rock/jazz fusion


i ran across a group called "Jazz is Dead"; Jimmy Herring, T Lavitz, Billy Cobham who did instrumental versions of some G.Dead stuff. I loved it. It reminds me of old Jeff Beck; "Wired", "Blow by Blow", I wish I had more of the style. The recent Jeff Beck was way too techno/alternative, lacked the soulfullness of his older stuff. Any suggestions?
joeb
joeb
Please don't leave out Return to Forever(the original)and Weather Report- Mysterious Traveler(and others). Also, some others are, Larry Coryell(sp?), Billy Cobham. George Duke, McCoy Tynner (Extensions)(Fly with the Wind),Joe Ferrell Quartet (the original). Enjoy.
Well then don't take this list over to www.allmusic.com and start hot-linking from these groups to related groups - your budget will never recover! On the other hand, for questions like this one, that site will give you more ideas than you can ever afford. -kirk
and to you I say, thanks again for "mo music!", I'd say trying to keep up with this list will just about tap out my budget for awhile, unless I skip the rent...
joeb
I've got a few for you here:
Solution - Cordon Bleu
Sea Level - Sea Level
Dixie Dregs - Dregs of the Earth
David Sancious & Tone - Transformation & the speed of love
Edgar Froese - Ypsilon in Malaysian Pale
Weather Report - Heavy Weather
Brand X - Livestock
Jean Luc Ponty - Cosmic Messenger
Gentle Giant - In a Glass House
Two other groups that I should have mentioned in my original post:
1. Tony Williams group, Lifetime, from the late 1960's;
2. The Jeff Lorber Fusion.
Fantastic! Best damn thread I've heard in a long time. Now I have some stuff to get. Thanks to all of you. I used to own some of this stuff on vinyl: billy Cobham "spectrum", and Mahavishnu "birds of fire", Romantic Warrior. loved them. I probably will replace them with cd. I am a big Santana fan on some of his stuff. Am loooking forward to checking out all your recomendations.
good listening
joeb
Did you try Jeff Beck's Wired? "There and Back" is not bad either. I second the Mahavishnu recordings, but include "Between Nothingness & Eternity" and "Visions of the Emerald Beyond". If it's guitar based fusion, check out Return to Forever's "Romantic Warrior" with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Al DiMeola. Also a lot of early DiMeola before he went "World Symphony". One of the above posts mentions Govt. Mule, and they have received several good writeups in Stereophile, but after purchasing a couple of their cds I just can't get into them like Jeff Beck, DiMeola, or Mclaughlin. Larry Coryell is too laid back for my tastes also. For some really innovative live albums check out some of Frank Zappa's "You can't do that on Stage anymore" series, especially vol 2. Zappa had a lot of good music interspersed in his bizarre career, and he was a very underrated guitar player.
Buckethead smokes on alot of stuff (Transmutation is one of the best) Jonas Hellborg Octave of the Holy Innocents,is spiff too. I guess Buckethead toured w/ Buns & Hoses, but The Cure? What record is he on? The Jazz is dead stuff is tired old rehashed poop. The musicians on it(mostly greats) are not stretching themselves at all. If you wanna hear what Jeff Beck might be into if he'd have kept growing check out:
Gambale/Hamm/Smith- 1st
Larry Coryell- Cause and Effect
T.J. Kirk- 1st
Gateway- 1st
Greg Howe- Introspection
Richie Kotzen- Electric Joy
Guru Guru- Dance of the Flames
Embryo- Rocksession
Kraan- Live 74
Bozzio/Levin/Stevens- Blacklight Syndrome
Miles Davis- Agharta
Polytown- Polytown
Harriet Tubman- Prototype
Attention Deficit- (either one)
Soft Machine- Softs
Tony Williams- Believe It
Allan Holdsworth- Velvet Darkness
Left out tons of excellent recordings, hope of this works for you.
For a recent release, you could try Time Crunch by the group Niacin. They have a cover of one of those old Jeff Beck songs (Blue Wind). -Kirk
Well, I must admit that I have not heard the "Jazz is Dead" CD you mention, although I think it's title is inaccurate. I'd also question whether this group is really a "fusion" jazz band in the sense normally understood by jazz fans. If you want to check out the "roots" of fusion jazz, here are some recordings you try:
1. Miles Davis: either "In a Silent Way" or "Bitches Brew" (already mentioned above) from the late 1960's, or "Live-Evil", "Black Beauty", and Agharta" from the late 1970's and 1980's.
2. Weather Report (arguably the pre-eminent fusion band of the 1970's, led by Joe Zawinul, with Wayne Shorter and Jaco Pastorius): either "Heavy Weather" or "8:30" (a live concert recording).
3. John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra: "Inner Mounting Flame", or "Birds of Fire".
4. Herbie Hancock: "Sextant", "Mwandishi", and "Crossings".
5. Recordings from the 1970's by Larry Coryell and Pat Metheny.
6. Billy Cobham also led his own group in the late 1970's, and released an album or two (sorry, can't think of the names).
The Jazz is Dead CD's are great.You might also enjoy Col.Bruce Hampton and The Aquarium Rescue Unit[Jimmy Herring again].Also Double cd Phil Lesh and friends for Dead stuff jammed out.Jimmy Herring and Warren Hayes tour with Phil a lot which brings us to Gov't Mule that covers some Coltrane and other jazz stuff on some earlier cd's.Double live one for example.Allman's freely borrowed Coltrane licks[Dicky note for note in mid slow, down and dirty part of W Post!] on the Filmore East album.Elizbeth Reed on same lp influnced heavily by the Miles Kind of Blue.Enjoy !
I've got one more
PRAXIS - "Transmutation" is a mix if industrial, jazz, funk and punk alltogether featuring famous funk-bassist Bill Laswel, Buckethead(from cure) and Brain -- that's where the jazz rests literally.
Although I would almost be tempted to veto a recording titled "Jazz Is Dead" on principle, I must admit I also enjoyed it. I second the John Scofield recommendations; and if you like T. Lavitz's work, check some of The Dixie Dregs' recordings. Billy Cobham made a record in the '70's (God, has it been that long?) titled "Spectrum" that I highly recommend; it featured a young Michael Brecker, and the jazz/fusion saxophone world was never the same again.
John Scofield's "A Go Go" with Medeski, Martin, and Wood still blows me away every time I hear it.

I also love Scofield's "Hand Jive"
Brand-X with Percy Jones, Phill Collins...
Jon Hassel is techno-industtrial-jazz.
Stanley Clarke is more commercial that two above.