Well, certainly some fusion is just guitarwankery, Joe Satriani kind of comes to mind.
However I do like some fusion quite a bit; for all intents and purposes it is jazz, with all its chords & solos etc., it just doesn't have that old musty smell about it. It doesn't have that cache, which is not always bad. Not every wine has to be a cranky old red; there are some cool girly-drink and zimfandel jazz outfits out there.
Miles Davis apparently got pretty fusiony in his later years, I'm interested in checking out some stuff like that but I have a feeling most voices on the internet will recommend his more classic sounding albums.
I love Uzeb and Alain Caron, certainly there is some how-many-notes-can-we-jam-in to it, but their live stuff is pretty tight, therefore impressive. For me, it is jazz for the attention-span-impaired, which I certainly am. Even my acoustic guitar interests tend toward more high energy music, like what BNL did with Lovers In A Dangerous Time.
Scofield's Uberjam and Medeski Martin & Wood are fusion without all the wankery. They actually remind me of maybe hippie pot-induced jazz fusion. And I like what I have heard of the Allman Brothers.
As for the confusing waily moany stuff, I'm not sure who I'm referring to... sometimes when I turn on the radio and it's jazz, I think one of two things: a) geez that's old sounding, like in an old movie, that's just a showtune dolled up with 7th chords, or b)wow, how can you make any kind of progression or anything out of that music? How is it enjoyable at all?
I am going to take an orderly pathway through the second type of jazz, to see if I can make any sense of it. However I think that some of that kind of jazz is only comprehensible if you know the original standard, because they have extrapolated it out into some far corner of the universe. I think there is something wrong with any type of art, if you need a degree to get any appreciation of it. Why not just sit down and write a research paper instead? Ha ha. It's like designing a car that doesn't actually go anywhere. Or clothes that you can't wear in public... wait, they do that. hmph.
I am going to get a Thelonious Monk CD, Criss Cross is what I have figured might be good... we shall see. If I find it in Music World or the library or wherever. I am interested in wacky music; jazz, sure, but fusion is even better.
Anyone want me to post a Uzeb MP3? Anyone actually download the Scofield Chicken Dog? :P
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Date: 2005-06-10 10:10 pm (UTC)However I do like some fusion quite a bit; for all intents and purposes it is jazz, with all its chords & solos etc., it just doesn't have that old musty smell about it. It doesn't have that cache, which is not always bad. Not every wine has to be a cranky old red; there are some cool girly-drink and zimfandel jazz outfits out there.
Miles Davis apparently got pretty fusiony in his later years, I'm interested in checking out some stuff like that but I have a feeling most voices on the internet will recommend his more classic sounding albums.
I love Uzeb and Alain Caron, certainly there is some how-many-notes-can-we-jam-in to it, but their live stuff is pretty tight, therefore impressive. For me, it is jazz for the attention-span-impaired, which I certainly am. Even my acoustic guitar interests tend toward more high energy music, like what BNL did with Lovers In A Dangerous Time.
Scofield's Uberjam and Medeski Martin & Wood are fusion without all the wankery. They actually remind me of maybe hippie pot-induced jazz fusion. And I like what I have heard of the Allman Brothers.
As for the confusing waily moany stuff, I'm not sure who I'm referring to... sometimes when I turn on the radio and it's jazz, I think one of two things: a) geez that's old sounding, like in an old movie, that's just a showtune dolled up with 7th chords, or b)wow, how can you make any kind of progression or anything out of that music? How is it enjoyable at all?
I am going to take an orderly pathway through the second type of jazz, to see if I can make any sense of it. However I think that some of that kind of jazz is only comprehensible if you know the original standard, because they have extrapolated it out into some far corner of the universe. I think there is something wrong with any type of art, if you need a degree to get any appreciation of it. Why not just sit down and write a research paper instead? Ha ha. It's like designing a car that doesn't actually go anywhere. Or clothes that you can't wear in public... wait, they do that. hmph.
I am going to get a Thelonious Monk CD, Criss Cross is what I have figured might be good... we shall see. If I find it in Music World or the library or wherever. I am interested in wacky music; jazz, sure, but fusion is even better.
Anyone want me to post a Uzeb MP3? Anyone actually download the Scofield Chicken Dog? :P