Table of Contents 

Jazz & R&B Fusions

A) Jazz Fusion

1 – Jazz Rock – Jazz rock grew out during the psychedelic movement when certain bands started to incorporating jazz instruments and arrangements into their rock music. Up till the late 60s, jazz and rock had been separate genres, hardly ever crossing streams.

a – Rock bands – Established rock bands like Cream, Hendrix, the Doors the Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention mixed with newer bands like Soft Machine, Caravan, Colosseum, Spirit.

b – Jazz & R&B bands – Other bands came to rock from jazz like Blood Sweat & Tears, & Chicago (Transit Authority), Nucleus and the Canterbury scene.

c – Miles Davis – Miles Davis was pivotal in the fusion of jazz and rock, he helped bring a lot of new artists to the developing scene.  Albums “Bitches Brew” and “In a Silent Way”.

d – Frank Zappa – Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention or rather the various band incarnations were also pivotal and helped shape jazz fusion to the extremes. Albums like “Hot Rats”, “Gand Wazzoo” and “Waka/Jawaka”

 

2 – Jazz Fusion – The 70s brought in the first waves of strictly jazz fusion bands that went on to define the genre. Many of these bands would go on to considerable commercial success.

Bands like Weather Report, Return to Forever, John McLaughlin, Tony Williams Lifetime, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Nucleus and Herbie Hancock. Also Lenny White, Stanley Clarke, Pat Metheny and Jaco Pastorius.

3 – Jazz Fusion 80s & 90s – Jazz fusion continued to exist with Jeff Lorber, the Yellow Jackets, Tribal Tech, Chick Corea’s Elektric Band and

B) Smooth Jazz – Smooth Jazz developed in the 70s with a considerably more lighter sound influenced by R&B, funk, and pop of the late 70s.

1 – Smooth Jazz Pioneers – Artists like Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Chet Baker, Lee Ritenour, Spiro Gyra, Chuck Mangione, Grover Washington Jr., Sergio Mendes, Joe Sample and much more.

2 – Popular Smooth Jazz – In the 80s smooth jazz became very popular with artists like Al Jarreau, Kenny G, David Sanbourne, Tom Scott, Bob James and the Brecker brothers.

3 – Acid Jazz – Acid Jazz developed out of the late 80s combining electronica, sampling, DJ scratching with jazz. With artists like Donald Byrd and Roy Ayers.

4 – Nu Jazz – Live instrumentation with beats of “jazz house” with a wide range of styles. Artists like St. Germain, Jazzanova, Fila Brazillia, The Cinematic Orchestra, Kobol, Norwegian, Bugge Wesseltoft, Jaga Jazzist and Nils Petter Molvær.

5 – Jazz Rap – Gangsta, Stetsosonic, Jungle Brothers, Tribe Called Quest,  Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Guru, Common.