In my inaugural column I didn't even mention jazz fusion iproper, barely touched upon it in the comments, and yet it still managed to take over the comments thread with the classic argument of Fusion Sucks vs. Shut The Fuck Up. This could be a commentary on some of our Blogcritics writers/commenters (and it surely is), but even more to the point, it's a commentary on how fusion remains a controversial development almost 40 years after it arrived.
I've got a number of things to say in defense of jazz fusion - in fact, I've been working on ways to say them all week. But I've decided to break them up into a few installments, primarily because I realized that I can't really defend fusion without giving a solid definition of the music we're talking about. And to do that, I think I have to establish my own perspective, which includes giving more attention and credit for the movement to a man frequently overlooked or regarded as a second-tier fusion guy:
John McLaughlin.
Don't get me wrong. There can be absolutely no doubt that Miles Davis was, to borrow Howard Mandel's metaphor, jazz-rock fusion's commander-in-chief. It was he who recognized the inevitability of that direction; it was he who put together its first important ensembles and textures; it was he whose recordings established the genre, at least in the minds of the jazz audience; and it was he whose hand-picked musicians would soon venture off to become fusion's movers and shakers in their own right.
But let's be honest. Miles himself didn't really quite have the feel for rock that's necessary in a true fusion. For example, the mother of them all is supposed to be the 1969 Miles Davis album, Bitches Brew. But is it really? It would probably be more aptly described as an electric avant-garde album. Does the fact that most instruments are electric make something rock-oriented. by default? If so, that would make Benny Goodman’s orchestra (which had Charlie Christian, the first great star of the electric guitar in any genre) and Cannonball Adderley’s “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” quintet (which had electric organ player Joe Zawinul, the man who played that instrument on both In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew) both fusion bands as well. The backbeat? Bitches Brew doesn’t have a rock backbeat, but a funk one. They’re far from the same; indeed, the musicians who had pioneered funk rhythms for both Motown and James Brown were schooled jazz musicians.
No, sir. The only thing that gave Miles' 1969-70 fusion albums are real rock edge was the guitar.
For you see, not only was the guitar traditionally the dominant element in rock & roll, but it's crucial to remember that it was jazz that introduced the world to the electric guitar. Two big-band players, George Barnes and Eddie Durham, made the first-ever recordings with the instrument in 1938 (15 days apart); the following year, 23-year-old Charlie Christian auditioned for Benny Goodman as an electric guitarist, becoming a star and making the instrument famous.
Article comments
1 - Pico
You didn't disappoint, Michael, this is very insightful study on Johnny Mac. The statement "He and Miles stand toe-to-toe in that sub-genre's pantheon: Miles, the man with the vision, and McLaughlin, the only one who knows how to execute it." hits the nail on the head.
His first three solo records "Extrapolation," "My Goals Beyond," and "Devotion" are all extraordinary and yet so diametrically opposed to each other, and unjustly overshadowed by his Mahavishnu work, IMO. But there's no argument from me that McLaughlin is a key figure in the development of fusion, and without him, fusion could have likely gone down a completely different path.
2 - Mark Saleski
great writeup michael....though i have to say that my favorite McLaughlin comes from the trio he had with Triloc Gurtu and...oh shoot, who was it now dangit?! uh, Jonas Helborg? a sort of mini-Shakti.
3 - zingzing
i am reserving judgment... reserving... man, it's pushing at me like a 2 mile line for the toilet the morning after octoberfest... all lubed up with coffee and nicotine... i can smell the judgment already, and it smells awful. awful judgment.
4 - Phil Peters
I don't necessarily disagree but your point about Bitches brew having a funk backbeat is correct. That was fusion... (I was listening back then, coming from Allman Brothers to Return to Forever & Mahavishnu Orch and backwards)not Jazz-Rock. Bass players, Harvey Brooks,Dave Holland and most especially Michael Henderson helped make Miles Electric Bands Fusion
5 - Michael J. West
Phil, what? I think you're either missing a negatory syllable or you added an extra one. You don't disagree, but you think I'm right?
Let me get to what I think you're trying to say: you will never, ever hear me say a negative word about Dave Holland's work. In addition to his brilliant bass on Miles' records from Bitches Brew on, and his breathtaking early solo records like Conference of the Birds (hasn't somebody, somewhere, done a piece on that at BC? Or am I misremembering?) he is to the best of my knowledge leading the single best jazz band in the world today. But he didn't play NEARLY the part that McLaughlin did in creating fusion, on Miles' records or anywhere else.
6 - Michael J. West
Pico and Mark, I'm amused (in a good way) that each of us agrees on McLaughlin's place in fusion's ranks, but that each person has a different favorite of his work. That, to my mind, is one of the marks of a great musician: he has so many different aspects, all of them great.
7 - Pico
"breathtaking early solo records like Conference of the Birds (hasn't somebody, somewhere, done a piece on that at BC? Or am I misremembering?) "
Why yes, Michael, someone has ;&)
clicky clicky
8 - Mean Bunny
I also agree that John McLaughlin is the most important figure in the "fusion" movement. His sense of abandon and risk-taking combined with his mind-boggling virtuosity and originality captured the "edge" of rock 'n roll combined with the harmonic sophistication of jazz in a way that NONE of his contemporaries (in either rock or jazz) could ever match. Putting all the descriptives aside, he simply was and is one of the most original, creative musicians of our times. What more could a music fan ask for?