Jazz fusion (sometimes referred to simply as fusion) is a musical genre that loosely encompasses the merging of jazz with other styles, particularly rock, funk, R&B, and world music. It basically involved jazz musicians mixing the forms and techniques of jazz with the electric instruments of rock, and rhythmic structure from African-American popular music, both "soul" and "rhythm and blues".

Fusion had its roots in the late 1960s work of Miles Davis and then Tony Williams Lifetime. Later developments in the 1970s established jazz artists such as Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, Larry Coryell , Weather Report, Jean-Luc Ponty and Jeremy Steig as a viable commercial influence. Bands using instruments such as electric guitar, bass guitar, and electric piano. Shortly, others began incorporating synthesizers such as the minimoog joining forces with more avant garde players who had also begun incorporating electronic sound in the wake of the "classical" avant garde.

At the same time, rock and African-American popular musicians had begun moving beyond the short "radio single" song format and incorporating elements of jazz-like extended instrumental improvisation. Michael Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield, both young white blues musicians, recorded extended versions of Adderley's "Work Song" and a modal improvisation, "East/West" as early as 1966-67; other groups, particlarly those based in San Francisco (Santana, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane) and in the U.K. (Cream, King Crimson, Pink Floyd) also performed, and eventually recorded, both extended improvisations on short song forms, and longer, multipart compositions.

Jazz artists, in the wake of developments in pop music, also began using the recording studio, with improved editing, multitrack recording, and electronic effects capability, as a adjunct to actual composition and improvisation. Davis' "In a Silent Way " and Bitches' Brew, (cornerstone recordings of the genre) for instance, feature "extended" (more than 20 minutes each) compositions which were never actually "played" straight through by the musicians in the studio; instead, musical motifs of various lengths were selected from recorded extended improvisations, and edited together into a musical whole which only exists in the recorded version.

Newer artists, such as Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul and Pat Metheny also became involved in the developing scene. Musical barriers broke down further (to the continued horror of jazz purists) as musicians who had first established themselves as rock artists such as Jeff Beck began to experiment with the fusion form.

While jazz fusion is sometimes lampooned as being pretentious and overcomplicated - not unlike its cousin, progressive rock (rock meets classical music) - it has helped to break down boundaries between different genres and led to developments such as acid jazz. For the most part the genre has been subsumed into other branches of jazz and rock, but some traces of the form remain.

Notable artists and albums

• Carla Bley: Escalator Over The Hill
• Chick Corea: Return to Forever
• Mahavishnu Orchestra: Birds of Fire, Inner Mounting Flame
• Miles Davis: Bitches Brew, In A Silent Way , Live At Filmore , Pangea , Tribute to Jack Johnson
• Censored page: Crossings , Head Hunters
• Allan Holdsworth: Secrets
• Manteca: Perfect Foot
• Pat Metheny Group: First Circle, Still Life (Talking) , We Live Here , Imaginary Day
• Return to Forever (Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Al Di Meola, Lenny White): Romantic Warrior
• Santana: Caravanserai, Welcome, Amigos
• The Shuffle Demons: Streetniks
• Skywalk : Silent Witness
• Soft Machine: Third
• Spyro Gyra: Morning Dance
• Jeremy Steig: Something Else
• Miroslav Vitous: Mountain in The Clouds also released as Infinite Search
• Tony Williams: Lifetime, Emergency!
• Uzeb: Noisy Nights
• Weather Report: Heavy Weather, I Sing The Body Electric
• Frank Zappa: Sleep Dirt
• Joe Zawinul: Zawinul

External links

• A History of Jazz-Rock Fusion http://liraproductions.com/jazzrock/htdocs/histhome.htm

Jazz | Jazz genres

Avant-jazz - Bebop - Dixieland - Calypso jazz - Cool jazz - Free jazz - Hard bop - Modal jazz - Jazz blues - Gypsy jazz - Chamber jazz - Milo jazz

Soul jazz - Swing jazz - Acid jazz - Jazz fusion - Jazz rap - Nu jazz - Latin jazz - Smooth jazz - Trad jazz - Mini-jazz - Creative jazz

Other topics

Musicians - Jazz standard - Jazz royalty