Jazz Rock

These episodes examine the influence of jazz structures on rock music in the 1960s. By the late 1950s, the emergence of free jazz isolated much of the public and began to fall out of favor as rock music began winning the hearts of listeners worldwide. During that time, musicians in England began experimenting not only with the blues, but also with elements of jazz. Musicians like Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce, who later went on to form Cream, melded their love of blues, rock and jazz into what is today known as jazz rock fusion.

Jazz Rock - Episode 1

British musicians in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s were among the 1st to fuse jazz with the popular sound of R&B and rock. Although jazz and R&B come from the same “root” system they began to diverge in the mid to late 1940’s with the advent of the “jump” and rhythm and blues bands.

Composition	Artist	Album	Year
Green Onions	Graham Bond	Solid Bond	1963-1965
Woke Up this Morning	Alexis Korner	Blues Incorporated	1963-1964
The Grass is Greener	Graham Bond	Solid Bond	1963
Have You Heard	John Mayall	Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton	1966
Sunshine of Your Love	Cream	Live Cream, Vol. 2	ca. 1968

Jazz Rock - Episode 2

These British bands from the late 1960’s and early 1970s fused rock, jazz, and orchestral elements. These are some of the most interesting groups that fused jazz elements with rock to come from Great Britain during this period.

Composition	Artist	Album	Year
Serenade to a Cuckoo	Jethro Tull	This Was	1968
Glad	Traffic	John Barleycorn Must Die	1970
Slightly All the Time	The Soft Machine	Third	1970
21st Century Schizoid Man	King Crimson	In The Court Of The Crimson King	1969
Debut	Colosseum	Those Who about to Die	1969
Torrid Zone	Nucleus	Elastic Rock	1970
Ballad of Boogaloo	Nucleus	Elastic Rock	1970

Jazz Rock - Episode 3

There were many rock musicians in the 1960’s who were influenced by jazz, especially Miles Davis’s album Kind of Blue and John Coltrane’s excursion into modal and Indian influenced music. It is important to remember that the full impact of Davis’s and Coltrane’s work was still being felt throughout the 1960’s. On Paul Butterfield’s album East-West there are two extended jams that feature guitarist Mike Bloomfield. Both reflected his love of jazz, as "Work Song" had become a jazz standard. The title track "East-West" used elements of modal jazz as introduced by Miles Davis on Kind of Blue. The Blues Project was a band from the Greenwich Village in New York City that lasted from 1965-1967. While their songs drew from a wide array of musical styles including jazz and they are most remembered as one of the first “jam” bands along with the Grateful Dead. When keyboardist Al Kooper joined the band he brought with him his love of jazz and improvisation.

Composition	Artist	Album	Year
Work Song	The Paul Butterfield Band	East-West	1966
East-West	The Paul Butterfield Band	East-West	1966
Flute Thing	Blues Project	Projections	1967
Third Stone from the Sun	Jimi Hendrix	Are You Experienced	1967
Voodoo Chile	Jimi Hendrix	Electric Ladyland	1968
Voodoo Child (Slight Return)	Jimi Hendrix	Electric Ladyland	1968

Jazz Rock - Episode 4

Super Session was an album envisioned by keyboardist Al Kooper featuring the work of guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills. Kooper and Bloomfield had previously worked together on the sessions for the ground-breaking classic Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan. The Super Session recording also featured jazz session bassist Harvey Brooks who would later perform on Miles Davis’s album Bitches Brew. Bloomfield is the guitarist on “Modal Majesty” and Stills played on “Season of the Witch.”
The Allman Brother were one of the most popular rock bands to be influenced by jazz. Their performances often featured extended guitar solos by both Duane Allman and Dicky Betts and the inclusion of two drummers (one being a jazz drummer) gave them a unique sound and rhythm to burn. The bassist and organist were both excellent soloists. Frank Zappa is one of the most difficult musicians to categorize: his music utilizes such an enormous range of influences including jazz. His album, Hot Rats, focuses on instrumental jazz-like compositions with extensive soloing. The song "Peaches en Regalia" is widely recognized as a modern jazz fusion standard and is one of Zappa's best known tunes.

Composition	Artist	Album	Year
His Holy Modal Majesty	Al Kooper/Mike Bloomfield	Super Session	1968
Season of the Witch	Al Kooper/Steven Stills	Super Session	1968
Moondance	Van Morrison	Moondance	1970
In Memory of Elizabeth Reed	Allman Brothers Band	Fillmore East	1971
Whipping Post	Allman Brothers Band	Fillmore East	1971
Son of Mr. Green Genes	Frank Zappa	Hot Rats	1969
The Gumbo Variations	Frank Zappa	Hot Rats	1969

Jazz Rock - Episode 5

Established jazz artists who began utilizing elements of rock music from 1965 to 1970.
Most of these artists were born in the early to mid-1940’s and came of age listening to a
combination of jazz and popular rock music of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Their music
vacillates between Afro-Cuban influenced rock with some straight ahead swing; often a
bit of James Brown rhythm section funk is also added.

The music from this period is combination of a number of different approaches distilled
into a loose, but appealing style that could reach young, record buying audiences. Miles
Davis would soon embrace this approach with his “electric” albums starting in 1968.
Saxophonist/flautist Charles Lloyd had one of the early successful groups in this vein
followed by Larry Coryell and the Free Spirits in New York around the same time. Soon
vibraphonist Gary Burton would become an important figure in this movement leading
several influential groups with pianist Keith Jarrett.

Composition	Artist	Album	Year
The Raven Speaks	Jarrett/Burton	Keith Jarret/Gary Burton	1970
Forest Flower	Charles Lloyd	Forest Flower: Live at Monterey	1966
Sorcery	Charles Lloyd	Forest Flower: Live at Monterey	1966
Don’t Look Now	The Free Spirits	Out Of Sight And Sound	1966
Sunday Telephone	The Free Spirits	Live At the Scene	1967
Liturgy	Gary Burton Quartet	Duster	1967
Doin' the Pig	Gary Burton	Throb	1969

Jazz Rock - Episode 6

The late 1960’s into the early 1970’s was a confusing time for
jazz. There were many new jazz styles emerging that had little in common with the
styles of the previous 50 years and listeners were divided on what was jazz and what
wasn’t.

This does not detract from the creativity of these young artists. In the 1960’s Ornette
Coleman, Cecil Taylor, and John Coltrane began to disassemble the rules of 1950’s jazz
which created further controversy.

Musicians are often influenced by the types of music they listened to in their formative
years and this manifests itself years later on their records. Rock music was so prevalent
from the mid 1950’s through the present that it would be difficult for young jazz
musicians not to be influenced by these sounds. One of the most interesting of all these
groups was the Paul Winter Consort. Winter had been on the jazz scene since the 1950’s
and was not a newcomer. His music blended so many influences that it is difficult to
categorize.

Composition	Artist	Album	Year
Alias	Jeremy Steig	Legwork	1967
Mint Tea	Jeremy Steig	Wayfaring Stranger	1970
Sparky	The Fourth Way	The Fourth Way	1969
Sun Moon	The Fourth Way	The Sun and Moon Have Come Together	1970
Emergency!	Tony Williams	Emergency!	1969
Fantasy, Fugue, Ghost	Paul Winter Consort	Road	1969
General Pudson’s Entrance	Paul Winter Consort	Road	1969