1970s Jazz Fusion

The once derided musical hybrid that is 1970s Jazz Fusion has since become one of the most influential genres of music in jazz, rock, soul, and hip-hop.
The once derided musical hybrid that is 1970s Jazz Fusion has since become one of the most influential genres of music in jazz, rock, soul, and hip-hop. This book is a celebration of one of the most adventurous but unappreciated eras in popular music, wherein the traditional sounds of jazz were melded and mashed up with funk, soul, hard rock, and electronics. Even as they were accused of selling out and contaminating traditional jazz, artists like Miles Davis, Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra made some of the most creative and invigorating music of the era.
Full of the musicians' personal stories and anecdotes, this book provides a discussion of their albums and the cultural context for their music. That context also includes how these albums have been passed down through generations and have reverberated through the music of today, inspiring both hip-hop and electronic artists through sampling and contemporary jazz and soul artists who are less constrained by traditional genres. Though recorded decades ago, jazz fusion remains culturally vital and sonically thrilling to this very day.

Matthew Reed Baker has been a writer and editor for almost three decades. He was the research and arts editor at Boston Magazine for 14 years, where he is still a contributing editor, and has written for The Boston Globe Magazine, ForbesLife, and National Journal. He lives with his wife, two children, and their cat in the Boston area and Midcoast Maine.

Prelude: Jazz Has Never Been Pure, a strident manifesto about the past.
Chapter 1. The Promethean Leader: Miles Davis.
Chapter 2. The Everchanging Supergroup: Weather Report.
Chapter 3. The Funky Scientist: Herbie Hancock.
Chapter 4. Three Loud Visionaries: Tony Williams, John McLaughlin, and Chick Corea.
Chapter 5. Ten Crossover Virtuosos: Freddie Hubbard, Donald Byrd, Patrice Rushen, George Benson, Grover Washington Jr., and more.
Chapter 6. Two Pioneering Record Labels: CTI and ECM.
Chapter 7. Ten Jazzbo Rockstars: Joni Mitchell, Earth Wind & Fire, Frank Zappa, Santana, Steely Dan, and more.
Coda: Jazz Fusion Has Always Been Current, a joyous celebration to the present day.
10 Essential Tracks of 1970s Jazz Fusion
Select Bibliography