Fusion Jazz - what's it all about anyway?

Recently, one of my friends asked me for some decent fusion jazz songs to sample and understand what fusion jazz is all about. Here is my selection of the best fusion jazz tracks over the past few decades.

Note that there is a peak in fusion jazz in the 70’s which is interesting because it’s shortly after the discovery of fusion jazz in the late 60’s but by the time you get to the 80’s, most of the heavy fusion jazz artists are starting to explore other music genres and styles.

Another observation is the quality of the recordings - we often play a “Guess the Year” game on the Fusion Delusion and listening to the recording quality, particularly the muddiness of the drums in the 70’s, is often a tell-tale sign.

60’s

Miles Davis - John McLaughlin

70’s

Herbie Hancock - Actual Proof

Chick Corea - Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy

Billy Cobham - Red Baron

Jean-Luc Ponty - Enigmatic Ocean

80’s

Mike Stern - Chromazone

T-Square - Truth

UZEB - New Funk

90’s

Chick Corea Elektric Band - Charged Particles

Tribal Tech - Face First

00’s and beyond

CAB (CAB 4) - Hold On

Brad Mehldau & Mark Guiliana - Hungry Ghost

So that’s it. Hope you enjoyed the selection above of “fusion jazz classics”. Of course, there is a ton more music and many more artists that float in and out of the genre, which is what the Fusion Delusion show is all about. This wikipedia list is quite comprehensive:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_jazz_fusion_musicians

Oh and it really is quite an international ’thing’, with heaps of bands from the US but also the likes of T-Square and Casiopea from Japan, Azymuth from Brazil, Jeff Beck and Bill Bruford from the UK and our faviourites from here in Australia, Ayers Rock.

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