Fusion

Jazz music community with review and forums

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)

fusion top albums

Showing only albums and live's | Based on members ratings & JMA custom algorithm | 24 hours caching

MILES DAVIS In a Silent Way Album Cover In a Silent Way
MILES DAVIS
4.67 | 114 ratings
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MILES DAVIS Bitches Brew Album Cover Bitches Brew
MILES DAVIS
4.58 | 102 ratings
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MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA The Inner Mounting Flame Album Cover The Inner Mounting Flame
MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA
4.57 | 80 ratings
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HERBIE HANCOCK Crossings Album Cover Crossings
HERBIE HANCOCK
4.56 | 62 ratings
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MILES DAVIS Live at the Fillmore East (March 7, 1970): It's About That Time Album Cover Live at the Fillmore East (March 7, 1970): It's About That Time
MILES DAVIS
4.71 | 12 ratings
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MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA Birds of Fire Album Cover Birds of Fire
MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA
4.49 | 82 ratings
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MILES DAVIS Dark Magus: Live at Carnegie Hall Album Cover Dark Magus: Live at Carnegie Hall
MILES DAVIS
4.54 | 30 ratings
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EDDIE HENDERSON Realization Album Cover Realization
EDDIE HENDERSON
4.57 | 17 ratings
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MILES DAVIS Big Fun Album Cover Big Fun
MILES DAVIS
4.49 | 35 ratings
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MILES DAVIS Pangaea Album Cover Pangaea
MILES DAVIS
4.49 | 28 ratings
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PAT METHENY Pat Metheny Group : The Way Up Album Cover Pat Metheny Group : The Way Up
PAT METHENY
4.46 | 30 ratings
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LES MCCANN Invitation to Openness Album Cover Invitation to Openness
LES MCCANN
4.58 | 11 ratings
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This list is in progress since the site is new. We invite all logged in members to use the "quick rating" widget (stars bellow album covers) or post full reviews to increase the weight of your rating in the global average value (see FAQ for more details). Enjoy JMA!

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fusion Music Reviews

DEWAYNE PATE On The Upside

Album · 2023 · Fusion
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js
It is interesting to note how many busy session musicians and sidemen finally had time to record a long awaited album as a leader during the pandemic lockdowns. Bassist Dewayne Pate is one of those artists, and his new album, “On the Upside”, is his first album as a leader in fourteen long years, but it has been well worth the wait because this is a star studded opus with dynamic production and hot performances to boot. Dewayne usually spends his time as a first call session and tour guy and has worked with Arturo Sandoval, Huey Lewis, Boz Scaggs, Tower of Power, Robben Ford and many more. In his session work he bumps shoulders with top names in the music world, so it was not hard for him to make some calls and bring on some real heavies for this album.

Overall one could call this a fusion album, but it is very eclectic with detours into Latin Jazz, blues, funk and vocal ballads. Album opener “4 the 5 of it” is in 5/4 time of course and carries a Weather Report resemblance, especially in the very Wayne Shorter sounding soprano sax work of Norbert Stachal. “Blues Ala Monmouth” is swinging bluesy horn section driven and soaked in Hammond B3 soul jazz with the king of jazz-blues, Robben Ford, leading the way on guitar. “People Get Ready” has been recorded many times, but Dewayne’s upbeat version with only himself on bass and Amikaeyla Gaston on vocals and Karl Perazzo on percussion is far less heavy-handed than most versions that you may have heard before. “Ellen” is a guitar instrumental ballad that has Stef Burns channeling Jeff Beck during the melody, but leaning more towards Carlos Santana during the ride out soloing. But wait, there’s more, so much more that we won’t cover it all here, but it is worth mentioning that Dennis Chambers shows up on two tracks to deliver his outstanding drum chops. Finally, the production on here is excellent. it’s a big bright full spectrum digital sound which can sound great on albums like this that lean in an electronic direction.

DAVE HOLLAND Prism

Album · 2013 · Fusion
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Steve Wyzard
FUSION!

When I first reviewed Prism for another site 10 years ago, I will admit I kind of pooh-poohed it. It's not really a fusion album, I insisted. There are no organs, exotic substances, inner enlightenment, or sci-fi crossovers. I'd like to now walk this view back and own up, after listening to it for the last 10 years, to the fact that yes, it is a real fusion album. It should also be noted that unlike many Dave Holland albums, there are also no brass/horns, and it's not a big band album. So allow me to make myself clear: Prism is not only an honest-to-goodness fusion album, but it's also one of the very best jazz records of the 2010s decade.

Holland's cohorts on this album are Craig Taborn, piano and Fender Rhodes, Kevin Eubanks, guitars, and Eric Harland on drums. Do you enjoy frantically driven, intense soloing? You've come to the right place, for Prism provides bushels and bushels of it over its 70:07 runtime. I say this as someone who believes that very few studio albums merit a runtime of longer than 60-65 minutes, but in this case it's absolutely justified.

Wait until you hear Eubanks's twisted, distorted lines on "The Watcher", the Leslie-cabinet effect on "Choir", the Gibson hollow-body tone on the spooky "The Color of Iris", and the Wah-Wah pedal on "Breathe". His solo at the end of "A New Day" brings Wes Montgomery into the 21st century. More than just a non-stop soloist, he often doubles the melody lines with Taborn. Eric Harland is quite simply amazing, especially in a rimshot showpiece at the end of "Evolution". Taborn is the "most free" of this incomparable quartet: the quirky stops and starts of "Spirals" and the stunning piano solo on "The True Meaning of Determination" are beyond awe-inspiring.

And what of Holland himself? As always, he's the bedrock beneath the terra firma. His all-too-rare solos sound so effortless that they almost defer attention. In spite of throwing jabs like a heavyweight champ, the listener can almost take his lines for granted, so cohesively do they mesh into the musical fabric. And while no one would compare Prism to 1978's all-solo Emerald Tears, his dexterity, innovation, and virtuosity have not suffered after almost 50 years of recorded performances.

So yes, this is a fusion album, and if you haven't heard this yet, I strongly urge you to rectify that situation. Even at this late date, Prism deserves to be mentioned among the all-time greats of the genre.

WAYNE SHORTER Phantom Navigator

Album · 1987 · Fusion
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Mssr_Renard
Elektrik Band of Chick Corea.

At least there is some tempo in the music, so it doesn't fall in the category I call Fuzak, like Spyro Gyro and Yellowjackets.

The production is loud and it all sounds very distant. There are electronic drums, programmed drums, synths, sequencers all over the place, drowning the sparse saxophone-moments. I cannot say that this album is essential Wayne Shorter-stuff.

I like my jazzrock and fusion, but not this way. The band sounds like Rush or Yes these days. The eighties were a difficult time for jazz-musicians. And although there was a bop-revival (Hubbard, Shaw, Marsalis) some artists jumped on the electric fusion-train and this one is electric fusion at its loudest.

ANGELO MASTRONARDI Rough Line

Album · 2019 · Fusion
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Straight11travis
Angelo Mastronardi is a multiform character: artist and producer, publisher and composer. The multifaceted personality of the pianist is sometimes substantiated in a range of styles that embraces classical and contemporary jazz, passing through some element of rock and soul, other times is immersed in a melting-pot sound reading some concepts of Steve Coleman M-Base. His classic background is evident on his touch on acoustic piano. But what is most striking is his ability to combine technical precision and ghost notes to serve a rather complex rhythmic vision. Angelo Mastronardi’s third band-leader album, «Rough Line», released in 2020, reveals to us without hesitation how the pianist knows how to look forward, without ever losing touch with the mirror that links him to tradition. Particularly interesting "All in My Hands" for its rhythmic solutions and the sophisticated use of electric piano and synths. On the post-bop side, great proof of improvisational language in his song "Follow Me" and in the burning version of "Oleo" by Sonny Rollins. "Everything I Need" and "Away From The Scene" are perfect examples of fusion of contemporary jazz, hip-hop and bold harmonic language. Great rehearsals in these tracks are not only the solos of Mastronardi but also the solo of Rogers Anning on "Everything I Need" and the rhythmic grooves of the drummer Melo Miceli, full of displacements and personal sounds on drum set. The album ends with "Even If", a track with a floating time on even 8th and a very intellectual melodic profile in which the trio shows great interplay and a rhythmic approach oriented to risk.

MARK ORTWEIN It Was Time

Album · 2022 · Fusion
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js
Woodwinds performer Mark Ortwein has been working with top names in the music business for over 30 years and had wanted to record an album as a leader for some time, but it was not until the covid pandemic hit that Mark was able to concentrate on his own music. It was finally time for Ortwein to make his move, and the end result is the album, “It was Time”. This is an eclectic offering that loosely falls into the fusion heading, but don’t expect 70s style shred fest battles amongst the instrumentalists, no, thankfully this album is more musical than that. Some of the styles that Mark and his crew hit on here include, Latin jazz, moody ballads, hard rock, post bop and more. There is a long list of guest musicians on here, but one that will get your attention for sure is guitarist John Fell. John’s aggressive and gnarly fret work is the spice that keeps these tunes from becoming too predictable. Fell can play that Barney Kessell style extra grit hard bop, as well as a rockin Jeff Beck fusion, but he also sometimes gets into a Sonny Sharrock type barrage of sliding note clusters. Fell came to play and he does not compromise.

Looking at some of the best tracks, “Pepperoni Grande Con Queso Mas” is high energy Afro-Cuban jazz with a great jaggedy piano solo from Pavel Polanco-Safadit. Ortwein‘s funky electric Bassoon sounds excellent on this one, probably one of the more successful uses of Bassoon in the world of jazz. “Lunar Love” starts as a ballad but becomes quite intense and dissonant once the soloists enter. Classic standard, “After You’ve Gone”, is given a relaxed hip-hop beat as Kenny Rampton from the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra provides that old school trumpet solo that those Lincoln Center guys are best at. “Basso Bossa” starts as a bossa nova, but quickly shifts into one of those Allman Brothers style freight train chuggin rock jams. On the album’s closing track, Mark lets his son, Olas, double track himself on guitar, bass and keyboards while he builds a massive riff that recalls early Black Sabbath. “It was Time” is a fun album, lots of energy and great playing from an all-star cast.

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WEATHER REPORT Live in Germany 1971

Movie · 2010 · Fusion
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Sean Trane
Well if the world still has to find some live recording from the very first studio all-star line-up (not likely, though), at least we've got now something very close to and we can even see the quintet at work with this just-as-famous version in the form of a German TV show called the Beat Club. With only Airto Moreira gone, replaced by Brazilian countryman Um Romao, the other four being Vitous, Shorter, Mouzon and Zawinul, Weather Report embarked on this TV show adventure not knowing that Alphonse Mouzon would leave the band in a while.

As you'd expect this broadcast consisted mainly of tracks from the debut album, but some are fairly different as WR always made improvisation their force. So you'll recognize 'Umbrellas generic structure, but drafted fairly differently, not just because of Romao's constant change of percussions instruments - he's one of the visual focus of the group, who otherwise remains fairly static and even blows a flute (and later some whistles) for a short while. One of the big difference between the studio album and this broadcast is that Miroslav has taken up the electric bass (his contrabass is still very present but mainly played with a bow), thus allowing even more energy to invade the quintet's shared space. The group's steaming-hot improvised fusion is simply awesome and flows naturally from your speakers like a river of fresh lave spewing out from your volcanic woofers.

Clearly the gravitational centre of the band is Zawinul's Rhodes, but it is clear that it is the group's tightness its main force. Morning Lake is much needed breathing space, starting out slowly with Shorter's sax signalling the dawn for Romao's birdsongs. Just past that Dom pulls an Brazilian berimbau . Drummer Alphonse sings funkilly (rather well, too) a rare sung track in the closing medley, but it's will veer into the Dr Honoris Causa - later on the Body Electric album.

A while later, Mouzon would leave the band and be replaced by drummer Erik Gravatt and this line-up would go on to record Body Electric and the Tokyo concert (released in 77, but part of it in the ISTBE album) and in the process become the definitive line-up of the Vitous- era Weather Report But for now, this German TV broadcast is an inestimable witness of the group's almost original line-up, and is just as essential as their debut album, the Tokyo concert or Body Electric.Too bad it's relatively short, though. Run for this baby...

DIXIE DREGS Live At The Montreaux Jazz Festival

Movie · 2005 · Fusion
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Slartibartfast
This was the Dixie Dregs lineup that I first come to know live and otherwise. The Montreaux Jazz Festival performance was used for side two of the LP Night of the Living Dregs. I had no idea the concert was filmed. This represents the band at their prime. Keyboardist Mark Parrish, would soon be replaced by T Lavitz, who is a better keyboard player, but this as this performance testifies, he was no slouch either. Oddly enough, the back cover of this DVD shows a band picture with the original keyboardist from Freefall, Steve Davidowski (guess there was only room for one Steve in this band). Steve Morse was at his most inspired around this time, even though he has certainly grown in skill over the years.

The set list is a little disappointing as it lacks some of the prime cuts from What If (Night Meets Light, Odyssey, Travel Tunes, What If), but I'm not complaining. Now I have something more than just memories of the many Dregs shows I saw back then. It is more of a forward looking set which includes Attila The Hun, that didn't show up on an album until three years later. Also of note, but of less interest to progressive rock fans, is the bluegrass style ditty, Kathreen, never released on a regular album, but only showed up on their demo album, The Great Spectacular, from 1975. If you have a copy of that album, you have something rare, indeed.

Thrown in for bonus are two live TV appearances, one on American Can'tstand (Bandstand) and one on Don Kirschner's Rock Concert. On the former, you get to see them both try out a vocalist, in an attempt to appeal to a more mainstream audience, and with Mark O'Connor, who only played with them for one album, but a few great live shows before the band disbanded for a few years.

As great as the band studio albums were, the live shows took things to an even higher level. Now you can see what you missed, unless you didn't.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN Abstract Logix Live! / The New Universe Music Festival 2010

Movie · 2011 · Fusion
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js
Abstract Logix’s New Universe Festival of 2010 was probably one of the more significant fusion concerts in recent history, and it is all captured in excellent form on this concert video. Many of the top names in current fusion are here and what a great varied and colorful approach they all bring to this music that will always be associated with its 70s roots. Ranjit Barot fuses fusion with Indian flavors and orchestral music, Human Element bring back the beautiful noise and chaos that has been absent since the early days of jazz-rock, Wayne Krantz takes on the modern NYC flavor with his harsh jarring free funk, Jimmy Herring plays sentimental, sometimes delicate, progressive rock flavored fusion, and of course the great John McLaughlin rounds it all up with high speed post bop mixed with funk and contemporary fusion. Every single performance is top notch and very convincing in letting us know that there is still plenty of life left in this sometimes maligned genre.

The music on here is great, but the video itself is even better. Its amazing how far concert videos have come over the years. This one is clear as a bell and features lots of accurate close-ups of the musicians as they display their virtuoso skills. They say that fusion is a musician’s music, if that is the case, then this video is a great learning tool for the aspiring player. Much of the footage on here goes right to the source and features the musician’s hands as they work their scales and fret boards. Any aspiring fusionist can pick up a lifetime of high speed licks and extended technique by studying this video and even stop-starting it it frame by frame. Long gone are the days of vague camera angles from way far away and pointless shots of musicians grimacing while they play, this video is all about accuracy and showing you exactly how this music goes down. This is a spirited and enthusiastic concert and highly recommended for fans of modern fusion.

MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA Live At Montreux 74/84

Movie · 2007 · Fusion
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Slartibartfast
The 1984 appearance of the MO was a lineup that didn't have any of the previous MO lineup of musicians except for John. Still there was a pretty impressive roster. Jonas Hellborg, on bass, steals the show. I suspect he's been rather influenced by Jaco at this point. Also, we also have Bill Evans, fairly fresh out of his stint saxing with Miles Davis. There's also a fine drummer, Danny Gottlieb, who'd played with Pat Metheny prior. Don't know much about Mitchell Forman. With John experimenting with the Synclavier Guitar so much, the keyboards are almost redundant in this ensemble. I had a hard time sitting through this at first. It definitely has that '80's taint, if you know what I mean. But I've warmed up to it. It's a bit like an attempt to return to the magic of the original lineup that doesn't quite get there. Still, if you judge it in the context of the time, it's not too bad.

I got this for one reason and one reason only, it was the two video bits from the Apocalypse lineup of Mahavishu Orchestra. Actually calling them bits isn't quite accurate. Wings of Karma and Hymn to Him are actually decently long pieces. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had some actual orchestra musicians with them there at Montreaux. The first inkling I got that there was some live footage from this MO lineup was a poor quality video of Smile of the Beyond on a certain video clip web site many of us know of. It's very disappointing that we only get two clips from the show with video and the rest are audio only. I'm guessing the rest of the original footage has been lost. One can only hope that it will resurface. The performance is a bit more structured than the more compact MO's could be live, but that's to be expected due to the larger number of musician's involved. Still the core band does get to work in some improvisation, McLaughlin in particular.

This release is all in all a pleasant surprise for 2007, but there's more video out there from the older Mahavishu Orchestras, and I hope to see that material surface soon. It gets a four on the round up.

JEFF BECK Performing This Week...Live At Ronnie Scott's

Movie · 2008 · Fusion
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Slartibartfast
Holy crap, there's a new Jeff Beck live DVD out there!.

...I thought as I saw this at the record store. This is why it's important to keep those local independent brick and mortar record stores open: you'll never know what you'll find browsing.

As near as I've been able to find out, Jeff Beck (THE Beck, not that other guy) hadn't been touring in a long time, but rather was sticking to special performances. To make up for it, sort of, he did a week's worth of shows at London's Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in late November 2007. I've never been there, but it looks a little large as some jazz clubs go but still reasonably intimate. I'm pretty sure you don't need binoculars to observe any performances there.

Jeff has assembled an interesting set of musicians, the oldest being Jeff himself (b. 1944), Vinnie Colaiuta (1956) on drums, Jason Rebello (1969) on keys, and Tal Wilkenfeld (1986) on bass. Vinnie I know best from association with Zappa, Jason's new to me but I found out has worked with Sting, Tal (new to the music scene) hails from Australia and judging from her performance she is someone to really keep your eye on. Guests appearances by Joss Stone, Imogen Heap, and Eric Clapton, heyyy.

The set list, not really the proper term as it must have been culled from all the shows, is an impressive collection of material spanning Jeff's career so far. Original stuff includes Beck's Bolero {is this not actually a cover?}, Led Boots, Scatterbrain, Angel, Blast From The East, Rollin' And Tumblin'. Also some nice covers thrown in for good measure including Eternity's Breath!, Cause We've Ended As Lovers {never really seemed like a cover to me}, People Get Ready, A Day In The Life, You Need Love). You also get some interviews as bonus material and the DVD booklet is a nice read. 21 tracks altogether, mixed in Dolby 5.1 and DTS surround sounds with a 16:9 video format, I might add.

Wish I was there but this is the next best thing. It's one hell of a way to experience one hell of a guitarist. It's a live assortment, but due the quality and quantity I am rounding this one up.

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