Although this discussion of jazz fusion vs jazz rock fusion will probably not bring peace on earth in my lifetime...I will still move forward because I believe there are a few important distinctions to be made. If Miles Davis decided to search and expand to new musical ground in the late 1960 - 1970's, the energy, sound, excitement and "TONE OF REVOLUTION" of Rock music became his newly claimed territory. There could be no easier term to describe the music that sprung from his adventures than a FUSION OF JAZZ AND ROCK. And of course, NO GUITAR MEANS NO ROCK. And that is why I believe that John Mclaughlin is the next most important figure in Jazz Rock Fusion after Miles. Mahavishnu challenged us all more than you may know. When John Mclaughlin & The Mahavishnu Orchestra hit the scene most rock guitar players I knew had a really tough decision to make...become inspired and strive for the "new standard" or ignore the new standard and crawl under a rock somewhere...OR QUIT! (DD and many others like myself went for the new standard!).
In retrospect, the sheer greatness of John Mclaughlin may have been a standard that was too unreachable for any rock guitarist of the day. Let me tell you a true story. My first Mahavishnu Orchestra concert was at Nassau Coliseum in Long Island NY. This freakin place was packed to the roof...A SPORTS ARENA!...shortly after this show i quit my rock band and devoted myself to studying Jazz and in particular the works of Mahavishnu and all of his fantastic adventures after that. BUT YOU CAN'T HAVE ROCK WITHOUT A GUITAR...and maybe that is why the artform has declined in popularity since then...most mainstrream jazz guitarists of the day protected their PURE JAZZ TERRITORY with a passion, prefering to stay with the already established timbres of jazz. If this new Jazz Rock Fusion was to survive it would need the support of rock musicians...to rise to the occasion...in particular GUITARISTS. It didn't happen...
Without a new legion of Rock Guitarists to adopt this new artform as their own, the field became absorbed by the instruments of jazz. Some Jazz musicians seeing the attendance at the Mahavishnu shows and the potential for reaching a wider audience electrified their sounds. The Post Miles Entourage joined in the fun however - They weren't Guitar Players ! Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul - no one can dispute the greatness of these men...but the timbres of this new JAZZ ROCK FUSION quickly became less of an emphasis on heavy guitar...it lost it's ROCK ELEMENTS...
JAZZ FUSION was a term that worked better for JAZZ MUSICIANS. The term "Jazz Fusion" forwarned their listeners that while they might be funky...there would no screaching guitars and pounding drums...go see a JAZZ ROCK FUSION show if you like that kind of stuff!
The Mahavishnu Orchestra may have disbanded...maybe a little too early...I just don't know if John Mclaughlin really ever new how much we needed him...how much he inspired us young rockers who became fusion freaks...but it seems like the real let down here is the rock music industry and it's guitar players...they just never seemed to have the courage to rise to the occasion to claim Jazz Rock Fusion as their own....maybe one exception...JEFF BECK
Daryll Dobson - 2/9/2008
