Transcript Chapter 3

Chapter 13
Jazz/Rock
Fusion
Early Jazz Rock
• The term fusion became associated with the
jazz/rock crossover in the 1960s
• Miles Davis proved to be the central figure
in the movement
– Who’s who of fusion players were part of
Miles’s groups from this period
• Use of electronic instruments and intense
rhythmic drive was typical
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Rhythm section developments
• Straight eighth note feel is often used
• Electric bass guitar replaces acoustic bass
– Could play faster and use effects
• Time keeping responsibilities move from cymbals
to bass and snare drum
• Guitar comps as piano
• Multiple electronic keyboards provide new and
interesting textures
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Miles Davis: Bitches Brew
• Rhythm section is central as in rock
– 3 drummers, 3 keyboard players, 2 bassists, and
one guitar
• Horn players sometimes used in support
role
• Slow, modal harmonies
• Collectively improvised
Listen to “Bitches Brew” CD 2, track 9
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1970s Fusion
• New groups spawned from Davis’s groups
– Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return
to Forever
• Some preferred tighter compositional
approach
• Melodic angularity
• Highlighted individual virtuosity
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John McLaughlin
(b. 1942)
• Began as British rock guitarist
• Joined bands with Tony Williams and Miles
in 1969
• Founded Mahavishnu Orchestra and
recorded several high energy albums
• Also a master of acoustic guitar
• Contributed the sound of rock to the jazz
idiom
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Chick Corea
(b. 1941)
• Return to Forever most prominent and
popular fusion band of the 1970s and 80s
• Virtuoso pianist and keyboard player
• Blends many styles
– Latin, mainstream, rock, classical, even free
• Multi-Grammy winner
• Angular but accessible melodies
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Chick Corea
-continued• Forays into more
commercial music
• Music attempts to
capture a live
spontaneous sound
Listen to “Stretch It,
Part 1” CD 2, track 10
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Weather Report
• Founded by ex-Davis sidemen
– Joe Zawinul
(1932-2007), keyboards
– Wayne Shorter
– (b. 1933), saxophones
• Thematically complex
rhythmic style
• The album “Heavy
Weather” was a beacon of 1970s fusion
Listen to “Birdland” CD 2, track 11
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Others
• Michael Brecker (1945-2007) saxophone and
wind synthesist
– Diverse career from r&b and jazz rock, to mainstream
and free
– Epitomized the Coltrane technical legacy
• David Sanborn (b. 1945)
– Strong r&b influence
– Widely imitated pop alto sax sound
Listen to Brecker on “Itsbynne Reel” CD 2, track 13
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Others
-continued• Pat Metheny (b. 1954)
– Eclectic jazz guitar
– Collaborated with players
from many genres
• Spyro-Gyra, Yellowjackets
– Popular jazz/rock Latin fusion
Metheny
– Less complex than groups like Weather Reoprt
Listen to “Out of Town” CD 3, track 5
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Quincy Jones
(b. 1933)
• At the forefront of
jazz/pop, fusion
• Also performed and
wrote for Basie, Ray
Charles, Frank Sanatra,
• Multi Grammy winning
producer
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Herbie Hancock
(b. 1940)
• Diverse career from hard bop
with Miles in the early 1960s,
to breaker music in the mid80s and beyond
• Multi-Grammy winner
• Outstanding keyboard/pianist
and composer
• 1970s group Headhunters
and the tune “Chameleon”
were well known
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Jazz/Pop
• Some musicians have sought to blur the
lines in order to garner commercial
acceptance
• Popular crossover artists have included
guitarist George Benson, trumpeter Chuck
Mangione, Herbie Hancock, and Joe
Zawinul
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Latin Jazz Fusion
• Latin percussionists have been featured in
some mainstream groups since the 1940s
• Role became more prominent since the 70s
fusion movement
• Irakere, Eddie Palmieri and others have
fostered a return to a more authentic AfroCuban style - salsa
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Jazz in Rock
• Early rock shared some basic tendencies
with jazz i.e. blues forms
• 1960s horn bands (Blood, Sweat and Tears,
Chicago) began to consciously include jazz
and classical idioms
• Other artists e.g. Sting, also began to import
top jazz players into the rock medium
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Jam Bands
• Other groups attempted to borrow the
concept of extended improvisation over
rhythmic patterns
– Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead, Cream etc.
• The similarity to jazz may end there
• Though not from the jazz tradition, such
bands have obvious respect for the jazz
tradition
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