Best Jazz Fusion Albums!

[oldspice676]

what are ur personal favorite Jazz Fusion Albums & Why?

Also what are some good Contemporary Jazz From the 70's to 90's albums from the greats like Craig T Cooper or anyone else?

[ms_m]

Any and everything by Miles would be at the top of my list, with the exception of Bitches Brew which to this day I can't get into.

Joe Sample
Chick Corea
Herbie Hancock
Larry Carlton
several Earth Wind and Fire Jams
Spyro Gyro

so many I can't even think of them all but if I were to be honest

Chuck Mangione [[before Feels So Good) and his brother Gap lead me down the path of Fusion

[jack020]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_fusion

[uptight]

A group called Madhouse had two albums, numbered 8 and 16. I enjoyed them immensely, initially because of the connection to Prince. They had loud horns, crazy drumming, synthesizers, piano. And they were tight.

Pat Metheny - Still Life [[Talking) [[1987) and Secret Story [[1992). They feed my imagination when I want to mentally escape.

Brian Hughes - Under One Sky [[1992) was similar to Pat Metheny and was getting airplay on Detroit's WJZZ at the time. I got my autographed copy at Sam's Jams store in Ferndale, MI.

[tomato tom]

One or two of my faves....George Duke Liberated Fantasies [[BASF)
Grover Washington Jr Feels So Good [[KUDU)


Paulo xxx

[daddyacey]

Ms.M , you ain't alone.... I was brought up on MILES ,[[was 4 years old and I KNEW who MILES DAVIS was and to this day I can't figure out what the.... ,"BREW" and "On The Corner" was all about, but my love and respect for him keeps me coming back to that B.B. and On The Corner albums. Maybe I missed something?????:D:D

"A group called Madhouse had two albums, numbered 8 and 16. I enjoyed them immensely, initially because of the connection to Prince. They had loud horns, crazy drumming, synthesizers, piano. And they were tight."

Those albums are BADDD!!!!! You should also check out this CD....... , ERIC LEEDS , "NOW & AGAIN" , [[from 2000 , on the Nouveau label, [[manufactured by K-tel Intl ,USA). LEEDs was to PRINCE ,like Clemmons was to Springsteen ,like Maceo was to J.B. , like Coltrane was to Miles , like Lester Young was to Billie and like Lee Oscar was to WAR. A perfect melding that produce an unique sound. The MADHOUSE albums are mostly Prince and Eric productions in the jazz genre ,very interesting to listen to if you have an "ear" for Bop and later "Jazz". Eric's CD shows that his sound is consistant . IMO ,he is as badd as Grover or Najee ,Bartz...etc.

But one of my favorites right off the top of my head is SANTANA's album ,"WELCOME" . That is a baddd M.F. ,and there is no other way to say it. Leon Thomas , McLaughlin ,Tom Coster ,Flora Pirum . Santana's performance on WELCOME is a fluid fusion adaptation ,simlilar to the way JIMI arranged the "STAR SPANGLED BANNER" ,only with SANTANA it was COLTRANE.

DONALD BYRD-- PLACES AND SPACES.
GROVER WASHINTON--- MR. MAGIC

soo many others............................................ .......

[ms_m]

I can live with On The Corner daddyacey but Brew....nope, nada and all that...LOL

I'm listening to Europa/Gato Barbieri as I type this but I think I'm going to have to chk out some Night Flight now thanks to you...LOL

[ms_m]

I just realized I didn't answer the second part of the original question......I TRULY adore music and if I were forced to choose between a song and an instrumental I would choose the instrumental. IMO they are more liberating than songs. Songs can be interpreted many ways but you will always be limited by the words, where as a "GOOD" instrumental gives you the freedom to explore your imagination without limitations....

[daddyacey]

ms_m.............
{I just realized I didn't answer the second part of the original question......I TRULY adore music and if I were forced to choose between a song and an instrumental I would choose the instrumental}

Funny you should say that. I was just reading the booklet for The Isley Bros Box ,where Ernie says that he Chris and Marvin cut the instrumental tracks for 3+3 thru Showdown so they could stand on their own ,and made adjustments to incorporate Ron's vocals. If you listen to all those tracks you will find that they sure could stand alone. The intricate layers of those tracks are what made them prime "sample" material for the Hip-Hop/Digital era that was to come.
The fact is that with the elimination of anolog music instruction in schools, [[I mean the piano keyboard and the scales are the foundation of all music composition ,no matter what instrument ,electric or anolog ,that you play. Todays writers/producers compose by "ear" and don't know sh.. about a measure ,bar or key , I bet ya) ,the interest is in the beats with accents on the vocals. The basic foundation is the priority, percussion. There is no solo space made for an instrument other than synth drum or effects keyboard in "modern" music. Excellent anolog drummers and percussionists ,guitarist's ,bass players and the most abandoned instrument ,the horn ,any of them ,are reduced to "studio musician" status ,and thats within the Neo Soul "genre" or as support for some other artist that's not as talent. There is no instrument based superstar in "POP" ,"R&B" and "Urban" music [[from which there is a very very thin line between the three genres) , cause there is less people that can play an instrument anymore other than computer generated.
I just bought a 3 disc set of Tito Puente tracks covering the late 1940's to the present. Tito is why we have Sheila E and both beat the sh.. out some timbales and drums. 2011 ,at my job, on the Latin radio station my staff plays ,they play what is called REGGAETON. OMG!!! ,what an abomination!!!!!!
There's no more NORMAN CONNERS , GEORGE BENSON's ,WATSONS ,Sax ,Trumpet ,Bass and other stand out "musicians" ,unless it's "Old School" or "Neo". I digress................................

I wanted to add to my list .........................
Billy Cobham Spectrum Atlantic 1973
Eddie Harris Silver Cycles
Herbie Mann Memphis Underground

A rare album , Mother Night ,"Mother Night " on Columbia , 1973

[ms_m]

Daddyacey, I'm very familiar with Tito Puente...I knew about him before I knew about Shelia.

I also remember school music programs. We were introduced to music by playing the Tonette. I think they are called Recorders in other parts of the country and I still remember the experience of playing the Tonette with the NC Symphony. I started piano lessons while in elementary and also played the violin. My first attendance at a classical music concert [[outside the symphony) was Andre Watts.

There are still real musicians out there daddyacey, they just don't get any air play. [[or very little)
Frank McComb comes to mind....I've heard him play acoustic piano and Mo [[Morris) Pleasure plays any instrument you put in front of him. Ronnie plays piano, bass and guitar as well as his synth [[and he reads music)...but he's old school.....LOL

[ms_m]

BTW daddyacey, there are a couple of teenagers I heard awhile back that play violin...a funky, classical hip hop vibe but very impressive kids.

"Real" music and musicians will always be around. We just have to find a way to get them/it heard.

[ms_m]

..and since I'm taking up for real musicians...our very own Drew Schultz plays a mean set of drums and he's a young kid and don't forget Chi...but not so young.....LOL...I still love ya though C...hahahahaha

[ms_m]

Now that you have me thinking about this...let's not forget Herbie Hancock is the person that made computers and instruments popular....and there's Stevie, Joe Zawunil....
oh yeah and Sun Ra....LOL

I can't say I'm a big fan of most of the stuff on the radio these days but I think us old heads are sometimes too quick to judge......I'll never forget something Duke Ellington once said [[and I paraphrase) if music sounds good to you, it's good music.

....and did I ever tell ya I actually like listening to elevator music....hahahaha

I'm not a snob when it come to music daddyacey. I either like something I hear or I don't but if it sounds good to me....

I'm through..LOL

[splanky]

Though Miles spearheaded it, Return To Forever and Weather Report to me played the best Jazz Fusion. Heavy Weather
by the latter is a release I've owned in 4 different formats and I still enjoy it to this day. Wayne Shorter's playing on
A Remark You Made was the first time since Trane I heard a saxophone not only speak but think...Return To Forever's original members Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White I hear are back together, have a new release and I hope
to see them live this year...
Oh, and back to Miles, I'll be the bad guy here. I liked Bitches Brew particularly the tracks Sanctuary and Miles Runs The Voodoo Down. Cassandra Wilson wrote a lyric for the later and covered it on her Traveling Miles release of years back,
with a nice very funky Reprise featuring Angelique Kidjo...

[ms_m]

Splanky I have a lot of friends that like Brew. It's the only reason I keep trying to get into it...just doesn't work for me. It's that "subjective" thing. Music [[sorta like beauty) is in the ear of the listener.

[splanky]

True, M, very very true. It'd be pretty boring if everyone all talked about how much they liked the saome thing all of the time, wouldn't it?...

Vanilla ice cream sure is good, ain't it , daddyaccey?

Yea, Ms M, it sure is. What do you think, uptight?

Oh yes, love that vanilla ice cream, how about you, oldspice?

Vanilla ice cream, now that's some good stuff, right , paulo?

Vanilla ice cream sure is good!....

[ms_m]

LOL...

for the record, I don't like ice cream...seriously....but I am eating a cup of vanilla yogurt at the moment...LOL

Yep Splanks, everyone has a sound preference they are drawn too. I may not like a sound but it's a little hard for me to knock someone else who does.

I understand what daddyacey is saying though, a lot of kids don't have formal music training and I agree that means a lot but I've heard musicians who play by ear that have blown me away.

Technically, I can play a piano and read music but TRUST, you would not want to hear me play....LOL

[imnokid]

John McLaughlin-Devotion
Tony Williams' Lifetime-Emergency

Both featuring the great Larry Young on organ.

[imnokid]

and Jeff Beck-Blow By Blow!

[paul1970]

and Jeff Beck-Blow By Blow!

Jeff Beck's Wired belongs on that list too. Along with these albums...

Tony Williams - The Joy Of Flying
Joe Farrell - Moon Germs
Joe Farrell - Upon This Rock
Joe Farrell - Canned Funk
Jean -Luc Ponty - Enigmatic Ocean
Ramsey Lewis - Love Notes

[ms_m]

Jean -Luc Ponty - Enigmatic Ocean

excellent pick!

[daddyacey]

I understand what daddyacey is saying though, a lot of kids don't have formal music training and I agree that means a lot but I've heard musicians who play by ear that have blown me away.

I had Music Theory in High School and failed it. It just did not sink in ,but I could pick melodies of records out on the piano by ear. All that stuff that didn't sink in through High School clicked .......when I started mixing. Beats ,measures ,bars etc all made sense to me, BANG!!! ,just like that.

[ms_m]

Daddyacey I guess sometimes the best way to learn something is just do it.

At this stage of the game I think training makes sense if for no other reason it can give you a back up skill but I get the feeling a lot of these kids are not really into the biz for the love of music. It's more of a means to an end...like getting to be another Jay Z/businessman.

I think many of us developed a love of music because we were exposed to it in school and I'm sure other factors come into play but Kids today don't generally have the type of exposure we did.

[paladin]

One of the reasons I started looking deeper into music was my eight grade music teacher. His name some of you may be familiar with. Mr. William Eaton. When he spoke of chords,basslines, melodies and such, I was like yeah ok, but what does it mean ? He asked me what did it mean to me ? I replied that in most songs I loved the interplay of words and how they related to my life. I was also fond of the music which seemed to compliment the words, but I didn't understand how you could write music with those funny symbols ! He told me that if I applied myself in his class, that I would be able to do some things and if I could keep my eyes off of the young lady beside me and pay attention I might be able to do a bit more........

Anyway, my introduction into jazz fusion was the song "Sweetnighter" by Weather Report, it was so much going on in that record that it remains an education within itself.....