Re: Tone Wizard: what is fusion?
Butch Snyder said:
Fusion first came about really in the late 50's with Miles Davis. But, the Fusion we all know and love or loathe depending who you are, was done mainly in the 70's and 80's. It's really a mix of Rock and Jazz. Some notable artists are:
Chick Corea
Al DiMeola
Lenny White
Stanley Clark
Allan Holdsworth
Scott Henderson
Jean-Luc Ponty
Fusion ended up morphing into Smooth Jazz in the 90's. That's a short synopsis. Someone may come in and give a more detailed description.
Fusion didn't really come about til the late sixties. Miles set the standard for what became fusion with 'Bitches Brew' in 70 and its predecesor 'In a Silent Way' in 69 but that was much later in his career. In the 50's bop was where Miles was at. The band he had in the late 50's with Paul Chambers, Coltrane, Bill Evans, and Jimmy Cobb that did 'Kind of Blue' is unmatched with the possible exception of the later Miles groups with Tony Williams, Ron Carter, Chick Corea et al.
Fusion really picked up steam in the 70's with groups like McLaughlins' Mahavishu Orchestra, Chick Corea's Return to Forever and Weather Report with Jaco P. There were other. Fusion had its heydey in the seventies. If you are into guitar playing ahead of its time checkout the album Spectrum by Billy Cobham. You will hear a few familiar sounding licks from Tommy Bolin a decade before it was commonplace.
Modern day fusion is found by bands like Scott Henderson's Tribal Tech, Chick Corea's Electric Band, collaberations by Frank Gambale, Stu Hamm and Steve Smith and Scott Henderson, Steve Smith and Victor Wooten. Other artist in the area of fusion include John Scofield, John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, Al DiMeola and Frank Gambale solo material
I have a hard time accepting a link from fusion to smooth jazz as they are completely different animals but smooth jazz as a genre certainly was next in the progression no matter how vanilla it is.