Jazz Fusion

Jazz fusion is a style of Jazz music that arose in the late 1960s, predicated on the usage of electric instrumentation and the incorporation of elements of various other styles of music, such as the Rock and Funk music popular at the time, Rhythm & Blues, or Traditional Folk Music.

Jazz fusion's sound is rooted firmly in the jazz tradition through its instrumentation and basis in improvisation with a focus on distinct soloists; however there are many characteristics by which it may be sonically distinguished. One such is its near-universal inclusion of electric instrumentation, especially electric guitars and keyboards, which were uncommon in jazz (although not unheard of) up until the genre's birth. Another is fusion's relative harmonic simplicity compared to other types of jazz, which again reflects its "fusing" with generally harmonically simpler genres. A third is the replacement of many traditional compositional elements of jazz with those of rock, funk, or other styles. For example, in fusion, rhythm sections tend to support soloists through "vamping", or repeating smaller composed phrases, while other jazz styles tend towards "comping", which is largely improvised, and much more reactive towards a soloist. Fusion's overarching song forms, however, are generally more open and improvisational. Modal Jazz and Post-Bop, jazz styles focused on formal openness and an eschewing of many traditional elements of jazz composition and harmony, paved the way for fusion. Working from a background in these styles, trumpeter Miles Davis's experiments on albums such as In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew were among the earliest to work with the sonic vocabulary described above. Not only did these albums sell very well (especially for jazz music at the time), but virtually all of the sidemen who played on them went on to make highly commercially successful and influential jazz fusion as bandleaders. Jazz fusion would be one of the last styles of jazz to achieve such success.

Through the 1970s, numerous other approaches to fusion were developed from this basis, from the avant-garde "free fusion" of Ornette Coleman & Prime Time to the synthesizer-focused approach of Herbie Hancock. Fusion evolved in parallel with Jazz-Rock (a term originally synonymous with fusion which grew to refer to a distinct, non-jazz style), with many artists making music in both or a combination of the two styles. It was a basis for Jazz-Funk's development, particularly through Hancock's work throughout the 1970s. As the genre entered the 1980s, growing influence on it from Pop and rhythm & blues gave birth to Smooth Jazz. Fusion has also been influential in the development of Chamber Jazz.