On the Corner / New York Girl / Thinkin' of One Thing and Doin' Another / Vote for Miles

Although we have long appreciated "Black Satin" from this period in the music of Miles Davis, listening to all of On the Corner was a pure delight. This is Miles masterfully embracing new sound possibilities and creating some ethereal funk. Somehow, all the funk elements, Indian ornamentation, and unstoppable rhythm to combine to create a cosmic stew. 

Teen Town

We here at the blog have forgotten how glorious the bass of Pastorius was. Weather Report, although far from our favorite fusion group, could attain greatness.

Jouke

Foula's "Jouke" is one of the interesting examples of a fusion of Haitian roots music and jazz aesthetics. As a piece of fusion, there are elements of jazz, rock, and rasin for a musical stew demonstrating a fascinating example of jazz's influence on Haitian music. The skronk from a saxophonist, overwhelming polyrhythms, and electric guitar soar. Sadly, besides this and Ayizan, other attempts at a fusion of Haitian roots and jazz are fewer and less successful. Here's a video of a life performance by Foula. 

Directions

Randomly heard this yesterday and could not resist sharing. I have not paid proper respect to the fusion period of Miles Davis's career. 

Stanley Clarke's The Dancer

I've never been a big fan of jazz fusion (mainly due to my indifference to guitar pyrotechnics from rock and the dated "sound effects" feel of groups like Weather Report), but Stanley Clarke is growing on me. I find this deceptively song, "The Dancer," to be hypnotic and multilayered in the best way. For a song from 1976, Clarke sounds like he's from the 1980s in because of the creative combination of Latin rhythms with electronic instruments and rock. It reminds one of the early forays into "worldbeat" by jazz artists as early as the 1950s, further proof of the importance and influence of jazz artists on popular culture and music. 

Song For Che

Otomo Yoshihide's cover of Charlie Haden's famous "Song for Che" embodies the natural connections between the jazz avant-garde and the worlds of rock, hardcore, punk, and metal. I am not sure what one should call this, but a sort of 'punk-jazz' fusion of jazz themes, instrumentation and improvisation meet the frenetic and raucous sounds of rock and its successor genres makes for interesting listening. Otomo Yoshihide's jazz groups also reinterpreted Eric Dolphy's classic Out to Lunch in a similar vein, definitely worth checking out. I always enjoy it when the rockers try to do jazz, and though it's usually less impressive to me than say the actual music of Haden or Coleman or Ayler, it still makes life worth listening. The same could be said of Captain Beefheart, too. 

Keith Jarrett's Common Mama

Due to the recommendations of family who enjoy Keith Jarrett's music, I have been exploring his catalog. "Common Mama" is the kind of the jazz fusion I enjoy: funky, accessible, largely avoiding the noodling one finds in so much 1970s fusion records, and exploring polyrhythm in an interesting vein. Dewey Redman does not hold back here in his brief solo, which bows to the demands of funk and popular music while paying homage to the avant garde stylings of Albert Ayler and others. But the samba-like percussion is what drives this piece. Indeed, one is reminded of Bud Powell's "Un Poco Loco" because of Jarrett's use of Latin rhythms without sacrificing the jazz side of the equation.  

Don Cherry's Brown Rice

One of Don Cherry's most intriguing works in jazz fusion is surely "Brown Rice." Combining free jazz dissonance with funk and his usual interest in Indian and African music, "Brown Rice" also features Charlie Haden playing the funkiest bass with a wah wah pedal. It's hypnotic groove is so irresistible that even Cherry's vocals and chanting do not ruin it. As Ornette Coleman told us, beauty is a rare thing.

Herbie Hancock's Funky Drummer

Harvey Mason's drumming on Herbie Hancock's "Shiftless Shuffle" is a new and improved "Funky Drummer." James Brown's Clyde Stubblefield was the star of Brown's illustrious tune, but Harvey Mason's prowess in "Shiftless Shuffle" is unforgettable. And surely Hancock must have been thinking of the famous Brown tune because the head is so quintessentially James Brown.