Appetite for Definition by Ian King

Author:Ian King
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-09-29T16:00:00+00:00

Jazz Rock

Noting that it is also referred to as “jazz fusion,” Encyclopædia Britannica defines jazz rock as jazz improvisation “accompanied by the bass lines, drumming styles, and instrumentation of rock music, with a strong emphasis on electronic instruments and dance rhythms.”1 In this “jazz-tries-on-rock” interpretation, Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew is an early touchstone, and bands like the Weather Report and Mahavishnu Orchestra followed soon thereafter. On the other hand, the “rock-tries-on-jazz” perspective sees the style as developing alongside psychedelic and progressive rock, both of which do incorporate improvisation (“Brash and exciting, their music is a wedding of rock and jazz” reads the inside cover of Blood, Sweat & Tears’ self-titled second album). These two views are not mutually exclusive, though their boundaries of where and how rock and jazz connect aren’t identical.

Jazz rock is also something that can happen when a band’s guitarist gets too technically proficient at their instrument. Boston band Karate are one such example. The group’s first two albums, Karate and In Place of Real Insight, fell easily into the indie rock category, and some even identified leader Geoff Farina’s raw-but-restrained yell and the band’s stop-start rhythms with emocore, which was gaining notoriety in 1996 and 1997 when those records came out. Something was definitely up with Farina’s mellower and more intricate guitar playing on their third album, The Bed Is in the Ocean, and by the next one, Unsolved, it was clear: jazz. Song lengths only got longer from there, and Karate found themselves making indie jazz rock in the new century.

Key Players: Blood, Sweat & Tears, Brand X, Chicago, Electric Flag, the Free Spirits, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Nucleus, the Weather Report

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