Jazz (fusion) is for ordinary people

A brief & woefully incomplete look at fusion's development and impact

Miles Davis at the Nice Jazz Festival, 1989 - Oliver Nurock ©

The Emergence of Jazz Fusion

The 1960s were a tumultuous time. From the Vietnam war and Civil Rights movement to the Cuban missle crisis and assassination of JFK jr., the U.S. went through many transformative sociological and political changes that inspired many cultural movements of the time, from spurring the emergence of Pop art and Minimalism to the growing dominance of new musical genres such as rock & roll and folk, as well as the waning popularity of jazz in the mainstream.

It was during this time that Miles Davis and many of his collaborators began branching out and creating experimental music, pushing beyond post-bop and avant garde and fusing sounds from Jazz tradition with bits from rock and funk. Often this included electric rock instrumentation paired with funk rhythms. These early experiments would prove to be the birth of the (cool) new fusion movement — one that would rapidly evolve and impact many genres of popular music through today.

One of Miles Davis’ earliest releases to capture the fusion ‘essence’ is ‘In a Silent Way.’ This highly experimental album features just two tracks, both freeform and lacking in any real melodic through-line, but both featuring ample solos and moments where the group locks in nicely.

The title track — and the entire B-side — spends the first four minutes in an almost meditative state before springing into a groove that continues until around the 16 minute mark when it reverts back to a reflective, dreamlike feel until the close. This “dark chaos” approach ended up influencing many early fusion releases.

As the budding genre caught on and spread into the 1970s, more and more artists began to explore where this new sound could take them. In 1973, Donald Byrd released the controversial but wildly successful album ‘Black Byrd’ on Blue Note Records, marking at the time the most successful album release for the label.

While the release was not well-received by jazz purists who labeled Byrd a ‘sellout’, his departure from Davis’ sound went in a much lighter, breezier, and approachable direction on this release. Black Byrd was hugely impactful, and even today when listening to tracks like ‘Where are we going?’ it’s easy to hear hints of contemporary soul, r&b and hip-hop. In fact, this album has been heavily sampled and covered in the decades since its release.

Herbie Hancock’s ‘Thrust’ — the follow-up album to the famed ‘Headhunters’ — featured heavy funk grooves but incorporated a much more synth heavy sound. Mike Clarke joined Herbie and crew on drums for this album and this single personnel change amps things up greatly.

On ‘Actual Proof,’ Clarke absolutely delivers with some of the most incredible jazz-funk drum playing of all time that makes it difficult to focus on much else. It’s this very track that gained Mike enormous notoriety and inspired generations of drummers. (Seriously - focus on the drums!)

By the mid-1970s jazz-fusion was in full swing, much to the dismay of jazz purists and academics. After spending a few years experimenting with these new sounds, artists like Johnny Hammond came into their own. ‘Gears’ is a culmination of Hammond’s previous experimentation on CTI and is a fantastic mashup of jazz, soul, funk and disco — a product of its time.

The album’s opener ‘Tell Me What To Do’ is a layered, funky, bass-driven groove that starts the album off on a strong note, while tracks like ‘Los Conquistadores Chocolates’ and ‘Fantasy’ both lean heavily into jazz, funk, and disco, even seeing play in disco clubs of the era — notably the famed Paradise Garage.

On the flipside, jazz-rock fusion played things out in an entirely different direction. Groups such as Weather Report pushed the limits of jazz — occasionally with great success. ‘Heavy Weather,’ released in 1977, was the group’s most commercially successful album and is considered a fusion classic.

‘Heavy Weather’ opens with the now-famous track ‘Birdland,’ which found great popularity in the mainstream at the time, while the track ‘Teen Town’ features Jaco Pastorius’ bass playing front-and-center in one of his greatest performances.

Both the jazz-rock and jazz-funk fusion styles would quickly spread internationally, inspiring further development of the genre that continued pushing forward and evolving into the 1980s and beyond.

Jazz Fusion In Japan

The genre caught on in a large way in Japan in the 1970s, inspiring some of the most essential and highly-praised fusion albums ever made, including albums like Hiroshi Suzuki’s legendary ‘Cat.’ While it has a cult following (largely due to extensive sampling), it is not without reason.

‘Romance,’ the album’s closing track, is probably the most well-known in the mainstream, but it’s near impossible to choose a best track from this album. ‘Kuro to Shiro’ starts with a fabulous bass line, funky percussion, and haunting synth work until around the 2:45 minute mark when Suzuki enters and lets loose. ‘Walk Tall’ has a super catchy melody almost bordering on TV jingle-esque, but still manages to be wonderfully funky.

Around the same time and in a similar vein, Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media released the incredible ‘Funky Stuff’ album, leaning heavily into jazz-funk and soul-jazz. Most tracks on the album are relatively laid back, with highlights such as ‘Breeze’ and ‘Scratch’ showcasing highly polished (and very well recorded and mastered) fusion tunes.

While the title track gets a little ‘grittier’ and leans almost fully funk, it’s directly followed by the gorgeous soul-jazz track ‘One for Jiro.’ An absolute delight of an album from start to finish.

In addition to the heavier and more funk/soul oriented fusion, artists like Masayoshi Takanaka fused jazz, rock, and funk to create mostly upbeat tracks, like those found on ‘An Insatiable High.’ The album even pulls some sounds from places like Brazil to create a unique sound — something he’d explore more in depth on his next album ‘Brasilian Skies.’

‘Sexy Dance’ opens the album in a wonderful way, showcasing Takanaka’s signature style with an upbeat, feel-good, funky melody.

Around the same time in the late 1970s, artists like Tatsuro Yamashita borrowed much of the jazz-fusion sound and added lyrics and polish to start the foundations of the city pop genre, which has seen a huge resurgence in popularity in recent years, especially due to recent ‘re-discovery’ the West. While I won’t go down the city pop rabbit hole today (though I highly recommend you do), songs like ‘Love Space’ from Yamashita’s ‘Spacy’ album showcase this overlap in styles quite well.

Moving forward into the 1980s, bands such as Casiopea brought jazz-rock & jazz-funk even further into the future with very heavy use of synthesizers. Perhaps their most well-known and beloved album is 1982’s ‘Mint Jams,’ an astounding live album from the group that showcases their extremely precise playing. I’ll admit that I listened to the album several times before discovering it was a live set recorded across two days, and still find it hard to believe! The opening track ‘Take Me’ is a funky start to the album and likely the band’s most known track. ‘Asayake’ follows with a solidly jazz-rock flavor. For me, the album’s closing track ‘Swear!’ is the highlight of the album, featuring some very interesting synth choices, catchy melody, and the unexpected break with audience engagement just ties it all together before a climactic ending.

Moving further up to 1987 saw the release of ‘Flying Beagle’ from Himiko Kikuchi, one of my personal favorites. While it can at times push into smooth jazz territory, it’s solidly fusion with an almost cinematic compositional touch. The heavy use of syths (similar to Casiopea) is indicative of what the fusion genre was doing during that time (granted, so was most popular music). One of my favorites from the album is the track ‘A Seagull and Clouds,’ a sweeping and relaxed tune that quite literally brings flying to mind.

Contemporary Fusion

Fast forward to today and the genre is still alive and well, forging new ground and incorporating new sounds, expanding beyond the ‘traditional’ definition of the movement with things such as hip-hop, dance/house, neo-soul, classical, and even traditional folk music, to serve as an important experimental bridge exchanging sounds and ideas outside of restraints of genre.

Groups such as BADBADNOTGOOD meld sounds from jazz, indie rock, and hip-hop, resulting in an interesting new sound that can border on psychadellic at times, such as the track ‘Speaking Gently’ on their album IV. While ‘Time Moves Slow’ gained viral popularity due to a sped up re-work that was all over social media, tracks like ‘In Your Eyes’ head in a little more soul-funk direction. However, the album’s title track ‘IV’ shows off their jazz chops.

Australia’s Mildlife mix jazz, psychadellic, electronic, and bits and pieces from various other sources. Their album ‘Live from South Channel Island’ showcases their deep library of references. Tracks like ‘Citations’ are reminiscent of the great Jun Fukamachi in the extended three minute long intro, ‘Rare Air’ looks back to some of the earlier jazz-rock groups with clear stylistic connections, and ‘Im Blau’ leans heavier into darker, funkier fusion.

KOKOROKO, a London-based group, fuses jazz and afrobeat, creating lush soundscapes that transport you across the globe. Their 2022 album ‘Could We Be More’ alternates between fast-faced, horn forward tracks like ‘Tojo’ and softer, pared back breaks, such as on ‘Home.’ My favorite track from the album, ‘Age of Ascent’ is a smooth middle ground, beautifully melding the two styles together in a way that demonstrates that these two distinct music styles can mix without both losing their individual character.

Don Glori’s ‘Welcome,’ is a powerhouse of a debut from the emerging artist, mixing jazz, funk, soul, and Brazilian styles into another perspective on world fusion that sits on the edge of laid back fusion and low-key dance. The opener ‘Maiden Waters’ is a clear nod to Herbie Hancock’s ‘Maiden Voyage,’ and a hell of an opener. Most of the album skews laid back and groovy, with ‘Commodore’ and ‘The Wire’ exemplifying this, but ‘Dlareme’ stands out midway into the album as a beat driven track that feels like a celebration.

From perhaps one of the most electrifying jazz drummers on the scene today, Yussef Dayes’ ‘Black Classical Music’ blends jazz, hip-hop, funk, and even some afrobeat to create an incredible listening experience that somehow remains cohesive despite juggling a huge amount of ideas and styles.

Further, fusing jazz and house music, artists such as Dublon and Berlioz are pushing fusion into a mellow dance space, with some occasional nods to the acid jazz movement. Berlioz’s EP ‘Jazz is for Ordinary People’ features five tracks that beautifully mix mellow house beats with jazz sensibilities, with tracks like ‘Deep In It’ and ‘Wash My Sins Away’ demonstrating this well.

As more artists emerge in the fusion space and the ‘genre’ continues to evolve and push into the mainstream, it is increasingly clear that these artists often stand at the forefront of music evolution, crafting sounds that will shape contemporary genres and movements well into the future.

While it may be difficult to look back and draw a through-line from the experimental beginnings of fusion to contemporary releases today, each new generation of fusion is led by and incorporates the music of its time, building on innovations and bridging gaps that continue to inspire across the genre spectrum.

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Question: What are some of your favorite fusion albums, and why do they resonate with you?