During the 1970s, many of these critics in the jazz community perceived jazz music "as high art in
contrast with the more commercial and less sophisticated rock music" [22] with which it was being fused.
Racial identity was also an essential component of genre conventions, and jazz critics often censured
black musicians who deserted the purity of the jazz experience for the white world of rock music.
Although Davis was originally denounced by purists, many credit Davis and records such as "Bitches
Brew" with paving the way for the fusion movement.
Davis also proved to be an able talent-spotter; much of 1970s fusion was performed by bands started
by alumni from Davis' ensembles, including The Tony Williams Lifetime, Weather Report, The
Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, and Herbie Hancock's funk-infused Headhunters band. In
addition to Davis and the musicians who worked with him, additional important figures in early fusion
were Larry Coryell and Billy Cobham, with his album Spectrum. Herbie Hancock first continued the path
of Miles Davis with his experimental fusion albums, such as Crossings in 1972, but soon after that he
became an important developer of "jazz-funk" with his seminal albums Head Hunters in 1973
and Thrust in 1974. Later in the 1970s and early 1980s Hancock took a more commercial approach.
Hancock was one of the first jazz musicians to use synthesizers.

Weather Report began as an experimental group, but eventually garnered a huge following.

At its inception, Weather Report was an avant-garde experimental jazz group, following in the steps
of In a Silent Way. The band received considerable attention for its early albums and live performances,
which featured pieces that might last up to 30 minutes. The band later introduced a more commercial
sound, which can be heard in Joe Zawinul's hit song "Birdland" (1977). Weather Report's albums were
also influenced by different styles of Latin, African, and European music, offering an early world
music fusion variation. Jaco Pastorius, an innovative fretless electric bass player, joined the group in
1976 on the album Black Market, was co-producer (with Zawinul) on 1977's Heavy Weather, and is
prominently featured on the 1979 live recording 8:30. Heavy Weather is the top-selling album of the
genre.
In England, the jazz fusion movement was headed by Nucleus, led by Ian Carr, and whose key
players Karl Jenkins and John Marshall both later joined the seminal jazz rock band Soft Machine,
leaders of what became known as the Canterbury scene. Their best-selling recording, Third (1970),
was a double album featuring one track per side in the style of the aforementioned recordings of Miles
Davis. A prominent English band in the jazz-rock style of Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago was If, who
released a total of seven records in the 1970s.

Fusion band Return to Forever in 1976

Chick Corea formed his band Return to Forever in 1972. The band started with Latin-influenced music
(including Brazilians Flora Purim as vocalist and Airto Moreira on percussion), but was transformed in
1973 to become a jazz-rock group that took influences from both psychedelic and progressive rock. The
new drummer was Lenny White, who had also played with Miles Davis. Return to Forever's songs were
distinctively melodic due to the Corea's composing style and the bass playing style of Stanley Clarke,
who is often regarded with Pastorius as one of the most influential electric bassists of the 1970s.
Guitarist Bill Connors joined Corea's band in 1973 but soon left for his acoustic solo project. He was
replaced by guitarist Al Di Meola, who became an important fusion guitarist as well.
French jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty performed on acoustic violin and on amplified, electronic effect-modified
electric violins.

John McLaughlin formed a fusion band, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, with drummer Billy Cobham,
violinist Jerry Goodman, bassist Rick Laird and keyboardist Jan Hammer. The band released their first
album, The Inner Mounting Flame, in 1971. Hammer pioneered the use of the Minimoog synthesizer
with distortion effects and, with his mastery of the pitch bend wheel, made it sound very much like an
electric guitar. The sound of the Mahavishnu Orchestra was influenced by both psychedelic rock
and Indian classical sounds.
The band's first lineup split after two studio albums and one live album, but McLaughlin formed another
group under the same name which included Jean-Luc Ponty, a jazz violinist who also made a number
of important fusion recordings under his own name as well as with Frank Zappa, drummer Narada
Michael Walden, keyboardist Gayle Moran, and bassist Ralph Armstrong. McLaughlin also worked with
Latin-rock guitarist Carlos Santana in the early 1970s.
Initially Santana's San Francisco-based band blended Latin salsa, rock, blues, and jazz, featuring
Santana's clean guitar lines set against Latin instrumentation such as timbales and congas. But in their
second incarnation, heavy fusion influences had become central to the 19721976 sound. These can
be heard in Santana's use of extended improvised solos and in the harmonic voicings of Tom Coster's
keyboard playing on some of the groups' mid-1970s recordings. In 1973 Santana recorded a nearly
two-hour live album of mostly instrumental, jazz-fusion music, Lotus, which was only released in Europe
and Japan for more than twenty years.
Other influential musicians during the 1970s include fusion guitarist Larry Coryell with his band The
Eleventh House and electric guitarist Pat Metheny. The Pat Metheny Group, which was founded in
1977, made both the jazz and pop charts with their second album, American Garage (1980). Although
jazz performers criticized the fusion movement's use of rock styles and electric and electronic
instruments, even seasoned jazz veterans like Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson and Dexter
Gordon eventually modified their music to include fusion elements. The late 1970s saw the emergence
of the Steve Morse-led fusion band, the Dixie Dregs. This band fused the sounds of rock, jazz, country,
funk, classical, bluegrass and Celtic.
The influence of jazz fusion did not only affect the US and Europe. The genre was very influential
in Japan in the late 1970s, eventually leading to the formation of bands such as Casiopea and T-
Square. T-Square's song "Truth" would later become the theme for Japan's Formula One racing events.

1980s[edit]
Smooth jazz[edit]
Main article: Smooth jazz

Spyro Gyra combines jazz with R&B, funk and pop.

By the early 1980s, much of the original fusion genre was subsumed into other branches of jazz and
rock, especially smooth jazz, a radio-friendly subgenre of fusion which is influenced stylistically
by R&B, funk and pop.[23] Smooth jazz can be traced to at least the late 1960s, when producer Creed
Taylor worked with guitarist Wes Montgomery on three popular music-oriented records. Taylor
founded CTI Records and many established jazz performers recorded for CTI, including Freddie
Hubbard, Chet Baker, George Benson and Stanley Turrentine. The records recorded under Taylor's
guidance were typically aimed as much at pop audiences as at jazz fans.
In the mid- to late-1970s, smooth jazz became established as a commercially viable genre. It was
pioneered by such artists as Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, Grover Washington, Jr., Spyro Gyra (with
songs such as "Morning Dance"), George Benson, Chuck Mangione, Srgio Mendes, David
Sanborn, Tom Scott, Dave and Don Grusin, Bob James and Joe Sample.

David Sanborn had a string of crossover hits in the 1980s.

The merging of jazz and pop/rock music took a more commercial direction in the late 1970s and early
1980s, in the form of compositions with a softer sound palette that could fit comfortably in a soft
rock radio playlist. The AllMusic guide's article on fusion states that "unfortunately, as it became a
money-maker and as rock declined artistically from the mid-'70s on, much of what was labeled fusion
was actually a combination of jazz with easy-listening pop music and lightweight R&B." [24]
Artists such as Al Jarreau, Kenny G, Ritenour, James and Sanborn among others were leading
purveyors of this pop-oriented mixture (also known as "west coast" or "AOR fusion"). This genre is most
frequently called "smooth jazz" and is not considered "true fusion" among the listeners of both
mainstream jazz and jazz fusion, who find it too rarely contains the improvisational, melodic or harmoic
qualities that originally surfaced in jazz decades earlier, deferring to a more commercially viable sound
more widely enabled for commercial radio airplay in the United States.
Michael and Randy Brecker produced funk-influenced jazz with soloists.[25] Saxophonist David Sanborn
was considered a "soulful" and "influential" voice.[25]However, Kenny G was criticized by both fusion and
jazz fans, and some musicians, while having become a huge commercial success. Music reviewer
George Graham argues that the "so-called 'smooth jazz' sound of people like Kenny G has none of the
fire and creativity that marked the best of the fusion scene during its heyday in the 1970s." [26]
Other styles[edit]
Although the meaning of "fusion" became confused with the advent of "smooth jazz", a number of
groups helped to revive the jazz fusion genre beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s. In the 1980s, a critic
argued that "the promise of fusion went unfulfilled to an extent, although it continued to exist in
groups such as Jeff Lorber, Yellowjackets, Tribal Tech and Chick Corea's Elektric Band".[24] Many of the
most well-known fusion artists were members of earlier jazz fusion groups, and some of the fusion
"giants" of the 1970s kept working in the genre.
Miles Davis continued his career after having a lengthy break in the late 1970s. He recorded and
performed fusion throughout the 1980s with new young musicians and continued to ignore criticism
from fans of his older mainstream jazz. While Davis' works of the 1980s remain controversial, his
recordings from that period have the respect of many fusion and other listeners. In 1985 Chick Corea
formed a new fusion band called the Chick Corea Elektric Band, featuring young musicians such as
drummer Dave Weckl and bassist John Patitucci, as well as guitarist Frank Gambale and
saxophonist Eric Marienthal.
Acid jazz, nu jazz and jazz rap[edit]
Acid jazz developed in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s, influenced by jazz-funk and electronic music.
Acid jazz often contains various types of electronic composition (sometimes including sampling or a live
DJ cutting and scratching), but it is just as likely to be played live by musicians, who often showcase
jazz interpretation as part of their performance. Jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers and Donald
Byrd are often credited as the forerunners of acid jazz.[27]
Nu jazz is influenced by jazz harmony and melodies, and there are usually no improvisational aspects.
It can be very experimental in nature and can vary widely in sound and concept. It ranges from the
combination of live instrumentation with the beats of jazz house (as exemplified by St
Germain, Jazzanova and Fila Brazillia) to more band-based improvised jazz with electronic elements
(for example The Cinematic Orchestra, Kobol and the Norwegian "future jazz" style pioneered
by Bugge Wesseltoft, Jaga Jazzist and Nils Petter Molvr).
Jazz rap developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and incorporates jazz influences into hip hop. In
1988, Gang Starr released the debut single "Words I Manifest", which sampled Dizzy Gillespie's 1962
"Night in Tunisia", and Stetsasonic released "Talkin' All That Jazz", which sampled Lonnie Liston Smith.
Gang Starr's debut LP No More Mr. Nice Guy (1989) and their 1990 track "Jazz Thing" sampled Charlie
Parker and Ramsey Lewis. The groups which made up the Native Tongues Posse tended towards jazzy
releases: these include the Jungle Brothers' debut Straight Out the Jungle (1988), and A Tribe Called
Quest's People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990) and The Low End Theory (1991).
Rap duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth incorporated jazz influences on their 1992 debut Mecca and the Soul
Brother. Rapper Guru's Jazzmatazz series began in 1993, using jazz musicians during the studio
recordings.
Though jazz rap had achieved little mainstream success, Miles Davis' final album Doo-Bop (released
posthumously in 1992) was based around hip hop beats and collaborations with producer Easy Mo
Bee. Davis' ex-bandmate Herbie Hancock also absorbed hip-hop influences in the mid-1990s, releasing
the album Dis Is Da Drum in 1994.
Punk jazz and jazzcore[edit]

John Zorn performing in 2006

The relaxation of orthodoxy which was concurrent with post-punk in London and New York City led to a
new appreciation of jazz. In London, the Pop Group began to mix free jazz and dub reggae into their
brand of punk rock.[28] In New York, No Wave took direct inspiration from both free jazz and punk.
Examples of this style include Lydia Lunch's Queen of Siam,[29] Gray, the work of James Chance and the
Contortions (who mixed soul music with free jazz and punk rock)[29] and the Lounge Lizards[29] (the first
group to call themselves "punk jazz)."
John Zorn took note of the emphasis on speed and dissonance that was becoming prevalent in punk
rock, and incorporated this into free jazz with the release of the Spy vs Spy album in 1986, a collection
of Ornette Coleman tunes done in the contemporary thrashcore style.[30] In the same year, Sonny
Sharrock, Peter Brtzmann, Bill Laswell and Ronald Shannon Jackson recorded the first album under
the name Last Exit (free jazz band), a similarly aggressive blend of thrash and free jazz.[31] These
developments are the origins of jazzcore, the fusion of free jazz with hardcore punk.
M-Base[edit]
Main article: M-Base

Steve Coleman in Paris, July 2004

M-Base (short for "macro-basic array of structured extemporization") centers around a movement
started in the 1980s. It was initially a loose collective of young African-American musicians in New York
which included Steve Coleman, Greg Osby and Gary Thomas developing a complex but
grooving[32] sound.
In the 1990s most M-Base participants turned to more conventional music, but Coleman, the most
active participant, continued developing his music in accordance with the M-Base concept. [33] Coleman's
audience decreased, but his music and concepts influenced many musicians, [34] both in terms of music
technique[35] and of the music's meaning.[36] Hence, M-Base changed from a movement of a loose
collective of young musicians to a kind of informal Coleman "school",[37] with a much advanced but
already originally implied concept.[38]Steve Coleman's music and M-Base concept gained recognition as
"next logical step" after Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman. [39]

1990s2000s[edit]
Joe Zawinul's fusion band, The Zawinul Syndicate, began adding more elements of world music during
the 1990s. One of the notable bands that became prominent in the early 1990s is Tribal Tech, led by
guitarist Scott Henderson and bassist Gary Willis. Henderson was a member of both Corea's and
Zawinul's ensembles in the late 1980s while putting together his own group. Tribal Tech's most common
lineup also includes keyboardist Scott Kinsey and drummer Kirk Covington; Willis and Kinsey have both
recorded solo fusion projects. Henderson has also been featured on fusion projects by drummer Steve
Smith of Vital Information which also include bassist Victor Wooten of the eclectic Bela Fleck and the
Flecktones, recording under the banner Vital Tech Tones.
Allan Holdsworth is a guitarist who performs in jazz, fusion, and rock styles. Other guitarists such
as Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen have praised his fusion playing. He often used
a SynthAxe guitar synthesizer in his recordings of the late 1980s, which he credits for expanding his
composing and playing options. Holdsworth has continued to release fusion recordings and tour
worldwide. Another former Soft Machine guitarist, Andy Summers of The Police, released several fusion
albums in the early 1990s.
Guitarists John Scofield and Bill Frisell have both made fusion recordings over the past two decades
while also exploring other musical styles. Scofield's Pick Hits Live and Still Warm are fusion examples,
while Frisell has maintained a unique approach in drawing heavy influences from traditional music of
the United States. Japanese fusion guitarist Kazumi Watanabe released numerous fusion albums
throughout the 1980s and 1990s, highlighted by his works such as Mobo Splash and Spice of Life.
Brett Garsed and T. J. Helmerich are also watched as prominent fusion guitar players, having released
several albums together since the beginning of the 1990s (Quid Pro Quo (1992), Exempt (1994), Under
the Lash of Gravity (1999), Uncle Moe's Space Ranch (2001), Moe's Town (2007)) and collaborating in
many other projects or releasing solo albums (Brett Garsed Big Sky) all them falling in the genre.
The saxophonist Bob Berg, who originally came to prominence as a member of Miles Davis's bands,
recorded a number of fusion albums with fellow Miles band member and guitarist Mike Stern. Stern
continues to play fusion regularly in New York City and worldwide. They often teamed with the world-
renowned drummer Dennis Chambers, who has also recorded his own fusion albums. Chambers is
also a member of CAB, led by bassist Bunny Brunel and featuring the guitar and keyboard of Tony
MacAlpine. CAB 2 garnered a Grammy nomination in 2002. MacAlpine has also served as guitarist of
the metal fusion group Planet X, featuring keyboardist Derek Sherinian and drummer Virgil Donati.
Another former member of Miles Davis's bands of the 1980s that has released a number of fusion
recordings is saxophonist Bill Evans, highlighted by 1992's Petite Blonde.
Fusion shred guitar player and session musician Greg Howe has released solo albums such
as Introspection (1993), Uncertain
Terms (1994), Parallax (1995), Five (1996), Ascend (1999), Hyperacuity (2000), Extraction (2003) with
electric bassist Victor Wooten and drummer Dennis Chambers, and Sound Proof (2008). Howe
combines elements of rock, blues and Latin music with jazz influences using a technical, yet melodic
guitar style. Ex-Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy formed the band Liquid Tension Experiment with
guitarist John Petrucci, keyboardist Jordan Rudess and bass guitarist Tony Levin. Their style blended
the complex rhythms of jazz fusion and progressive rock along with the heavy sound of progressive
metal.
Drummer Jack DeJohnette's Parallel Realities band featuring fellow Miles' alumni Dave
Holland and Herbie Hancock, along with Pat Metheny, recorded and toured in 1990, highlighted by a
DVD of a live performance at the Mellon Jazz Festival in Philadelphia. Jazz bassist Christian
McBride released two fusion recordings drawing from the jazz-funk idiom in Sci-Fi (2000) and Vertical
Vision (2003). Other significant recent fusion releases have come from keyboardist Mitchel Forman and
his band Metro, former Mahavishnu bassist Jonas Hellborg with the late guitar virtuoso Shawn Lane,
keyboardist Tom Coster, and Marbin with their unique blend of jazz, rock, blues, gospel, and Israeli folk
music.

Influence on rock music[edit]

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According to bassist/singer Randy Jackson, jazz fusion is an exceedingly difficult genre to play; "I
picked jazz fusion because I was trying to become the ultimate technical musician-able to play
anything. Jazz fusion to me is the hardest music to play. You have to be so proficient on your
instrument. Playing five tempos at the same time, for instance. I wanted to try the toughest music
because I knew if I could do that, I could do anything."[40]
Jazz-rock fusion's technically challenging guitar solos, bass solos and odd metered, syncopated
drumming started to be incorporated in the technically focused progressive metal genre in the early
1990s. Progressive rock, with its affinity for long solos, diverse influences, non-standard time
signatures and complex music had very similar musical values as jazz fusion. Some prominent
examples of progressive rock mixed with elements of fusion is the music of Gong, Ozric
Tentacles and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
The death metal band Atheist produced albums Unquestionable Presence in 1991 and Elements in
1993 containing heavily syncopated drumming, changing time signatures, instrumental parts, acoustic
interludes, and Latin rhythms. Meshuggah first attracted international attention with the 1995
release Destroy Erase Improve for its fusion of fast-tempo death metal, thrash metal and progressive
metal with jazz fusion elements. Cynic recorded a complex, unorthodox form of jazz-fusion-influenced
experimental death metal with their 1993 album Focus. In 1997, G.I.T. guitarist Jennifer Batten under
the name of Jennifer Batten's Tribal Rage: Momentum released Momentum an instrumental hybrid of
rock, fusion and exotic sounds. Mudvayne is heavily influenced by jazz, especially in bassist Ryan
Martinie's playing.[41][42] Puya frequently incorporates influences from American and Latin jazz music.[43]
Another, more cerebral, all-instrumental progressive jazz fusion-metal band Planet
X released Universe in 2000 with Tony MacAlpine, Derek Sherinian (ex-Dream Theater) and Virgil
Donati (who has played with Scott Henderson from Tribal Tech). The band blends fusion-style guitar
solos and syncopated odd-metered drumming with the heaviness of metal. Tech-prog-fusion metal
band Aghora formed in 1995 and released their first album, self-titled Aghora, recorded in 1999
with Sean Malone and Sean Reinert, both former members of Cynic. Gordian Knot, another Cynic-
linked experimental progressive metal band, released its debut album in 1999 which explored a range
of styles from jazz-fusion to metal. The Mars Volta is extremely influenced by jazz fusion, using
progressive, unexpected turns in the drum patterns and instrumental lines. The style of Uzbek prog
band Fromuz is described as "prog fusion". In lengthy instrumental jams, the band transitions from
fusion of rock and ambient world music to jazz and progressive hard rock tones. [44]

Influential recordings[edit]
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Albums from the late 1960s and early 1970s include Miles Davis' ambient-sounding In a Silent
Way (1969) and his rock-infused Bitches Brew (1970). Davis' A Tribute to Jack Johnson (1971) has
been cited as "the purest electric jazz record ever made" and "one of the most remarkable jazz-rock
discs of the era".[20][45] Davis's album On the Corner (1972), at the time of release one of his most reviled,
has since been viewed as having "set the precedent for a whole subspecies of DJ
culture." [46] Throughout the 1970s, Weather Report released albums ranging from its 1971 self-titled
disc Weather Report (1971) (which continued the style of Miles Davis album Bitches Brew) to
1979's 8:30. Chick Corea's Latin-oriented fusion band Return to Forever released influential albums
such as 1973's Light as a Feather. In that same year, Herbie Hancock's Head Hunters infused jazz-rock
fusion with a heavy dose of Sly and the Family Stone-style funk. Virtuoso performer-composers played
an important role in the 1970s. In 1976, fretless bassist Jaco Pastorius released Jaco Pastorius; electric
and double bass player Stanley Clarke released School Days; and keyboardist Chick Corea released
his Latin-infused My Spanish Heart, which received a five-star review from Down Beat magazine.
In the 1980s, Chick Corea produced well-regarded albums [according to whom?], including The Chick Corea
Elektric Band (1986), Light Years (1987), and Eye of the Beholder (1988). In the early 1990s, Tribal
Tech produced two albums, Tribal Tech (1991) and Reality Check (1995). Canadian bassist-
composer Alain Caron released his album Rhythm 'n Jazz in 1995. Mike Stern released Give and
Take in 1997.

Jazz fusion record labels[edit]

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Top 50 jazz fusion record labels

In the last 20 years there have been some important record labels which have specialized in jazz-fusion
as well as jazz. Some of them include ESC Records,[47] Tone Center on Shrapnel Records,[48] Favoured
Nations, AbstractLogix,[49] Heads Up International,[50] Mack Avenue Records,[51] and Buckyball Music.
[52]
Due to the small market for instrumental music such as jazz-fusion, artists often release music under
their own label or under subdivisions of larger record companies. Some examples include Chick
Corea/Ron Moss' [53] Stretch Records [54] under the Concord Music Group, Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen
(producer) Grusin/Rosen's GRP Records through Verve Music Group, Carl Filipiak's Geometric
Records,[55] Merck's Alex Merck Music GmbH,[56] Frank Gambale's Wombat Records,[57] Anders
Johansson/Jens Johansson's Heptagon Records [58] and Richard Hallebeek's Richie Rich Music [59] to
name a few. Other solo fusion artists release and promote their own music under their own names such
as Allen Hinds, Frans Vollink, Bernhard Lackner, Doug Johns and Geraldo Henrique Bulhes. [60]
According to Steven's Muschalik's analysis of his Burning Jazz-fusion playlist these are the top 50 jazz-
fusion labels from 1995-2015.