My Top 7 Favorite Jazz-Fusion Albums.
Albums from my own collection.
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These are some of my favorite fusion albums from the 1970's. I was introduced to this genre of music when I was learning bass guitar in high school around 1978. As a practicing beginner bassist, I was immediately attracted to the level of musicianship on many of these albums. Some of the local rock stations around Milwaukee and Chicago would set aside four-hour long shows from 8pm to midnight every Sunday night, and they would play entire albums of fusion music. It was the first time I could ever begin to comprehend the significance of strange, odd time signatures in music. Some of my biggest influences in bass guitar came from this short-lived era. Names like Chuck Rainey, Jaco Pastorius, Kim Stone and of course, Stanley Clarke. There were also some insane guitarists from this era too, like Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, Jeff Beck, Larry Carlton, Allan Holdsworth, Pat Metheny, Emily Remler and John Scofield, just to name a few. Then one of my fellow band mates turned me onto a violinist by the name of Jean-Luc Ponty. Imagine that - a fusion violinist. The list of notable names in the fusion world goes on seemingly forever. These albums were some of the greats that I was listening to back then, and still listen to to this day. Maybe you remember some of them too.
1) Land of the Midnight Sun (1976) - Al Di Meola
Prior to hearing this album for the first time as a teenager, I had no idea that people other than Eddie Van Halen could play that fast on the guitar. This album has all the greats playing on it to. Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorius and Steve Gadd.
2) School Days (1976) - Stanley Clarke
I was told about this album from a senior in my school. I walked in on him in the band room practicing the bass to this album. I asked, "Who is that!?" He told me who it was, then he told me that if I was going to learn how to play the bass guitar, I needed to get this album. So I did...that afternoon.
3) Aja (1977) - Steely Dan
I don't care if purists don't recognize this album as fusion - I absolutely do! Everyone who was anyone back then, is on this masterpiece album. The title track "Aja" is arguably the most incredible song ever recorded. Okay, so that's just my opinion. Maybe it's because this album means so much to me that I am a bit biased.
4) Heavy Weather (1977) - Weather Report
I think someone brought this album into the band room one afternoon, and it was the first time I ever heard "Birdland". Then I heard "Teen town" and almost never picked up my bass guitar again. Jaco was otherworldly in his playing. Such a huge iconic album!
5) Enigmatic Ocean (1977) - Jean-Luc Ponty
A violin fusion album that sounded so incredibly unique that you almost forgot that you were listening to a violin. Alan Holdsworth's guitar work on this album is staggering. Journey's Steve "Machine gun" Smith plays drums on this album. I'll bet you didn't know he was a fusion drummer.
6) Three (1976) - Bob James
Okay, so I didn't actually own this album. I did have a copy of the cassette tape until I lent it to a friend, and I never got it back. I have always loved the song "Westchester Lady" from this album. I've mentioned this before in another article that this song will always remind me of the city of Chicago. Great album, great song.
7) Morning Dance (1979) - Spyro Gyra
I was turned onto Spyro Gyra when the jazz band I was in, in high school played, "Heliopolis" from this album. I practiced the bass to this album countless times. I think I learned more about playing bass from many of those early Spyro Gyra albums than from any other source.
Again, these were some of the first fusion albums I grew up knowing. It wouldn't be for a few more years that I would learn much more about other bands/artists like Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Herbie Hancock and Pat Metheny and the countless contributions by so many other top-rated musicians of the fusion era, provided on thousands of albums. To me, the 1970's jazz fusion era was one of the greatest in all of American music. So glad that I grew up listening to such amazing music.