Results tagged “fusion” from Jazz Beyond Jazz

The phenomenon of Guitar Hero is unaccountable to most musicians. Why would anyone spend hours miming moves with a fake instrument when given similar time investment you could make music yourself, live, and with friends? Nonetheless, the game is the Christmas season's most highly anticipated music item. As for disappointing early sales reports for "World Tour," its just-released new edition, aren't sales down for everything, everywhere?

Here's my flick at stimulating the music economy -- consumer alerts to recommended new cds by guitar heroes who can really play: David Fiuczynski, Mary Halvorson, Toninho Horta,Charlie Hunter, Bireli Lagrene, plus special mentions of Rez Abassi, Bruce Eisenbeil's Totem and Elvin Bishop.

Loud, fast and chopsy -- that was the definition of "jazz-rock fusion" assumed by panelists (including me)  in a Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Matters public panel discussion of "Fusion at 40" held in conjunction with the headline appearance of  Return To Forever at the Ottawa Jazz Festival.

RTF -- introduced by pianist Chick Corea in 1974 to comprise guitarist Al DiMeola, bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White -- is a banner act at jazz fests most everywhere this summer. This lineup is together for the first time since 1983, its tour promoted as a 25-year anniversary and accompanied by a two-cd retrospective album (Return To Forever The Anthology) which has gangstered much jazz magazine coverage. RTF meets the loud, fast and chopsy criteria, sorta. But the supergroup was born several minutes past fusion's finest hour, and its members' collaboration honestly shows their age.