Jazz-Rock: A History

Rating:
Summary: The Inner-Mounting Groove
Review: By the mid-Sixties, jazz seemed to have ground to a halt. The surviving oldtimers were just re-working their catalogs. "Progressive" trends had dead-ended into the indeterminacy of free jazz, the popularity of which was not boosted by its elements of black militancy. In the meantime, rock and roll and Motown were happening, forging new musical paths upwards from their blues roots and winning broad audiences. Rock in particular at this time was gaining respect, as The Beatles and Bob Dylan brought thitherto unknown sophistication to rock songwriting, and artists like Cream and Jimi Hendrix would soon state their cases for instrumental virtuosity in rock. Some young jazz musicians sought for ways to meld the fluidity of jazz with the power and-let's face it-fun of rock. This book is their story, and of the artists who followed in their trail.

This book is dense with timelines, trends, and capsule histories. It is the only book on this subject known to me, and I am glad to learn of the existence of many of these forgotten pioneers and overlooked innovators. Saxophonist Charles Lloyd, in whose group Keith Jarrett got a start, carved a niche for himself by playing Coltrane Lite to the psychedelic crowd. Don Ellis played to the same audience using wild time signatures with "groovy" coloration. In more modern times guitarist Scott Henderson tries to lure metalheads to his brand of hard fusion. Of course we also meet more familiar acts, like John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, and that shifting assemblage of uncredited songwriters, sidemen, producers, and engineers collectively known as Miles Davis.

The story is enriched by a lot-and I mean *a lot*-of eyewitness accounts and reminisces. The improvisational hard rock of Cream turns heads in the New York jazz scene. Vibraphonist Gary Burton and guitarist Larry Coryell follow Cream onstage at the Filmore. Jazz drummer Buddy Rich adds Beatles songs to his setlist, busying up the arrangements past recognition. Larry Graham of Sly and the Family Stone invents bass "popping", which is quickly integrated into the jazz vocabulary. The Mahavishnu Orchestra turns out to be even more daring in concert than on record. The rash young Larry Coryell tries to cut Jimi Hendrix onstage, and is blown out of the song by a massive wail of feedback as punishment. Hendrix especially casts a long shadow throughout this book, as do Cream.

One can always carp about where the author draws the line about who to include. Spirit doesn't rate a profile? Drummer Ed Cassidy had only played with Thelonius Monk, Cannonball Adderley, and Gerry Mulligan, is all. But that's all part of the fun, I suppose. This is a fine account of a little-considered genre. You're guaranteed to be tempted to take this to the record store with you.

Rating:
Summary: A good overview.
Review: It's a shame this book is out of print in the US (I found my copy brand-new in a hole-in-the-wall music store in Berlin), because a study of this particular strain of jazz has been long overdue. Nicholson does a super job of framing the earliest beginnings of jazz-rock in the mid-1960s, when folks such as Jeremy Steig, The Flock and Charles Lloyd were making those links and also making some great music in the bargain. The in-depth chapters on Weather Report, John McLaughlin and Miles Davis (naturally!)come off particularly well ; Nicholson is not one to over-praise his subjects, but his reviews of their work, good and bad, are comprehensive and well-reasoned and he's great at getting their stories from as many sides as possible.

Having said that, I have some quibbles with the book. The distinction Nicholson makes between "jazz-rock" and "fusion" is at best highly debatable and I can't help but wonder if this explains the absence of even a bare mention of certain bands that, to my mind, qualify as playing "jazz-rock" (the most glaring omissions include a lot of UK bands, specifically Brand X, Bill Bruford's Earthworks and Phil Manzanera's Quiet Sun). Like a lot of critics, he can be high-handed in his judgements of certain artists and groups; I particularly disagree with his assessments of Jamaladeen Tacuma and Mike Stern's albums as bandleaders, most of which I think deserved better examinations. But by and large Nicholson suceeds at detailing a particular period within the history of jazz and makes a compelling study that shows that what emerged from the "jazz-rock" period was a lot of music that still thrills!

Rating:
Summary: A good overview.
Review: Let's say you've read Ted Gioia's History of Jazz or watched Ken Burns and you are wondering about the whole new world of contemporary jazz that gets glossed over in those treatments. You're saying to yourself -- Hey! What about Michael Brecker or Larry Coryell? If that is the case, then this book is your answer. It suffices for a slightly out of date icing on the cake of the great jazz heritage that calls for a modern documentary on the prolific stream of modern jazz (or jazz-rock) from the mid 60's to the end of the 20th century. Specializing in the Electronic Virtuoso era (Mahavishnu, Return to Forever and the like), you will not find a better documentation of the days when there seemed to be no limit to Contemporary jazz or prototype fusion.

No better accounting of the influence Jimi Hendrix had on fusion is available. Whereas Burns and Gioia rightly trace almost everything back to Louis Armstrong, Stuart Nicholson makes a very strong case for Miles Davis' opening of the fusion floodgates.

I rated Nicholson's book with three stars, however, because of some unfortunate editorial biases and pointless rabbit trails. First, Nicholson draws arbitrary lines between what he considers true Jazz Rock and more commercially driven products. We can agree that those distinctions may exist, but we are left without a clear, objective criterion for what passes for the real thing. Bob James, who demonstrates great authentic jazz capability with his "Bob James Trio" release is otherwise relegated to "fuzak" for example. His best treatment of this issue surrounds Stanley Clarke who made strides to become popularized in his later productions in comparison to Clarke's earliest work. Nicholson fails to treat other worthy musicians with the same care and gets very sloppy, resorting to pigeon holes based on labels and sales. Had he been familiar with the industry, he would have mentioned Dave Grusin---while perhaps the foremost "sinner" of popularized smooth jazz---nevertheless made a mark on the jazz world with his legendary ensemble, The GRP All Star Band, not to mention his soundtrack for Three Days of the Condor. Grusin never gets a sentence in the book.

Worst yet, he bases his full opinion of the Yellowjackets on the Marc Russo era with only a mention of Bob Mintzer's membership in the band. Based on the date of his publication, he should have provided extensive analysis of the transformation of the Yellowjackets with Mintzer -- clearly one of the greatest examples of his very thesis! His discussions over the jazz influences on popular rock take him too far a field. A short chapter on some examples could have opened up space for a more thorough treatment of impact artists like David Beniot, Jeff Lorber, Dave Weckl and Brandon Fields.

Besides the overdone ideology, there are several brilliant moments that answer many questions about almost forgotten artists. Despite its flaws, the book is worth the purchase if this era is of interest to you.

Rating:
Summary: Tells Most of the Story
Review: Let's say you've read Ted Gioia's History of Jazz or watched Ken Burns and you are wondering about the whole new world of contemporary jazz that gets glossed over in those treatments. You're saying to yourself -- Hey! What about Michael Brecker or Larry Coryell? If that is the case, then this book is your answer. It suffices for a slightly out of date icing on the cake of the great jazz heritage that calls for a modern documentary on the prolific stream of modern jazz (or jazz-rock) from the mid 60's to the end of the 20th century. Specializing in the Electronic Virtuoso era (Mahavishnu, Return to Forever and the like), you will not find a better documentation of the days when there seemed to be no limit to Contemporary jazz or prototype fusion.

No better accounting of the influence Jimi Hendrix had on fusion is available. Whereas Burns and Gioia rightly trace almost everything back to Louis Armstrong, Stuart Nicholson makes a very strong case for Miles Davis' opening of the fusion floodgates.

I rated Nicholson's book with three stars, however, because of some unfortunate editorial biases and pointless rabbit trails. First, Nicholson draws arbitrary lines between what he considers true Jazz Rock and more commercially driven products. We can agree that those distinctions may exist, but we are left without a clear, objective criterion for what passes for the real thing. Bob James, who demonstrates great authentic jazz capability with his "Bob James Trio" release is otherwise relegated to "fuzak" for example. His best treatment of this issue surrounds Stanley Clarke who made strides to become popularized in his later productions in comparison to Clarke's earliest work. Nicholson fails to treat other worthy musicians with the same care and gets very sloppy, resorting to pigeon holes based on labels and sales. Had he been familiar with the industry, he would have mentioned Dave Grusin---while perhaps the foremost "sinner" of popularized smooth jazz---nevertheless made a mark on the jazz world with his legendary ensemble, The GRP All Star Band, not to mention his soundtrack for Three Days of the Condor. Grusin never gets a sentence in the book.

Worst yet, he bases his full opinion of the Yellowjackets on the Marc Russo era with only a mention of Bob Mintzer's membership in the band. Based on the date of his publication, he should have provided extensive analysis of the transformation of the Yellowjackets with Mintzer -- clearly one of the greatest examples of his very thesis! His discussions over the jazz influences on popular rock take him too far a field. A short chapter on some examples could have opened up space for a more thorough treatment of impact artists like David Beniot, Jeff Lorber, Dave Weckl and Brandon Fields.

Besides the overdone ideology, there are several brilliant moments that answer many questions about almost forgotten artists. Despite its flaws, the book is worth the purchase if this era is of interest to you.

Rating:
Summary: Full of Facts
Review: Stuart Nicholson's history of jazz-rock is densly written and provides plenty of information about jazz-rock fusion and the musicians who played it. The book is not written as a chronology, but takes each important musician and gives a detailed history and discograpy of their works.

Beginning with early fusion of the mid-1960s through the 1970s and into the 1980s, a whole slew of musicians are covered. In deference to the many less-famous musicians presented here, too much print was given to Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix, where complete biographies are already available.

One of the strengths of this book is the way in which the author shows how the various artists are linked together, depicting their flow of ideas and influences on one another.

My only complaint is with the front of the book cover, where John McLaughlin or Larry Coryell should have been pictured instead of Carlos Santana.

Rating:
Summary: A valid history of an important genre
Review: This book was a valid history of an important genre. I found it more textbook like than other histories, and was at times somewhat disjointed, and the author tended to make sweeping generalizations about the quality of artistry on various albums; however I found the book to have much useful information in it, and as I have been an avid listener to Jazz, Progressive Rock, and Jazz-rock for many years, I was happy to see that someone had undertaken the task of writing a book with this much detail. At times I found the book to be difficult to read but it was worth the effort. The sad thing about books about music is that the book form is very limited in its ability to make a point. This book would make a good companion textbook in a college course,with accompanying audio and video files, or would possibly be a decent outline for a documentary series on Jazz-Rock.