FRIDAY FUSION
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Been another long week, time to relax in Fusion’s warm embrace — this time we head over to the Land of the Rising Sun with Japanese Jazz legend Terumasa Hino. Traditionally more of a straight ahead jazzer, on this particular number he goes for a tight little groove and uplifting vocal to work his licks over. Taken from ’78’s ‘Hip Seagull’ LP.
Terumasa Hino — This Planet is Ours
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FRIDAY FUSION
music_ unified theory
Thinking it was time we posted a latin fusion number. ‘Atlas’ has the dopest opening funk break before the latin rhythm kicks in and the tempo builds up to a furious crescendo. All about the rhythm section here, as it should be and you know it makes sense. Wish the drummer in my band could maintain this tempo without dropping beats….
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FRIDAY FUSION
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This is a cut I’ve loved for a longtime. It’s by Christian Vander’s epic but crazy French Prog outfit ‘Magma’. In true fusion style the track I’m posting is an amalgam of genres mixing jazz, prog & a little bit of choral into something totally unique. In fact Magma even invented their own language which they used to sing in, and Vander himself had a whole back story about a group of people fleeing a doomed Earth to settle on the planet ‘Kobaïa’ that he took inspiration from.
Over the years Magma featured a whole host of talent that went on to do great things (one of my favs being keyboard maestro Benoit Widdemann) and their style became a genre in itself known as ‘Zeuhl’. This isn’t a path I’m particularly interested in exploring, but every know & again you get gems like this. Taken from the ‘74 LP ‘K.A.’ (Note: I’ve clipped the ending cause it goes really pony)
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FRIDAY FUSION
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Mr Herbie Hancock… Composer, Leader, Keyboard Don, Producer, Side-Man, Techno-Freak, Purveyor of awesome afro/goatee combos the list goes on. Already a bona-fide giant of the jazz world, as the 60s became the 70s, he changed course, surrounded himself with all the latest synths and let rip with his response to what was starting to happen in the clubs, thanks to Sly and The JB’s. Joined by the mix of jazz heavy weights and new funksters that made up the Headhunters band, he met the decade head-on with a series of classic records which ranged from power-house breakbeat fusion & disco/funk/jazz all the way to the outer reaches of abstract electronica.
To be honest, we’re spoilt for choice here as you could easily do a killer fusion top ten just from his back catalogue, but here are 2 that I always come back to…
Heartbeat (Manchild) – The first Headhunters tune I ever heard – probably around ‘91-ish in a record store. As a young keys-player hungry for new music, when this blasted out I remember standing there and thinking ‘WTF?!’ with a huge grin on my face. Then the solo kicked in… and things were never quite the same after that. Hidden Shadows (Sextant). Bit of an epic this one – a killer off-beat break and a great spaced-out composition that leaves loads of room for the group to crank it to the next level, which
they most certainly do…Cheers Mr Hancock – you’re a don.
Herbie Hancock — Hidden Shadows
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FRIDAY FUSION
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Do me Argentinian Fusion. Jorge Lopez Ruiz: This guy is ‘the’ don down in Argieland. Bassist, celloist and pianist and seriously decorated with numerous awards, he’s got a massive body of work behind him so it’s difficult to choose a definitive cut.
The one I’ve posted is ‘Para Nosotros Solamente’ from the album ‘Ruíz Raíces II, De Las Colonias del Río de la Plata’. It’s more familiar territory with a tight electric bass, drum, fender rhodes trio with a nice vocal line. Giving it the edge is a cheeky acoustic bass solo. Loads more for cats to discover with this guy.
Jorge López Ruíz — Para Nosotros Solamente
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FRIDAY FUSION
music_ unified theory
Alright so it’s not actually Friday but some of us have had to work all weekend (& Sunday Fusion don’t sound right). As promised it’s an Azymuth post – I’m guessing readers of this blog will already know these dons from Brazil, but if not then most definitely up there on the ‘do me’ list. Their 4 70’s albums contain between them about a dozen or so Fusion gems, 1980’s ‘Outbro’ has got one or two at a push but from their on in it goes really lightweight (same old story).
But the trio’s original signature sound of bass, drums, electric piano & synths at it’s best falls into that sweet spacey Fusion vibe replacing horns with vintage electronic instrumentation and a Latin edge. This track is from ’77s ‘Aguia Não Come Mosca’ (also featured on Man From Atlantis’ ‘Odyssey II) Feel it.
Azymuth — Falcon Love Call (Armazem N0.2)
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FRIDAY FUSION
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Picking up from last weeks’ German excursion, I’m keeping it Continental with Belgian keyboard don Marc Moulin. He lays out a track here from his 1975 lp ‘Sam Suffy’ which opens up to a classic synth break that knocked me out the first time I heard it in a filthy little soho record shop many years ago, and is still a regular on the ‘Pod. To be honest, I could do with another 10 minutes of that and pass on the Hancock-esque piano breakdown at the end, but hey…
Moulin’s output tended to lean towards the funkier side of things, but it got much more interesting when he went more experimental in the ‘Placebo’ years. What really makes them stand out for me, is that while many other groups of the time were high on indulgence, low on substance, they were always the exact opposite… the tune, arrangement and production being far more important than any amount of ear-shredding solos. They may lack a touch of the edge that some of the other classic acts had, but their minimal approach and willingness to hang a whole track on just one or two sounds has stood the test of time, still sounds fresh as hell and more than merits a place in my top ten. Enjoy.
Check out Balek, Temse, Stomp & S.U.S. on the Placebo Years 1971-74 for more…
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FRIDAY FUSION
music_ unified theory
Was gonna go Azymuth, but I’ll save that for next time. Believe it or not the track I’m posting is from ‘85 — a few years too many into that 80’s danger zone where anything ‘jazzy’ went horribly wrong — but the German musician / production duo of Helmut Zerlett and Stefan Krachten seem to have been unaffected. More of an incidental number than a fully fledged epic, it’s a deep groove with a massive nod to ‘In a Silent Way’ era Miles, just needs that extra 10 minutes — I’ve got a fever…the only prescription? More Fusion.
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MUSIC FROM THE FUTURE (PART 4)
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We go from the experimental to the mainstream: a little something from 1979’s ‘Buck Rogers in the 25th Century’. It’s scored by composer Stu Phillips who put together the soundtrack to the original ‘Battlestar Galactica’ series a year earlier — so he’s no don by any stretch of the imagination.
And for the most part it’s a by-the-numbers Hollywood soundtrack, but this track ‘Something Kinda Funky’, taken from the film’s spacey disco scene, does have some nice synth work and syncopated drum programming (courtesy of Ian Underwood from Frank Zappa’s The Mothers of Invention) if you can get over the cheesy lead b-line…
Stu Phillips — Something Kinda Funky
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FRIDAY FUSION
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I wanted to find a selection that represented a fine example of Cold War Eastern European fusion. There is only one stable that can offer the full range of fusion flavours east of the iron curtain and that is MPS. I’ve been dipping into their back catalogue for some time now and, as often with fusion, it’s a hit and miss affair. From the 60’s folky/jazz of Dave Pike, George Duke’s albums of the early sevs to the various prog flavours of late sevs early 80’s there is loads to discover. Like this little gem from Dutch keyboard legend Jasper van’t Hof. Enjoy.
Jasper van’t Hof — Titty Chickie
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