Jazz Fusion Guitar - Freedom of Expression

Jazz fusion guitar music involves the blending of jazzguitar music. During this period, Chick Corea's band
music along with other musical styles like rock,that began with latin-style music switched to jazz
rhythm and blues, soul, world music, etc. Theserock around 1973. There was plenty of jazz fusion
various forms of music and the different techniquesguitar music with bassist Stanley Clarke, Pastorius and
are mixed with those of jazz to produce jazz fusionDi Meola, who are said to be among the most
music. This style gained the maximum popularityinfluential at this time. Di Meola went in to record his
during the 1970s with several albums being releasedsolos with his jazz fusion guitar playing.
featuring jazz fusion guitar music by various artists.In 1971, John McLaughlin's jazz rock band, the
As time went by, many jazz musicians wereMahavishnu Orchestra had an elite set of members -
acknowledged for their virtuosity and they wereBilly Cobham at the drums and Jan Hammer, the
highly skilled at composing and improvising even withmaster of keyboard. In fact, McLaughlin played his
very difficult meters. Examples are Dave Brubeck andjazz fusion guitar music on a double-necked guitar,
Don Ellis. You won't usually find vocals in jazz fusionexperimenting and recording some beautiful solos.
guitar music.The Current Trend
The Beginnings Of Jazz Fusion Guitar MusicThe trend continues today with a number of rock
Roughly around the end of the 1960's Miles Davisgroups being influenced by jazz and including jazz
along with Tony Williams initiated the concept offusion guitar solos in their music. Among the best
fusion using the electric jazz fusion guitar and bassknown that were extremely successful are Jeff
guitar combined with the electric piano. Later on,Beck, Coryell and Pat Metheny with some great jazz
musicians like Chick Corea, Jan Hammer, etc. includedfusion in recent times.
synthesizers.The great thing about jazz fusion is that it creates a
During this time, several rock artists began to leanfeeling of oneness by blending different musical
towards jazz fusion guitar music. An early example isstyles. Today, there is a lot of commercialization with
"The Byrds", whose style was influenced by Coltrane.jazz mixed rock and pop, mostly in the soft rock
Close on their heels came Paul Butterfield and Mikegenre of music. We have Lee Ritenour, Kenny G, Al
Bloomfield with their lengthy improvisations. This wasJarreau, all with huge fan followings.
followed by the heavy inclusion of jazz fusion guitarScott Henderson is a jazz fusion guitarist who was
music by artists such as Jimi Hendrix, The Allmanwith Chick Corea and Zawinul. His band, Tribal Tech
Brothers Band, Chicago, Chase, Yes, Soft Machinehas recorded several jazz fusion pieces.
and several others. They all had rock music songsAnother very notable jazz fusion guitarist is Allan
with jazz style instrumental improvisations. ThenHoldsworth who has consistently performed for over
came Frank Zappa with his jazz rock album Hot Ratstwo decades. The list goes on with greats such as
which set the tone for many more. He was an iconJohn Scofield, Kazumi Watanabe of Japan, Christian
for the jazz fusion genre.McBride (bass), Shawn Lane and many others.
Herbie Hancock has the credit for popularizing jazzFinally, jazz fusion guitar music has resulted in a
funk in the 1970's, and also for being the first to usefeeling of freedom with the blending of various styles
synthesizers, but eventually he mostly made popof music leading to a better understanding and
music. In the UK, Soft Machine pioneered jazz fusionappreciation of jazz for its expressiveness.