The best jazz rock albums. Contemporary Jazz Rock Best Jazz Rock Albums
Such a direction in music as jazz-rock or fusion, as it was later called, became known in the 70s of the last century, when such groups as Mahavishnu Orshestra, Weather Report, Return To Forever, Larry Coryell Eleventh House, New Lifetime appeared. as well as Al Di Meola, Jean Luc Ponty, Billy Cobham, Stanley Clarke in the USA; Brand X, Soft Machine, Gong, National Health, Colosseum II, Bill Bruford, Steve Hillage in the UK. There were jazz-rock bands in other European countries: Edition Speciale, Transit Express, Volkor, Coincidience, Spheroe in France; Iceberg, Iman, Guadalquivir, Musica Urbana, Borne, Pegasus in Spain; Perigeo, Barichentro, Nova in Italy, Sloche in Canada.
This was the golden age of jazz rock.
In the 80s, there was a natural decline. There was no such number of musical masterpieces. There were not many new groups, but they were. First of all, I must say about the Canadian Uzeb, the most interesting new jazz-rock band of the 80s, in which the famous bass player Alain Caron played.
In the 80s, many jazz-rock bands appeared in Japan: Ain Soph, Kenso, Prism, Keep, Space Circus, GAOS. In the USSR there were Arsenal, Kvadro, Kaseke, Radar, Gunesh. In France, Didier Lockwood Group. In the USA Drama, Ken Watson, Scott Lindemuth, Woodenhead, Karizma.
In 1984, John Mclaughlin recreated Mahavishnu Orshestra, Chick Corea created a new Electric Band project, Joe Zawinul 2 groups: Weather Update and Syndicate, Billy Cobham assembled new group... They began to record their solo albums
guitarists Allan Holdsworth, John Scofield,
Kazumi Watanabe,
Bill Connors,
bass guitarists Jeff Berlin, Bunny Brunel, keyboardist T Lavitz.
In the 90s. the main jazz-rock projects were such groups as Tribal Tech and Mark Varney Project. Frank Gambale has recorded several solo albums.
As well as guitarist Jeff Richman, bass players Adam Nitti and Victor Bailey. Keyboardist Adam Holzman created his own band. Another keyboardist, Mitch Forman, formed the band Metro. Bass guitarist Uzeb Alain Caron has formed a new band, LeBand. Several new bands have emerged in the US: Gongzilla
guitarist Bon Lozaga, Stratus, Gamalon, Jam Camp.
In Canada, The Code, 5 After 4.
In Germany Matalex, 7For4, Jazz Pistols, Susan Weinert, Leni Stern. In Japan, Side Steps, Fragile, Group Therapy, Kehell, Wisywyg, WINS.
In the UK, Persy Jones Tunnels, Network, Sphere3.
In 2000. many groups playing jazz-rock appeared: in Japan Exhivision, IzgitNine, Trix; several projects from France - Fugu, Jac La Greca, Fusion Project, Quidam; Italy - Virtual Dream, Zaq, Periferia Del Mondo; Spain - Planeta Imaginario, Onza, Gurth. In the Netherlands Richard Hallebeek Project. In the US, Garaj Mahal, Helmet Of Gnats, Bad Dog U, Kick The Cat, Code3, Whoopgnash, Savant Guard, Facing West, Rare Blend, Ecstazy In Number, Redshift.
Drummer Dennis Chambers, who has played in some of the best contemporary jazz rock bands: Cab, Niacin, Uncle Moe's Space Ranch, Boston T Party with T Lavitz and Jeff Berlin, Extraction with Greg Howe and Victor Wooten, Gentle Hearts "with Greg Howe and Tetsui Sakurai.
Tone Center Records, created by Mark Varney and Steve Smith in 1998, plays a special role in the revival of jazz-rock.
For this label, Steve Smith has created several projects: Vital Tech Tones with guitarist Scott Henderson and bassist Victor Wooten; GHS with guitarist Frank Gambale and bassist Stuart Hamm), "Strangers Hand" disc with famed violinist Jerry Goodmen, bassist Oteil Burbridge; "Cause and Effect" with guitarist Larry Corryel and keyboardist Tom Coster; "Count Jam Band Reunion" with guitarist Larry Corryel, bassist Kai Eckhardt.
Also, 2 discs of Tribal Tech 99 and 2000 were released on this label. Reissued two discs of the famous band of the early 90s, the Mark Varney Project.
The best contemporary jazz rock bands from Tone Center Records: Cab, Uncle Moe's Space Ranch, Boston T Party with T Lavitz and Jeff Berlin, Extraction with Greg Howe and Victor Wooten, all of which featured drummer Dennis Chambers.
They also released recordings of bands such as Bass Extremеs by bass players Steve Bailey and Victor Wooten; Jing Chi featuring guitarist Robben Ford, bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, solo discs by bassist Bunny Brunel "La Zoo", guitarists Greg Howe and Scott Henderson, Steve Khan, Bill Connors.
Albums "Cosmic Farm" featuring Wasserman, Erickson, Lavitz, Sipe; "Endangered Species" featuring Herring, Lavitz, Harward, Gradney.
Since the mid-2000s. Abstract Logix Label becomes the leading jazz rock label. So, Abstract Logix released new albums by such musicians as John Mclaughlin, Lenny White, Jimmy Herring, Anthony Jackson, Gary Husband, Project Z, Sebastiaan Cornelissen, Alex Machacek, Scott Kinsey. In addition, Abstract Logix distributes CDs of jazz-rock bands from all over the world.
History knows many examples when the ideas of innovators were not accepted by the public, sometimes even persecuted, but ultimately these pioneers were recognized as geniuses, and their achievements were used by the whole world. This also happened in jazz - the musicians went beyond the traditional style and were often not misunderstood. New fashions like Miles Davis, Tony Williams, or Weather Report and Return to Forever have crafted their best jazz-rock albums without thinking about them becoming world hits. But nevertheless it happened just like that ...
Top Jazz Rock Albums
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew Album
A double album by an American jazz trumpeter was released in early 1970 by Columbia Records. This album reflects experiments with the use of electronic instruments - guitar and synthesizer.
This album is considered the progenitor of the jazz-rock direction. Traditional jazz standards are replaced by viscous, unexpectedly exploding improvisation. The musicians rehearsed just before the recording, which forced them to dive deeper into the music they were playing. From the instructions they received only the meter, the basic chords and a small piece of melody, from which improvisation later grew. By the way, the composition "Dance of the Pharaoh" and the ballad "Sanctuary" do not belong to the authorship of Davis.
After the release of the album, opinions about it were divided. The very fact that Columbia Records released an album called "Bitch's Brew" was scandalous.
The filling did not lag behind the name - a stylistic direction close to jazz fusion or jazz rock, experiments with sound and special effects, electronic instruments - all this allowed not only to split society into two parts - pros and cons, but also to bring the album wild popularity. The album quickly became the first gold in Davis's career, and later won a Grammy.
Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior album
Return to Forever is an American jazz fusion band from the 1970s. Released in 1976, "Romantic Warrior" with participation became the sixth and most famous in the history of the group. The music of the album, stylized as the Middle Ages, is varied starting from the cover. The album opens with Medieval Overture, which is completely acoustic.
On the one hand, “The Sorceress” is as if prepared by an overture, on the other, it is opposite in style, and a synthesizer appears among the instrumental composition. The composition "Majestic Dance" is based on rock riffs and distorted "lead" guitar sound, which is supported by fast passages similar to harpsichord.
Some critics confirmed that the disc deserves to enter the best jazz-rock albums in history, while others argued that all the compositions are too classical and pompous, and the album itself is almost the worst in history.
Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters album
Head Hunters is the 12th studio album, which was released in 1973 on the same Columbia Records. Album added to the Library of Congress National Register.
It is quite difficult to categorize the Bounty Hunters album unequivocally as a jazz-rock. This disc is rather a vivid indicator of how RNB rhythms, emphasized including percussion African American instruments, can be extremely successfully combined with relaxed funk rhythms.
The album's eclectic sound not only continued to pave the way for all-electronic music, but also significantly influenced other genres of music, becoming another winner in the battle to become the best jazz-rock album of all time.
Weather Report - Heavy Weather album
And again a Californian album released by Columbia Records in 1977, this time from the group Weather Report.
We are dealing with one of the best albums in the history of jazz, which was released when the phenomenon of jazz-rock "began to spiral out of control," as critic Richard Ginell commented.
One of the brightest compositions of the album is Birdland. This is completely amazing since it is completely instrumental. Instantly becoming a jazz standard and contributing a lot to the album's popularity, Birdland embodies the pinnacle of the band's creativity.
It is curious that, although the composition itself did not receive a Grammy, subsequently the song did not just enter the repertoire of many famous performers, but its versions were also awarded three Grammy awards.
Tony Williams - Believe It album
The jazz-rock album Believe It (1975) by Tony Williams and his band The Tony Williams Lifetime is back on Columbia Records. This is the band's first album. The first, not the most famous, but extremely interesting at the same time.
It is worth noting - the first is only in the new stage of Williams, the first - for the new line-up of the group. Up to this point, by 1974, as many as four albums from the constantly disintegrating Williams trio had already been released.
John Swenson writes that the Believe it album is like "crazy fusion tasting". The new British guitarist Allan Holdsworth, who is remembered for both expressive musical language - soft, harmonious and very lyrical, and mastery of the instrument became almost a sensation. However, we owe the fusion of jazz and rock, and they also owe Williams with his concept of rhythmic freedom and incredible ingenuity.
The first ensembles that began to perform music called "jazz-rock" consisted of young performers who grew up in the rock environment, but inclined towards jazz aesthetics and improvisational instrumental music. They were practically rock bands with a wind instrument section.
This direction can be attributed to the origins of the entire fusion style
First of all, groups in this direction use vocals. The main theme in each piece is sung like a song, rather than played like in later instrumental music. True, after the vocal part, improvisational solos are often played and, of course, skillfully written orchestral plays for wind instruments. And then, as is common in pop music, the vocalist completes the piece.This scheme was typical of the brightest American groups, declared themselves in 1968 - "” and "”. The brass section of these groups included only three or four different instruments, as a rule - trumpet, trombone and saxophone, and the orchestrations for them were done in such a way that, in combination with guitar, bass guitar and keyboards, they sounded like a real big band. The band "", which was created by trumpet player Bill Chase, soon gained immense popularity. The peculiarity of its sound was that the wind section consisted of four trumpets played in a high register. Unfortunately, in 1974, Bill Chase and three of his colleagues died in a plane crash and the group broke up.
Usually all the laurels of jazz-rock pioneers go to the groups "Chicago" and "Blood, Sweat & Tears", although attempts to combine the two such movements were made by other musicians, in parallel, and sometimes even earlier. For example, back in 1965, the New York group "The Free Spirits" emerged (for some reason this name was borrowed by John McLaughlin when creating his trio in 1993), already then performing what can be safely considered jazz-rock. guitarist Larry Coriell, who later became a star of fusion music, began his career.
Chicago white bluesman Michael Bloomfield formed The Electric Flag in 1967, calling it the Orchestra of American Music. It was a blues-rock ensemble with an added horn section to give the white blues extra power.
American groups in this direction had their own ideology - to create something in the United States to counter the wave of "British Invasion" that swept the United States.
In 1969, he began to perform, produce instrumental rock music with improvisations, he is an eternal nihilist and shocking experimenter. With his assistance, many musicians of the "fusion" style reached a high level of fame. It is impossible not to recall the rock group "The Flock", in which played a jazz violinist, who later became famous for his participation in the first lineup of "Mahavishnu Orchestra" John McLoughlin (John McLoughlin).
In 1970, the jazz drummer created the group "Dreams", which at first was noticeably similar in the manner of orchestration to their predecessors - "Chicago" and "Blood, Sweat & Tears." The difference was that brilliant jazz improvisers took part in "Dreams", such as Michael Brecker and Randy Brecker, who played on the first disc in "Blood, Sweat & Tears", as well as guitarist John Abercrombie, not to mention Billy Cabham himself. soon as fusion stars, participating in the most famous ensembles.
And the group "Dreams" can no longer be called white "brass rock", as it was racially mixed, and, despite the external similarity to "Chicago", it was more "rock jazz", that is, jazz, reminiscent of rock. (I remind the reader that in English the first of two words is the definition of the second.) In the same period, that is, immediately after the instant fame came to the pioneers of jazz-rock, some famous American jazzmen began to play in new ways, using rhythms borrowed from rhythm and blues, soul and funk music.
It should be noted the appearance on the verge of the 60s and 70s of a number of projects aimed not so much at creating a fundamentally new music how much to popularize jazz by performing in a new way works taken from pop culture, from classical music. The jazz trombonist Don Sebesky then made a number of interesting experimental recordings with large orchestras.
Critics, who had not yet figured out what was happening, dubbed such music "pop jazz", despite the fact that in its structure it was immeasurably more complex than what fits the term "pop". A number of outstanding jazz musicians who played "soul jazz" and "hard bop" in the 60s, in the first half of the 70s under the production of Greed Taylor, made a number of recordings that can be safely attributed to the forms of jazz-rock. These are, first of all, George Benson, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Hubert Laws. But this line of early jazz-rock did not receive its further development.
Over time, when the rock culture was swept away by the era of disco, the classics of jazz-rock were ranked among the history of jazz, their names began to be entered in jazz encyclopedias, reference books and dictionaries. The replacement of the term "Jazz-rock" with "Fusion" was largely due to the arrival of black musicians in jazz-rock, who did not want to be associated with white rock culture, and gave the whole trend the character of "funk" music.
The term "fusion" has not only musical, but also a social connotation, indicating that the "fusion" took place not only at the level musical cultures but also between different ethnic groups of listeners and performers.
This was especially vividly demonstrated by Miles Davis, who performed at concerts at the "Fillmor West" in front of an audience of white hippies with music of avant-garde "funky", with white performers.
In Great Britain
In England, the picture of the emergence of what we conventionally call jazz-rock was somewhat different, primarily because there were no racial contradictions, there were no two parallel cultures - white and black. When black bluesmen from the USA - Big Bill Broonzie and Muddy Waters - visited England in 1957, the so-called "British Blues" was born. Its pioneers were London jazzmen Chris Barber, Cyril Davis Cirill Davis, Alexis Corner and others.Shocked by their close contact with the true blues, these jazzmen began to create their own version of the white blues.
A number of bands emerge in London clubs, the most famous of which are "Blues Incorporated", "Graham Bond Organization" and "Blue Flames." (Braian Johnes), Dick Heckstal-Smith, John McLoughlin, Jack Bruce and many others.
In the UK in the second half of the 60s, many rock groups of different aesthetics emerged, using wind instruments and elements of improvisation. Traditionally they are referred to as "progressive rock" or "art rock", but in fact they are typical representatives of early jazz rock. These are the groups "Soft Machine", "Colosseum", "If", "Jethro Tull", "Emerson, Lake & Palmer", "Air Force", "The Third Ear Band" and a number of others.
The British school of early art rock (progressive or jazz rock) of the late 60s is characterized by a noticeable influence of rhythm and blues, on the one hand, and on the other hand, on the other hand, by a special depth and content inherent in centuries-old European culture.
Music of this kind, created in that short period in England, is in many ways unique and underestimated by the mass audience.
The initial period of the formation of jazz-rock is characterized by the search for something new both on the part of a small number of jazzmen and on the part of explicit rock-performers. At that time, rather unusual combinations of musicians arose. Hard rock guitarist from "Deep Purple" Tommy Bolin is looking for contacts with jazzmen, recording on the CD "Spectrum" with Billy Kobham. Rock guitarist Jeff Beck is recording with keyboardist Ian Hammer, who has become a prominent figure in jazz rock since his participation in the "Mahavishnu Orchestra." Rock bassist Jack Bruce, known for his participation in the brief life of the super-band "Cream", played for a while in "Soft Machine", and then recorded in the project of American jazz drummer Tony Williams (Tony Williams) "Lifetime". Genesis drummer Phil Collins collaborates with guitarist Al Di Meola and plays in Brand X. And there are many such examples.
But already during this period, there is a noticeable tendency of the gradual transformation of jazz-rock into purely instrumental music. The vocalist is replaced by a virtuoso improviser. The wind section becomes optional. The composition of jazz-rock ensembles is formed according to the principle of jazz combos - a rhythm group plus soloists. Acoustic instruments are being replaced by electronic ones. Instead of a double bass, a bass guitar is used, instead of a grand piano - keyboards (Wutlitzer piano, Rhodes piano, later synthesizers). The electric guitar with "bells and whistles" is replacing the jazz acoustic guitar.
In the early period of jazz-rock, a rhythmic concept that came from rock culture prevails, that is, based on rhythm and blues, on soul music. The further fate of jazz-rock in the process of its gradual transformation into "fusion" music is connected with the transition to a completely different sense of rhythm, to the concept of "funky" style. Jazz rock becomes the music of improvisers as its fate passes into the hands of prominent jazz figures such as Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Joe Zavinul, John McLoughlin, Herbie Hancock ( Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter.
Alexey Kozlov.
The English word fusion (fusion) best defines the name of a jazz movement that combines elements of funk, metal, folk, jazz, hip-hop, R&B, reggae and other styles. In one jazz fusion album, music of all of the above directions can be found, which makes them interesting for those who are looking for their own style and experimenting with jazz.
Performers
Jazz fusion - "fusion" of jazz with elements of various directions: metal, electronics, reggae, folk, pop, rock, hip-hop, ethnic, etc. Often, even in one artist's album, you will find an explosive mixture of the above. Fusion originated in the late 60s of the last century, when jazzmen began to experiment with electronic music, rock, rhythm and blues. At the same time, rock musicians were not alien to jazz elements and with their help diversified their compositions. In the 70s, fusion reached its heyday, but in the following decades it enjoyed a steady popularity among performers and listeners. This style can be called systematized, experts consider it as an approach or a musical tradition, therefore, for example, progressive rock is considered fusion.
The most prominent representatives of fusion were musicians performing jazz-rock, for example, the groups "Eleventh House", "Lifetime". The origins of fusion were associated with orchestras such as the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report, performing vibrant, interesting and varied music, often experimenting successfully with directions. Among the individual fusion musicians, drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson, guitarists Pat Metheny, John Scofield, John Abercrombie and James "Blood" Ulmer, and saxophonist and trumpeter Ornette Coleman stand out.
Fusion is distinguished by instrumentality, complex measures, meter, long compositions with inclusions of improvisations. Most of the musicians playing this music are easily recognizable due to the high level of technology, which is rarely found in such forms. In the US, fusion doesn't get a lot of airtime due to its complexity, lack of vocal component. However, in Japan, Europe, South America, there are entire radio stations broadcasting for a large number of fans of the style.
The second half of the 60s of the past century was marked by the flourishing of rock culture in the West, which was associated with the incredible rise of the hippie movement.
Many new things appeared in those years. And not only in music, but in art in general, in the aesthetics of youth life. There were both regular rock bands and jazz rock bands. The new groups that arose during this period can be safely compared with the number of mushrooms growing after rain.
The emergence of jazz rock
In those years, many new musical directions, groups and names appeared. The Beatles paved the way from mersbit to a variety of complex compositions. Following them began to appear such directions as Acid-Rock, Psi-rock, Folk-rock, Classic-Rock, Country rock, Rock Opera, Blues-rock and, of course, Jazz-rock.
Based on the grammar of the English language, the term jazz rock can be translated as "jazz rock", since in grammar the first word defines the relationship to the second. Therefore, the first jazz-rock ensembles became a springboard for the onset of rock culture, not jazz.
Jazz rock has become an essential part of non-standard music. His stars were included in rock encyclopedias, reference books and dictionaries.
The first jazz rock bands
During that period, critics came to the opinion that the Chicago group was composed of rock musicians who were trying to play jazz. And the group "Blud of Tears", in their opinion, on the contrary, consisted of jazzmen who joined rock music. It is also important to remember that in the United States, rock was originally considered white music.
For this reason, the image of the jazz-rock genre was in the following description: "a white rock band that includes a section of wind instruments." Not only these two groups made themselves known at that time. They performed new harmonies and rhythms, improvised, played electronic instruments. Note that America was subject to an unprecedented pressure from rock bands based in England.
Mike Bloomfield is a young bluesman from Chicago. He formed the blues-rock band Electric Flag. There was a section for wind instruments. But at the same time, it was said that the group will play real American music. Therefore, we can conclude that in the early stages, jazz-rock had an ideological background. One of the most striking ensembles at that time was the group "Chase", which was created by the trumpeter Bill Chase. He died tragically in 1974.
Jazz-rock in the activities of famous rock musicians
The early manifestations of jazz-rock include a huge number of groups in which musicians played who had no previous relationship with such a direction as jazz. Ginger Baker - drummer for "The Cream" - after the band disbanded, formed a new group - "Air Force Band". Groups began to appear in which young jazzmen worked together with rock musicians.
Famous rock musicians took an active part in the recording of a new type of music. Some famous musicians begin to record in studios with others. For example, Jeff Beck recorded with Ian Hammer and Stanley Clark. Jack Bruce became a member of The Tony Williams Lifetime. Some time later, the drummer of the band "Genesis" became a member of the band "Brand X".
He also accompanied Al Di Meola. Tommy Bolin - guitarist from Deep Purple - recorded with acclaimed jazz drummer Billy Cabham. In addition, he himself attracted jazz-rock performers to record together his solo records. All musicians came together to find and invent something new. Anyone who did not get hung up on the same style of play, on a monotonous style.
If we look at the early times in general, we can unequivocally state that in the mid-60s, what is called the “prelude” of jazz-rock was formed in the jazz environment. This is the Quintet of the Adderly Brothers, the Messengers Jazz ensemble, Horace Silver and drummer Art Blakey. The music of this quintet is classified as soul jazz or funky jazz.
Elements of such music are actively used by Quincy Jones, an outstanding arranger. Funky soul music was promoted in every possible way by producer Grid Taylor. He has worked with Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery and other jazzmen.
They were also innovators of their kind, as they offered a new aesthetic that was significantly different from the standards of funky and hard bop. Already in 1965, Larry Coryell was one of the first to revise the approach to sound on his own instrument, changed the phrasing, tried to get closer to the rock guitar.
But the real revolution was made by John McLaughin. Therefore, several forces worked on the direction of jazz-rock at the same time. If we talk about traditional jazz, then, in principle, a whole generation of listeners appeared and grew up here.
On the other hand, jazz has changed a lot during this time. He stopped moving in a commercial direction. In the post-war period, the era of dance swing ended. Bebop quickly turned into hard bop. In the late 60s, he touched upon avant-garde jazz, leaving a wide audience, and began to develop in depth.
Over time, jazz has become a very complex direction; it has ceased to be a fashionable art. Therefore, such circumstances forced the music business to transform. Even famous jazzmen were out of work. Thus, antagonism appeared in the field of rock music and the jazz environment.
For most of the jazzmen who continued their development, the tastes of the youth caused a grin. All this seemed to them too simple and primitive. Musicians who played rock were respectful of jazzmen. But on their part there was also a certain hostility due to the latter's dislike of everything new.
If we talk about this in general, then both of these areas were to some extent rivals in terms of jealousy of success. It is because of these reasons that jazz-rock did not cause much enthusiasm among the general public. Jazz criticism has stated that this direction has no future and no artistic value.
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