Jazz Fusion Playlist

And 1 last band for Happy New Year,

Jeff Lorber Fusion

2 songs, Tune 88 and Toad's Place, both from Water Sign album.

Quick anecdote here, at the time was briefly living in Oklahoma City, OK, and went to see a hugh jazz concert in Dallas, TX at a really big venue with a van load of friends. Many artists on billing (long, full day) with Crusaders as final headliner preceded by Jeff Lorber Fusion.

JLF was beyond sensational live, with this unknown , new to band 18 y.o. sax player that wasn't on the albums. The crowd was on its feet the entire last half of their show, we didn't know this guy at all, yet not only was he an incredible mesmerizer, but his chops were noteworthy, including the best & longest circular breathing technique on reeds I've heard ever (creation ala jazz icon Rahsaan Roland Kirk & stroke death later to boot, sadly, no wonder on the respiratory system).

The JLF sax player (hold your sigh), was Kenny Gorelick , known mostly far later as Kenny G. I later heard funk demos of him playing sax with a great female singer, while living in Philly, and those were his earliest records released afterwords. Truly gifted, misaligned by the critics and a mind blowing talent. Saw him live again early '90's & he put all critics to rest for me. Never have seen a note held longer on sax with progression too. Extreme technique, yet deeply soulful. Sorta feel bad how critics treated him (they got it so wrong), yet this guy is the real deal. He not only cut all the JLF tunes, but singly had thousands standing most of his show due to his soloing & sax work.

Back to the show...have it all recorded, booted from a fine Sony, tape in storage, entire day & night. The audience would not let JLF leave the stage, there were a couple of encores, crowd on its feet last full hour thru later show & multi-encores and it was heavenly. Finally they had to let the headliner Crusaders on stage.

Love both of these bands, engineering on those Crusaders lp's was a benchmark at that time. What happened was Crusaders hit stage & walked off after 3 songs, totally eclipsed by Jeff Lorber Fusion. They were psyched out mentally & musically & played so awfully bad, fathoms below their talent capabilities. We didn't care, although wanting the full Crusaders setlist, it just could not top JLF that nite. No one could headline that nite after what JLF did musically. Probably posted this here years ago, I dunno, forget. ALL on tape, Crusaders complained about monitors, couldn't hear, blah, blah,...pros just have to suck this up. Even if true, (was all sour grapes, blown off totally) tuff sound conditions happens all the time in venues, and artists just do their best , even under far more extreme conditions.

Recall Emerson Lake & Palmer dropping the power in a symphony hall 1 nite 2X, due to KE's low synth power requirements; the 2nd drop occurred on generators which dropped again ! Generators dropped the 2nd time as temps were about 10 degrees below zero F. Yet ELP re-started the composition exactly on the note they left off on, uncanny professionalism and deep grasp of their material; most bands recount & start at the top. A nite to remember for the 3 of us watching & listening.

So, here are 2 tunes for the New Year, 2019, may it bring us all together in Fusion & Love.

"Tune 88", classic.


and, Toad's Place.


Happy New Year 2019 !
 
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Great Posts Frank @luvmusik as always, thank you brother! :beerchug:

"Sweetnighter" is my favorite WR album and WR era with Miroslav my favorite WR bass player, although I have a major soft spot for Alphonso especially on "Mysterious Traveller" with "Cucumber Slumber". That other guy wasn't bad either! ;)

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to You and Your Family.
 
Jan recommended I play a Jan Hammer album . . . can do. :)

The Jan Hammer Group ~ Melodies
Nemperor, 1977

Jan_Hammer,_Melodies.jpg
 
Bob, it's so cool the Missus loves fusion, that is a match made in heaven for sure.

Your right WR had great bassists, especially 3 of them (plus others). Great fathomly foundation from MV, soul from AJ & creativity from JP, all with super technique.

AJ is a Philly guy (Philly bassists liken influences from local SC & also the Philly soul-sound, knowing they must "cut" it to be considered). AJ was great together with Cobham (like hand in glove) & Santana. AJ also works with 2 other local guys here, an acquaintance Rodney Holmes (from Santana, Breckers, Shorter) and Steve Kimock, whom also works with Rodney. Steve & I played together in our teens. The 3 of them also recorded an album together yet unreleased, from a studio in NE (recall it was J Mover's defunct NYC Skyline studio). Often any 2 or 3 of them are playing local spots all around here.

Right on, Miroslav really started it all for WR on Sweetnighter. Great anchor, yet so exploratory musically, and great chemistry, putting them on the map. Jaco did a lot for the bass world, not just for fretless voicing, but setting new territory with deep ideas & skills that interested most all bassists following.

Cool thing about WR with their inflection of a worldly-music integration into fusion is, some folks tell me they love WR's music, although are not jazz-fusion fans. I'm glad they "get" WR, and it shows how widespread & all encompassing WR reach throughout the world. Love their sound, it's proprietary to them only !

Cheers Good Buddy !
:beerchug:
 
Going back into the catalog, those 3 (AJ, RH, SK) did release an album in 2005, Steve Kimock Band - Eudemonic. It was mostly recorded at the Music Palace in NY, but some trax may have been at Skyline NYC. Mover told me he did record an album of the 3 of them at Skyline, unless these are 2 separate albums, 1 unreleased, I dunno. Eudemonic also has Jim Kost on keys, who circles among these fellows & is in RH's band, was in SKB & still works with Steve. Those early jams we had between 15 to 20 y.o. also had Jim there often at my parents' house as we jammed in the basement.

Rodney is on the dvd Wayne Shorter Montreux 1996 Live. The dvd features 3 seperate era bands, 1992 with Tony Williams, 1991 has Stanley Clarke, 1996 is RHolmes. Herbie H is on a lot of it too.

A really good jazz fusion cd (or stream) is Rodney Holmes - Twelve Months of October, on which Jim plays great synths. Amazon digital stream has 30 second clips of each song (about 14-15 tunes)...the guys played this album live a lot around here & it was great to meet up with Jim again. They used 2 different guitarists on nights dependant on scheduling. One I recall was Mitch Stein who was incredible. I forget the other live guitarist's name, but it was not of the 4 on the album (Stein, SK, 2 others), and this other live fellow was great too on opposite nites. They are finishing a new album any day now called Axiom ; I think it is also a fusion album. All these guys did a whole bunch of more albums together with various band names & lineups,...Lithium Tree, Percolator, Jim Weider, Hermanators, etc.

Twelve Months of October is recommended for fusion fans (and betting that Montreux dvd is worth checking out too) !
:beerchug:
 
Found this one, nice & clear, great audio & video, full concert of the Aristocrats among 2 other shows now on youtube at this time.

So nice to have the freedom of a 3 piece group, and they astound even without being keyboard driven nor in composition of instruments played.

Often they choose a different path, opening shows with very soft nuances & building into a pace, until it soon & continues as a blistering fusion fest.

This one is 2 1/2 hours full "in-studio" live concert with audience with pro shot cameras everywhere.

Gotta love MM's black Converse Chuck Taylor All Star hi-top bobos (that's a mouthful description !)

Aristocrats Live "Boing We'll Do It Live" not sure of date, full 2 1/2 hour concert.

Guthrie Govan -gtr
Brien Beller - bass
Marco Minnemann - drm

Just a hint...on these youtube vids we post here on AK, you can simply clic middle screen arrow to play (cool to sample), but better yet to fully engage & enjoy, clic upper top left corner of any vid posted here (on caption, if there) & it redirects straight to youtube to allow both full screen and (clic "show more" beneath vid) all the OP's liner notes, time stamps of each song, band members credits & bios history etc.

Also posting this because I think it is available to buy on dvd, I will for sure if so & must seek, and maybe others will buy it too. Believe it was issued on dvd just after their first cd release.

Great to watch now, as these often get pulled down from the tube, and then only way to see is to have the dvd if it was available. Here goes -

Aristocrats Live


Per lotsa these shows getting pulled down off the tube in time, the (other band mentioned in previous post) KENSO live Concert video footage is much harder to find. Some of their best seen was live NEARfest footage and some Progfest vids too, among others. These are found on dvd & full concerts were up on the tube some time ago but later pulled down. NEARfest live KENSO was simply mindblowing jazz-rock fusion video, captivating talent.

Happy to share this Aristocrats vid to all, it's super on big screen if possible. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year !!!
:)
 
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Found out the Aristocrats released 3 live dvd's - Boing, Culture Clash and Tres Caballeros. Have all 3 on the way here now, grabbed some deep holiday discounts just by luck. If buying, careful to check formatting - they are released 3 ways as cd or dvd or dvd with cd.

It was time to jump to Aristocrats as followed MM for years & finally got to see him live (2X) on his 1st USA visit, a few years ago. Have much of his solo releases, cd & dvd, and works with others. Aristocrats catalog has expanded with a few cd releases.

A friend who owns a NJ venue that only features Fusion & Prog artists is a hugh fan of both MM & Frank Zappa, like me too. We often said if those 2 guys' careers crossed at same time, the musical chemistry of them together would have been perfect. Plus, MM also has a super sense of humor, which aligns with FZ too. How else would you title 3 tunes on Boing as Sweaty Knockers, Cave Dweller (a nickname we had here for a coworker in past) and Blues F*ckers !
Her favourite band she books there live & on cds too is Aristocrats.

Like the Boing vid posted, MM said that last song title (BF) resulted in a parental advisory rating for their instrumental album ! He's right on about his intro dialogue on the blues - it can be great for some instruments, and is boing on other instruments played. So true, totally agree, and his writing of Blues F*ckers is both captivating musically, encompassing most blues foundations & humorous too, as he's known for. Plus, his soloing compelled me to buy the dvd before seeing the 2nd half of show. So, youtube does help artists get exposure & may secure some buys for the bands, used as a way to reach fans, if not over-shared.

The band has freedom as a 3 piece Brit, German & American unit. It also allows the complexity from fast multi-note signatures to be recorded well, as the 3 instruments breath easier, rather than mix into a swell of more players...likely engineers can capture them very well and this dvd has incredible audio (just based on posted vid so far) & precise pro-shot camera work too. It sounds exquisite patched into a home audio system, great headphones or home theater setup. Have to watch the 2nd half hopefully soon over the holidays.
 
Continuing the theme of 3 piece group fusion & notably leads us to UZEB, a great Canadian fusion band. Usually I mostly like keyboard driven bands or bands with great keyboardists, but some without deserve mention. UZEB has played with or without keys thru the years.

The 1988 to present lineup is my favourite, and has no keys -
Alain Caron-bass
Michel Cusson-gtr
Paul Brochu-drm

Other lineups included - Jean St. Jacques - keys, then Stephan Montanaro, then Sylvain Coutu and then Michel Cyr each following one another on keys.

Not sure if Caron & Cusson may briefly switch to a short keys part, or if they play keys at all, will need to check live footage or liner notes, but I don't think so.

So, this album, in full, (my fave) is sensational cover to cover, with only 2 slower slongs (near ballad tempo); the rest churn on with nod also to the Mingus classic covered.

Trax- (9)
1-Noisy Nights (4:30)
2-Spider (4:55)
3-Luna Mars (6:38)
4-New Hit (8:18)
5-Cool It (5:31)
6-Mister Bill (4:49)
7-Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (7:02) (Charles Mingus)
8-Wake Up Call (4:42)
9-Moe's Run (5:11)


Merry Christmas !
 
RE :
Kennedy Center Award show performance

Great Wayne Shorter received the award & is much deserving of that award. More should have been explained about how Shorter "progressed" jazz & jazz-fusion, notably both an icon & innovator to establish the entire fusion genre among only a handful of bands early on.

The Weather Report portion was anti-climatic to me, a let down, maybe expected too much.

WR name only mentioned, nothing more, song title not introduced. Trying hard not to be hyper critical, but "Elegant People" came off like a whole different composition.

Best part for me were the nice words Carlos Santana & Donald Fagen said whom both did not perform, but Renee Fleming faired far better than the All Star Jazz Tribute band.

Some of the world's greatest in that band, all with much respect from here, with this segment directed musically by T.L. Carrington.

Nutshell, it sadly missed it's mark musically. Notes were played, instrumentation was in place, soundscapes attempted, and the rendition "reached" in desperation, scratching for conformity. Theme of song ignored or simply was neither felt or conveyed.

Instead of depicting the title elegantly projected on people, the piece was played far from smooth or elegant, and T.Postma awfully straining on sax, as if read off a page robotically.

Immediately after Kennedy piece, I played the original WR work, which flowed effortlessly with intended elegance, waltz-like in it's own time signature, respectable, dignified with total conviction to theme.

What was missing in the difference....Joe Zawinul...plus the "essence" of Weather Report. WR played this as only a 5 piece & effectively, unlike the larger Kennedy band. This essence is what's so hard to get right about WR. Their textures sound organic with relaxed ease, missed sorely on the cover. We can't expect a cover band to capture this essence entirely, they are making a tribute - some choose to really change a song, others try to replicate it , as attempted here. I would finalize by calling the tribute "absent musically", much more about NOT what they did, but about what they did not do.

WR is much harder to get right than what lotsa folks believe, and elusively so. This "essence" is what made Weather Report unique, not just years of chemistry...it had more to do with a "connection", and the result was magical, which only Weather Report could do.

Of the 2 released cd tributes to WR, I quickly jumped on "Celebrating the Music of WR" (other release was "Mysterious Voyages") & a quick sampling to re-engage the auditory muscle memory. Hearing this again befits a better tribute to WR, probably engaged with more time involved & production, under superior musical direction.

These music award shows of any nature are becoming harder to watch year to year, much different than how they were produced in the '70's, even without today's technical advances. The very end half-hour of the Grammy Awards tv show (February) pays homage to many involved in past years thru all aspects of music, and that is worthwhile to tune in and absorb, with it's quick commemoratives.
 
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Jean-Luc Ponty - Aurora

Cover.JPG
Source: HP dc7600 Small Form Factor PC
Player: Winamp 2.95 with 250+ band Equalizer v1.62 for Winamp by Nevi
DAC: AudioQuest DragonFly v1.2
Preamplifier: B&K Components, Ltd. PT5
Amplifier: B&K Components, Ltd. ST125.2
Speakers: KLH 9154
 
Madhouse - 24

Cover.JPG
Source: HP dc7600 Small Form Factor PC
Player: Winamp 2.95 with 250+ band Equalizer v1.62 for Winamp by Nevi
DAC: AudioQuest DragonFly v1.2
Preamplifier: B&K Components, Ltd. PT5
Amplifier: B&K Components, Ltd. ST125.2
Speakers: KLH 9154
 
Jean-Luc Ponty Experience - Open Strings

Cover.JPG
Source: HP dc7600 Small Form Factor PC
Player: Winamp 2.95 with 250+ band Equalizer v1.62 for Winamp by Nevi
DAC: AudioQuest DragonFly v1.2
Preamplifier: B&K Components, Ltd. PT5
Amplifier: B&K Components, Ltd. ST125.2
Speakers: KLH 9154
 
Continuing the theme of 3 piece group fusion & notably leads us to UZEB, a great Canadian fusion band. Usually I mostly like keyboard driven bands or bands with great keyboardists, but some without deserve mention. UZEB has played with or without keys thru the years.

The 1988 to present lineup is my favourite, and has no keys -
Alain Caron-bass
Michel Cusson-gtr
Paul Brochu-drm

Other lineups included - Jean St. Jacques - keys, then Stephan Montanaro, then Sylvain Coutu and then Michel Cyr each following one another on keys.

Not sure if Caron & Cusson may briefly switch to a short keys part, or if they play keys at all, will need to check live footage or liner notes, but I don't think so.

So, this album, in full, (my fave) is sensational cover to cover, with only 2 slower slongs (near ballad tempo); the rest churn on with nod also to the Mingus classic covered.


Merry Christmas !

Happy New Year fusion fans!

The picture's a little blurry. I'm not much of drinker so maybe having one or two would help with that. :D

View attachment 1372803

I used to play Uzeb a lot when I was doing Jazz radio. A lot of Mahavishnu too.

This one's a great demo test song.

Impressive on a full range system or headphones is the deep fathomless subterranean bass & clean presentation all around.

Billy Cobham - Go For It !


Happy New Year 2019 !

Jean-Luc Ponty - Aurora


Interviewed both of those guys. Have to find those tapes!


Madhouse - 24

Isn't that the Prince pseudonym group? I.e. it's actually Prince under a different name? I think so...

GJ
 
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Isn't that the Prince pseudonym group? I.e. it's actually Prince under a different name? I think so...

GJ

Yes, it is, RhythmGJ. Prince purportedly wanted to take a break from rock/R&B/pop during the late 80s and this, along with post-Revolution bandmates (e.g. Eric Leeds on sax), was his foray into what I would rate as a good fusion of jazz horn riffs and funk. The collective released albums 8, 16, and 24 under the moniker "Madhouse." If I remember correctly, singles "8," "10," and "16" were released to support the albums as the ensemble never toured to support the material. Prince's main focus during that period was supporting Sign 'O the Times and Lovesexy.
 
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