1) As Lewis Porter states, Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Crouch, ″appear to believe that in order to be considered jazz, music must include the blues, improvisation, swing feeling, and what they call ′the Latin tinge′.″ While such a definition has merit, di

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Musical Example: Chase, “Open Up Wide” I. Appealing to the youth market/Blending jazz and rock

A. Historical precedence 1. Previous attempts to bridge the gap between jazz and classical

music: James P. Johnson, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, Gunther Schuller, Charles Mingus,

B. Revival of big bands 1. Mid- to late-60s

a) Former Harry James Drummer Buddy Rich forms a band in 1966 (1) Comprised of a few experienced jazz soloists and young

musicians fresh out of college – this becomes the template for many of these revived big bands.

(2) In 1966 and 67 records Stevie Wonder’s “Up Tight,” the Beatles “Norwegian Wood,” and Sonny and Cher’s “The Beat Goes On.”

Musical examples: Buddy Rich Big Band, “Love for Sale” and “Something” b) Clarinetist Woody Herman revives his late 40s band “The

Thundering Herd.” (1) Like Rich, uses mostly young musicians. (2) The Herd covers The Doors, “Light My Fire.”

c) Former Stan Kenton high note trumpet player, Maynard Ferguson.

(1) Pop chart success with his versions of “MacArthur Park” in 1970 and “The Theme to Rocky” in 1976. Musical example: Maynard Ferguson, “Hey Jude”

d) Don Ellis (1934-1978), also forms a more avant garde/youth oriented version of Kenton.

(1) Many of these bands covered rock tunes. Don Ellis plays Isley Brothers “It’s your Thing,” Three Dog Night’s “Eli’s Coming” and wins an Oscar for his score to The French Connection.

(2) Ellis was fascinated with odd and unusal time signatures.

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(3) “33 222 1 222” from Live at Monterey, is in 19/8 time (the number corresponds to the metrical subdivisions of the piece). Musical example: Don Ellis, “33 222 1 222”

e) Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra (1) Composer, arranger, trumpeter Thad Jones (brother of

Elvin and Hank Jones) with drummer Mel Lewis (2) Long standing gig at the Village Vanguard

(a) Current Vanguard Orchestra is the legacy of this band. Musical Examples: Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, “Groove Merchant”

C. Transition to Rock 1. In the late 60s, a number of American rock musicians began

looking to jazz for inspiration. a) The first groups focused more on the blues.

(1) Blues Project and Electric Flag; similar to British bands like the Yardbirds or the Animals or RnB groups/performers like James Brown.

b) Blood, Sweat, and Tears (1) Founded by ex-Bob Dylan and Blues Project keyboardist,

Al Kooper. (2) Featured New York studio musicians on horns.

(a) Randy Brecker (b) Lew Soloff

Musical Example: BS&T, “God Bless the Child” c) Chicago (originally, Chicago Transit Authority). d) Chase.

(1) Founded by Bill Chase, lead trumpet for Woody Herman in the early 60s

(2) A rock band featuring 4 trumpets. Musical Example: Chase, “Get It On.”

D. Jazz to Rock/Funk Musical Example: Herbie Hancock, “Hidden Shadows”

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1. Late 60s early 70s Miles Davis a) 1968 Files de Kilimanjaro, mixed accoustic instruments

and electronic instruments, plus included two tracks with pianist Chick Corea and bassist Dave Holland

b) 1969 album, In a Silent Way, which was not only performed on electronic instruments (i.e., electric bass, electric piano, electric guitar) but also had an entirely new approach.

Musical Example: Davis, “In a Silent Way” c) 1969 Bitches Brew

(1) Influenced by Funk (2) Davis was listening to Sly and the Family Stone, Jimi

Hendrix and James Brown. (3) What is funk?

(a) Funk, at least as it has come to be defined: (i) African-American musical style (ii) Emerges in the late 60s out of popular RnB and

Soul styles (iii) Features an Afro-centric, horizontal approach to

rhythm (iv) Generally, in West African music, rhythmic

patterns are layered. (b) Improvisational freedom

Musical Examples: Stevie Wonder, “Superstition” and Miles Davis, “Miles Runs the Voodoo Down”

E. Miles Davis’ motivations 1. Critics accused Davis of wanting to make money.

a) Jazz had fallen off the record buyer’s radar. b) Trying to achieve commercial popularity was considered

negatively by this time. 2. Davis wanted his music to be socially relevant to a larger audience.

a) Stated that he realized that despite rock musicians relative lack of knowledge and study of music, in general, they were providing audiences with a sound they wanted to hear and that they responded to.

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3. On the Corner (1972) a) Shows the influence of Sly and the Family Stone b) Instrumentation: 2 drums, 2 percussion, 1 tabla (Indian

percussion instrument), guitar, bass, sitar (Indian string instrument), sax and bass clarinet, trumpet.

Musical Example: “On The Corner” c) The intro to the second track, “Black Satin” features Indian

instruments and electronic noises d) Influenced by classical avant-garde composer in Karlheinz

Stockhausen. Musical Example: “Black Satin”

4. Following the 1974 live recordings Agharta and Pangaea, Miles retires. a) Health became a major issue.

5. Returns to performing in 1981 (We Want Miles) F. Fusion the second wave: Miles’ followers

1. Herbie Hancock a) Sextet

(1) Employs African and electronic (synthesizers) elements (2) Band members adopt African names: Mwandishi (Herbie

Hancock), Mwile (Benny Maupin), Mganga (Eddie Henderson), (Pepo) Julian Priester, Mchezaji (Buster Williams), Jabali (Billy Hart)

(3) African inspired album art

Musical Example: “Rain Dance”

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b) Headhunters (the group and album name) Hancock transforms the group into a more “Sly” influenced group.

(1) The album Headhunters is a massive success.

Musical Example: “Chameleon”

c) Throughout the late 70s and 80s, Hancock will play both mainstream jazz and fusion, highlighted by the MTV hit “Rock It.”

2. Chick Corea and Return to Forever a) Initially formed a Free Jazz ensemble named Circle

featuring Anthony Braxton, Dave Holland, and Barry Altschul.

b) Later formed Return to Forever with bassist Stanley Clarke (1) Lush harmonies (2) Melodies (3) Latin rhythms (4) Brilliant manipulation of electrical, electronic, and

acoustical timbres Musical Example: “Spain”

3. Mahavishnnu Orchestra – John McLaughlin a) High volume w/ complex fusions of Indian/jazz/rock. b) Influential of some of the more avant-garde English

progressive rock. Musical Example: “Birds of Fire”

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4. Weather Report – featuring Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul, Miroslav Vitous and later Jaco Pastorious. a) Keyboard oriented. b) Melody lines often played by the bass, especially in the

upper register Musical Example: “Birdland”

G. Was it jazz? 1. Why yes?

a) Retains elements of the blues. b) Improvisation based. c) Most of these musicians have strong credentials in jazz.

2. Why not? a) It doesn’t swing. b) It has left much of the harmonic language, articulation and

phrasing behind. H. Ultimately, for many of the musicians, fusion may have been a dead end.

1. Late 1970s Smooth Jazz a) Chuck Mangione, Spyro Gyra, George Benson, and the

Jeff Lorber Fusion (fea. Kenny G). Musical Example, Chuck Mangione, “Feels So Good”

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II. End of the 70s

Musical Example: World Saxophone Quartet, “Hattie Wall” (1980) Fea. Julius Hemphill, alto sax; Oliver Lake, alto sax; David Murray, tenor sax; Hamiet Bluiett, bari. sax. A. Other Fusion groups.

1. Brecker Brothers a) Randy – trumpet, Michael – Tenor Saxophone.

(1) Popular studio musicians; recorded heavily on jazz and pop recordings of the 70s and 80s.

b) First album included alto saxophonist David Sanborn and bassist Will Lee (Lee has been with the David Letterman show band since the early 80s). c) Aggressive, RnB sound. Musical examples: “Rocks” and “Some Skunk Funk” (Live)

2. Jack Dejohnette, drummer a) In the 70s, combined elements of fusion, free jazz, and mainstream jazz. Musical Example: Jack Dejohnette’s Directions, “Steppin’ Through” (fea. Alex Foster, tenor sax)

3. Pat Metheny, guitar a) Emerges in the late 70s; still recording. b) His 1980 record 80/81, with Michael Brecker and Dewey Redman on tenor sax, Jack Dejohnette drums, Charlie Haden bass. Musical Example: “Turnaround”

III. Women Composers/Arrangers – late 70s early 80s A. Composers/Arrangers

1. Toshiko Akiyoshi, pianist/leader of Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabakin Big Band.

a) Band existed from early 1970s until 2003. b) Incorporates Japanese elements into her compositions. Musical Examples: “Road Time Shuffle” (1976) and “Kogun” (1974) c) Important extended composition Minimata (1978).

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2. Carla Bley – less traditional, more avant-garde. Often uses latin and gospel elements in her music.

a) Began as a performer in Michael Mantler’s Jazz Composers Orchestra in the late 1960s/early 1970s. b) Tours with the Carla Bley Band (small big band) and her Big Band (full size big band). Musical Example: “Blunt Object” (1981) c) Bley also does all of the arrangements for Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra.

(1) Liberation Music Orchestra has a strong political agenda – uses Central American and South American revolutionary songs as source material. (2) Haden passed away July, 2014.

Musical example: “Spiritual” (fea. Ray Anderson, trombone) IV. Jazz in the 1980s

Musical example: Marcus Roberts “Spiritual Awakening” (1989) (fea. Herbert Harris, sax)

A. The Young Lions: the Jazz Repertory/Neo-Conservative movement. 1. Resurgence of “mainstream jazz” in the 1980s.

a) Reaction against late 60s/70s fusion and avant-garde b) Embraces jazz of the 1950s. c) It reflects a lot of larger trends in society.

(1) In the 1980s there was a general reaction against some of the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s (i.e., the sexual revolution and rampant drug use).

d) While the conservative turn in jazz wasn’t necessarily a political gesture or a religious or moral turn, it did look back to a musical period prior to the rise of fusion. e) “Young Lions” – name given to young jazz musicians who embrace mainstream jazz and reject the avant garde and fusion jazz from the 60s and 70s.

2. The most prominent of this generation is trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.

a) Born in New Orleans in 1961. (1) Jazz family: father Ellis (piano); brothers Branford (tenor sax; b. 1960), Delfayo (trombone, producer; b. 1965), Jason (drums; b. 1977). Note: there are two other brothers who are’t musicians.

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b) While not yet 20 he drops out of Julliard to play with Art Blakey and later Herbie Hancock. Musical Example: Herbie Hancock Quartet “Eye of the Hurricane” (Marsalis, trumpet; Hancock, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums) c) Wins Grammy awards the same year for both classical and jazz. d) Uncompromising and outspoken.

(1) Grammy acceptance speech (Note: I’ve added a video on the website featuring his Grammy classical and jazz performances and his acceptance speech)

e) His early work is most influenced by late 50s hard bop and mid-60s modal jazz but gradually he begins to look further back for inspiration. Musical Example, Wynton Marsalis, “Thick in the South,” 1991 f) Director of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Artistic and Managing Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

(1) Founded a jazz program at Lincoln Center in 1987. (2) Jazz at Lincoln Center formally instituted in 1996.

g) Many of his recent compositions demonstrate the influence of Duke Ellington

(1) Isn’t just rehashing Ellington but trying to build on him.

Music Example, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, “Express Crossing.” h) Oratorio Blood on the Fields.

(1) The first composition by a jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize in composition.

Musical Example: Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, “Soul for Sale” (fea. Vocalist Jon Hendricks) and “Work Song: Blood on the Fields” from Blood on the Fields

3. Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra represents an emerging Repertory movement.

a) The Jazz Orchestra is essentially a jazz version of the New York Philharmonic. b) Programs/performs historically accurate repertory from throughout jazz history.

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4. Branford Marsalis, tenor sax (Wynton’s older brother). a) Rock/pop performances.

(1) In the mid-80s, toured with rock musician, Sting. (2) Added a sax solo to Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” for the soundtrack for Spike Lee’s 1989 film, Do the Right Thing. (3) Well regarded trio albums in the early 90s. (4) Led “The Tonight Show” band when Jay Leno replaced Johnny Carson.

Musical Example: Branford Marsalis, “The Beautiful Ones are not yet born” (1991)

5. James Carter, saxophonist (tenor, baritone), bass clarinet. a) Plays with a wide range of musicians. Musical Examples: James Carter, “Centerpiece” w/Harry “Sweets” Edison and “FreeReggaeHiBop” w/Lester Bowie

B. Critics of the neo-traditionalists.

Musical Example, Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, “Nonet” 1. Author Eric Nisensen (Blue: the Murder of Jazz) writes, “I belive that some of the most vital aspects of jazz are being throttled by a group of musicians and critics who has come to dominate the jazz mainstream.” 2. Critic Gary Giddins

a) One of the more outspoken critics of Marsalis is Gary Giddins.

(1) Critical of Marsalis; dismisses him as a “popularizer.” (2) However, his early reviews of Marsalis (in the early 1980s) were very positive.

b) In the early to mid-2000s, Giddins, in discussing the existence of a “plausible successor to the great trumpet lineage” wrote, "certainly not Wynton Marsalis, whose musical impact withered in direct proportion to his ambition."

3. Critical of the “platform” that Marsalis has access to. a) Lincoln Center b) Ken Burns documentary, Jazz

(1) Marsalis and critic Stanley Crouch have a prominent voice in the documentary

(a) They guide the discussion of the avant garde and fusion (both are anti-fusion).

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(2) Last episode contends that, by the 1970s, jazz was “dead” and that it was “saved” by Marsalis, reinforcing the idea that the neo-classists/traditionalists are correct.

4. Musicians critical of Marsalis a) Lester Bowie (1941-1999)

(1) Member of free jazz group Art Ensemble of Chicago – Bowie, trumpet; Roscoe Mitchell, sax; Joseph Jarmin, sax; Malachi Favors Maghostut, bass; Famoudou Don Moye, drums (see video on website). (2) A product of the avant garde/free jazz (3) Incorporates blues and New Orleans style into his music. (4) Fond of pop tunes. (5) Witty player.

Musical Example: Lester Bowie, “When the Doom (Moon) Comes Over the Mountain” and Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy “I Only Have Eyes For You”

(6) Outspoken critic of Marsalis (a) Yes, preserve the tradition but make it a living tradition.

(i) Allow the music to constantly change/grow. Capture the spirit of the music, not just copy the past.

(b) Marsalis would challenge Bowie (and Miles Davis) to an old fashioned cutting contest. (c) In the Porter article, Marsalis deflects Bowie’s criticism saying that Bowie doesn’t consider himself a jazz musician.

Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, “Coming Back Jamaica”