The Four Waves of "Classic Era" Jazz-Rock Fusion

 As I've begun to deepen my knowledge and familiarity with the albums of Jazz-Rock Fusion's birth and evolution I've noticed what feels to me like four specific types of music being made by the artists jumping on the bandwagon. There was a wildly experimental period in which there were no rules or guidelines, a period in which there occurred a burst of several commonly themed sounds and styles, there was the period in which an explosion of artists leaped excitedly into the pools of their newfound heroes, and then there was the final period in which a general cross-pollination coupled with commercial pressures caused a general homogenization of all Jazz-Rock fusion into a smoother, more listener-oriented form music. As I collect and compile my album reviews I've decided to try to compartmentalize them in three different ways: 1) according to year of creation (as opposed to publication), 2) level of competency (a subjective attempt to create an objective order to the lists),  and 3) which of the four waves they fit into.

 I've made the decision to segregate my "compendium" into several collected parts. 

The Four Waves of Jazz-Rock Fusion

The Initial "Wave" of Jazz-Rock Fusion Music. What I call the "First Wave" of Jazz-Rock Fusion is intended to represent the era in which the true and intrepid pioneers made their initial expeditions into alchemical amalgamations of styles and technologies. The initial attempts to "fuse" elements of newly burgeoning electronic technologies and rock and roll with their beloved jazz music were often awkward and clunky and, as one can imagine, quite controversial. Only the bravest and most respected artists, engineers, and producers could make this experiment work. Had there been no Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, or even Sun Ra and Ornette Coleman, there might not have been a Tony Williams, John McLaughlin, Larry Young, or Larry Coryell. Had there been no Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, Bill Evans and Paul Desmond, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Sergio Mendes, Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli, Babatunde Olatunji and Hugh Masakela, Teo Macero and George Martin, Bob Fender and Bob Moog, there might not have been a 'Live' at Monterey!, Duster, In a Silent Way, Emergency! or Bitches Brew. Had there not been a Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Terje Rypdal, Chris Hinze, Pierre Courbois, there most certainly would not have been a Mwandishi or Headhunters, Weather Report or Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return To Forever or Eleventh House, or whole European fusion scene. I also have to mention artists like, Maynard Ferguson, Gary Burton, Herbie Mann, Mike Mainieri, John Mayall, Alexis Korner, Graham Bond, Neil Ardley, Joe Hiseman with Colosseum, Brian Auger, Ian Carr, Miroslav Vitous, Chicago, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Parliament, Frank Zappa, the young Allan Holdsworth, and Patrick Gleeson for testing and pushing boundaries. 

The "Second Wave" of Jazz-Rock Fusion is the period that saw the pioneers make the leap to create the power fusion super groups: the Mahavishnu Orchestra (both incarnations), Return To Forever, Association P.C., Eleventh House, the Canterbury Style artists like Egg, The Soft Machine, and Hatfield And The North. This was also the period in which imitators and strong-willed leaders began to develop their own versions and very distinctive styles of jazz-rock and classical fusions, like Paul Winter and his collaborator-bandmates, Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi band and its band members' offshoots, Weather Report, Freddie Hubbard, Bob James, Oregon, and Manfred Eicher's ECM label's stable. 

The "Third Wave" of Jazz-Rock Fusion is the phase in which the styles and sounds of the pioneers and super groups got codified and copied. Here keen imitators multiplied geometrically across borders and oceans while many of the pioneers--who were already moving with great excitement and adaptability within the rapidly-expanding world of electronics and special effects--began to fall into the exploration and incorporation of funk and R&B and lush/lite/"smooth jazz" influences. 

The "Fourth Wave" saw the smoothing and watering down of the jazz elements of their music into more radio- and sales-friendly musics. The power of the record companies (and the almighty Dollar) pressured and tempted artists into making more listener-friendly music in order to increase sales and, of course, profits. Thus we have the advent of Easy Listening, Adult Contemporary, Smooth Jazz, and even Disco, what has become known as "Yacht Rock," New Age, and "Elevator Music"--often with their bands of seasoned jazz and classically-trained musicians covering popular hit songs with short and/or extended jazzed-up instrumentals, medleys, remixes, or dance versions. Thus, younger, up-and-coming artists had at their beck and call many jazz-, pop-, and rock-related musical avenues to choose from in order to express their visions, ideas, and skills. This consumer-driven "Fourth Wave" of Jazz-Rock Fusion seemed to have had its start early in the 1970s but only took firm roots with the commercial success of songs like Blood Sweat and Tears' "Spinning Wheel" (1969 and 1972))," Chicago's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It is?" and "Beginnings" (1969 and 1971), Isaac Hayes' "Shaft" (1971), Dutch band Focus' "Hocus Pocus" (1972), Eumir Deodato's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (1973), Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra's "Love's Theme" (1974), Scotland's Average White Band's "Pick Up the Pieces" (1975), guitarist George Benson's "This Masquerade" from his monster album, Breezin', in 1976, trumpeters Bill Conti and Maynard Ferguson's separate releases of "Gonna Fly Now," [originally from Conti's Rocky soundtrack (1976)], and, of course, Weather Report's "Birdland" (1977) as well as large-selling albums like Deodato's Prelude (1973), Herbie Hancock's Headhunters (1974), Keith Jarrett's The Köln Concert (1975), Benson's Breezin' (1976) and Steely Dan's Aja in 1977.

Within this Compendium I will be trying to sort the albums I review into these four categories. If and when an album fails to satisfy my "requirements" for fitting into one of the Four Waves--or failing to fit into any of kind of Jazz-Rock orientation--falling into categories that I consider to be outside the purview of what constitutes Jazz-Rock Fusion--I will find other categories to assign them to. These would be the albums that feel far more oriented toward classical music (including Symphonic Prog), progressive rock music, folk music (including Prog Folk and Ethnic or World musics), Disco, R&B, pop, and New Age--even albums that are in effect a return to classic Jazz, that are not really moving fusion forward.

First Wave (anything goes): Don Ellis Orchestra Autumn (1967) Terje Rypdal Bleak House (1968) Chicago Chicago Transit Authority (1969) ‘Igginbottom ‘Igginbottom’s Wrench (1969) John McLaughlin Devotion (1970) Jean-Luc Ponty King Kong - Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa (1970) Herbie Hancock Mwandishi (1971) Larry Coryell Barefoot Boy (1971) Mahavishnu Orchestra Birds of Fire (1972) Santana Caravanserai (1972) Out of Focus Four Letter Monday Afternoon (1972) Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes Astral Travelling (1973) Julian Priester Love, Love (1973) Eddie Henderson InsideOut (1974) Second Wave (structure and organization): Herbie Hancock Crossings (1972) Larry Coryell Offering (1972) Weather Report Sweetnighter (1973) Missus Beastly Missus Beastly (1974) Michal Urbaniak Atma (1974) Return To Forever Where Have I Known You Before (1974) Mahavishnu Orchestra Visions of the Emerald Beyond (1975) Return To Forever Romantic Warrior (1976) Chick Corea The Mad Hatter (1978) Édition Spéciale Horizon Digital (1978)       Power Fusion (the imitation of The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return To Forever) Cervello Melos (1973) Arti E Mestieri Tilt - Immagini per un orecchio (1974) Area Crac! (1975) Fermáta Pieseň z hôľ (1975) Michal Urbaniak Fusion III (1975) The Soft Machine Bundles (1975) Etna Etna (1975) Fermáta Huascaran (1977) Iceberg Sentiments (1977) Toto Blanke’s Electric Circus Friends (1979) Third Wave (the influx of funk/R&B): Herbie Hancock Head Hunters (1973) Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes Cosmic Funk (1974) Herbie Hancock Thrust (1974) Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes Visions of a New World (1975) Lenny White Venusian Summer (1975) Jean-Luc Ponty Imaginary Voyage (1976) Billy Cobham Total Eclipse (1976) Chute Libre Ali Baba (1978) Freddie Hubbard The Love Connection (1979) Michal Urbaniak Ecstasy (1979) Fourth Wave (the advent and takeover of Smooth Jazz): David Axelrod Song of Innocence (1968) Freddie Hubbard First Light (1972) Deodato Prelude (1973) Mahavishnu Orchestra Apocalypse (1974) George Benson Breezin’ (1976) Lonnie Liston Smith Reflections of a Golden World (1976) Bob James BJ4 (1977) Steely Dan Aja (1977) Jan Akkerman Jan Akkerman (1977) Jean-Luc Ponty Cosmic Messenger (1978) Earl Klugh Heart String (1979) Lonnie Liston Smith Love Is the Answer (1980) Outliers: Hermann Szobel Szobel (1976) Gong Gazeuse! (1976) Shakti Natural Elements (1977) Eberhard Weber The Following Morning (1977) Matrix Wizard (1978) Firyuza / Фирюза Firyuza / Фирюза (1979) Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls (1981) Allan Holdsworth Secrets (1989) Pat Metheny Secret Story (1991) Hiromi’s Sonicbloom Time (2007) Pat Metheny Orchestrion (2010) Antoine Fafard Ad Perpetuum (2014)