# Fusion music?



## Brendan G (Oct 5, 2008)

I've recently been getting into the genre of fusion, so can any recommend me any good bands? I haven't heard that many specific bands, so just name fusion artists/bands you like.


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## kung_fu (Oct 5, 2008)

Weather Report
Mahavishnu Orchestra
Return To Forever
Chick Corea's Electric Band
Tribal Tech
Ohm
Brecker Brothers (Mike and Randy)
Eleventh House
Tony William's Lifetime
Miles Davis (late 1960s-1980s)
Billy Cobham/George Duke band
CAB
Dixie Dreggs (sorta)
Brand X

Guitar Players: 

Scott Henderson
Allan Holdsworth
Al Di Meola
John McLaughlin
Mike Stern
Frank Gambale
Jeff Beck
John Abercrombie
Lary Coryell
John Scofield
Pat Metheny


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## stuh84 (Oct 5, 2008)

Shawn Lane also has elements of fusion, Charlie Hunter sort of does, except his is more of funk and blues mixed with jazz rather than rock, still, very good and well worth listening to


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## distressed_romeo (Oct 6, 2008)

In addition to the guys people have mentioned, try...

Bill Connors
Hiromi Uehara
Brett Garsed/TJ Helmerich
Derryl Gabel
Scott McGill
Bruford
Vital Tech Tones (Scott Henderson, Victor Wooten and Steve Smith)
Ngyuen Li
Bill Frisell
Richard Hallebeek
Greg Howe
Vernon Reid (when he's not with Living Colour)
Jaco Pastorius
Stanley Clarke

You could also check out blues-fusion guys like Larry Carlton, Carl Verheyen, Robben Ford and Don Mock, and rock-fusion type stuff like Joey Tafolla's later stuff and Magnus Olson.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Oct 6, 2008)

Gilgamesh
Gamalon
Caravan
Mahavishnu Orchestra
Emerson, Lake & Palmer (their big pieces and most of Trilogy, anyway)
Weather Report/Jaco Pastorius
Jean Luc Ponty


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## Matt Crooks (Oct 6, 2008)

Herbie Hancock, _Headhunters_, if you like it funky.


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## distressed_romeo (Oct 6, 2008)

Jonas Helborg and Mathias Ekhlund's Art Metal band.


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## rahul_mukerji (Oct 6, 2008)

Prasanna


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## kung_fu (Oct 6, 2008)

SchecterWhore said:


> Jean Luc Ponty



How could I forget him! "Enigmatic Ocean" is one of my fav fusion albums



Matt Crooks said:


> Herbie Hancock, _Headhunters_, if you like it funky.



Another classic I overlooked.


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## jacksonplayer (Oct 6, 2008)

You guys pretty much have it covered. Let me recommend a few specific albums for Brendan to start out with. I'm sticking mostly with the vintage '70s stuff, since that's my favorite.

Mahavishnu Orchestra - "Inner Mounting Flame". John McLaughlin basically invented shred guitar with this album in 1971, only his version of shred involves both raw fire and overall musical sophistication, rather than just chops. The whole band was beyond amazing.

Return to Forever - "The Anthology". Recently released album that covers everything worth hearing from the electric versions of RTF, in better sound than the originals. Two long CDs full of incredible playing from Al DiMeola, Bill Connors, Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, and Lenny White.

Stanley Clarke - "School Days". This is a top-five fusion album that features amazing amounts of incredible bass playing from Stanley. I get inspired every time I listen to it. Lots of great electric guitar playing from the underrated Ray Gomez, too, as well as some nice acoustic work by John McLaughlin.

Herbie Hancock - "Head Hunters". No guitar on this one, but lots of incredibly tight funk/jazz fusion, and an alltime classic. I actually prefer the follow-up album, "Thrust", but beginners are probably better off sticking with "Head Hunters".

Gong - "Gazeuse!". Some of Allan Holdsworth's finest playing, in a more accessible context than a lot of his solo albums. This was the first fusion album by Gong, which had previously been a progressive rock band. This new version of Gong was led by drummer Pierre Moerlen and featured three percussionists, so there is a lot of interesting and unusual stuff going on, in addition to great playing by Holdsworth and saxophonist Didier Malherbe.

Shawn Lane/Jonas Hellborg/Kofi Baker - "Abstract Logic". One of the few studio albums released by the Lane/Hellborg combo, and a great introduction to this band--it doesn't get quite as ethereal and long-winded as some of their live albums (which I also love).

It's hard for me to recommend a specific Weather Report album, because the band changed so much over the course of its existence. My favorite WR album is "Sweetnighter", which was a funk-oriented album from 1973, but the one most people gravitate toward is "Heavy Weather", a more 'pop fusion' style album from 1977 that features Jaco Pastorius on bass. You can't go wrong either way. Once you get the WR bug, you'll end up getting their entire damned catalog!


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## kmanick (Oct 6, 2008)

if you're going back to the 70's stuff don't leave out
Billy Cobham -"Spectrum".
there's some great material on that album.
Jeff Beck - "Blow by Blow and "Wired" . those 2 albums were my introduction to "fusion" (ya I'm an old fugger)


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## Seven (Oct 6, 2008)

Guthrie Govan.


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## Seedawakener (Oct 6, 2008)

three videos worthy of !

Brecker brothers - Some Skunk Funk (This version is so hysterically fast... )



Quid Pro Quo - A musical Oasis awaits you (Garsed is fucking god!)



Hiromi Uehara - Return of the kung fu world champion (Hot and totally amazing at piano/Keyboards)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00fKuTD52gQ


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## jacksonplayer (Oct 6, 2008)

Good call on "Spectrum"--I forgot about that one. Another top-five fusion album, definitely.

A modern fusion album I would recommend is Tribal Tech's "Thick". Scott Henderson and the band play some amazing stuff on that album, which is a little more improvised and less worked-out than other TT albums.

I love Guthrie Govan, but he seems more like a rock player and not so much of a fusion guy. The problem with calling a lot of the shred guitar music "fusion" is that it doesn't feature much band interplay, since it's all about the guitar. Most of the great fusion albums feature great band work in addition to great soloing. I suppose it's all a matter of opinion. Personally, I'd love it if guys like Govan got involved in great fusion band situations. Economics, unfortunately, makes that difficult these days, I'd say.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Oct 6, 2008)

kung_fu said:


> How could I forget him! "Enigmatic Ocean" is one of my fav fusion albums



Most people I speak to don't know the man, sadly. The Enigmatic Ocean theme is just sublime, but I can see how it could go under the radar.


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## Adriatic (Oct 26, 2008)

FusionGroovin - Instrumental Jazz Rock Fusion Internet Radio -- Smokin' fusion, with a groove!

ive only just recently got into fusion as well... fusiongroovin plays most of the above mentioned...

as does this station which i just found last night.....

http://www.live365.com/stations/ifuse


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## kung_fu (Oct 28, 2008)

Another really cool website with rare audio and video clips

:: JazzFusion.TV - official website ::


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## Ciprian (Oct 31, 2008)

jacksonplayer said:


> I love Guthrie Govan, but he seems more like a rock player and not so much of a fusion guy. The problem with calling a lot of the shred guitar music "fusion" is that it doesn't feature much band interplay, since it's all about the guitar. Most of the great fusion albums feature great band work in addition to great soloing. I suppose it's all a matter of opinion. Personally, I'd love it if guys like Govan got involved in great fusion band situations. Economics, unfortunately, makes that difficult these days, I'd say.



Don't forget his jazz-fusion side-project, "The Fellowship":


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## jacksonplayer (Oct 31, 2008)

Ciprian said:


> Don't forget his jazz-fusion side-project, "The Fellowship"



Dude, that's fuckin' sweet!!!

Guthrie ought to release some live recordings of that band, even if they're just feeds off the soundboard. I'd totally buy that.

Is there anything that guy can't play?

Edit: I just went to his forum and saw that there was a live cd and dvd of this band available at some point, though the distribution appears to have been somewhat ad hoc.


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## Zac (Nov 3, 2008)

Matt Crooks said:


> Herbie Hancock, _Headhunters_, if you like it funky.



Excellent album.

I can't recommend anyone that hasn't already been said. Consider checking out:
-Elements by Atheist
-A Sceptic's Universe by Spiral Architect
-Focus by Cynic
for some very jazz-influenced, as well as quite technical, Metal.


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## progmetaldan (Jan 8, 2009)

Ciprian said:


> Don't forget his jazz-fusion side-project, "The Fellowship":




I definately have to check that out, thanks!


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## nespythe (Jan 9, 2009)

Looks like I'm going to have to hang on to this thread, I've been on somewhat of a fusion kick lately. Loving Mahavishnu Orchestra and Planet X with Derek Sherinian. I also found this fusion band called Mindflowers. Mind-blowing stuff.


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## progmetaldan (Jan 9, 2009)

Planet X is amazing, which albums have you heard? I particularly love Moonbabies (with Tony MacAlpine) and Quantum (with Brett Garsed). Virgil Donati on the drums is a monster!


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## CC323 (Jan 10, 2009)

Brendan G said:


> I've recently been getting into the genre of fusion, so can any recommend me any good bands? I haven't heard that many specific bands, so just name fusion artists/bands you like.


 
Allan Holdsworth, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, Jaco Pastorius, Bill Frisell, Wayne Krantz, Frank Zappa, Frank Gambale, Chick Corea, Tony Williams, Miles Davis, hmmmm

That's a good start.

Can't forget Jack Grassel and Kirk Tatnall.


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