Category: jazz fusion

The Viola Crayola – Music: Breathing Of Statues (1974)

1974 jazz fusion progressive rock The Viola Crayola USA 5 Comments

“You know, there are great guitar trio albums and then there’s San Antonio’s Viola Crayola. This jazzy psych freakout jam album is just remarkable and sounds about 15 years ahead of its time in technique. And fortunately it IS of its era sound-wise. This thing just rips and shreds and wah-wah’s until you collapse from exhaustion. The last 2 minute goofball track allows us to see Viola’s mentor – Mr. Zappa. If these guys released this in 1991, there would be a monthly feature in Guitar Player for him. Unfortunately, Tony Viola died tragically later in 1974. Album is only about 29 minutes long. A bootleg exists.”

Kollektiv – Live 1973 (2005)

2005 Germany jazz fusion Kollektiv krautrock No Comments

“Our music has a structure which is simpler than it’s used to be in jazz, instead we pay more attention to tones and moods. It’s predominantly improvised music what we’re doing. Even most of the themes and determined parts are originally based on improvisation. We broaden the common range of tone colours by using sometimes a rather strong electronic alienation of guitar, flute or saxophone. According to our experience our music is well appreciated by both jazz and rock fans since each of them can find sufficient elements of their preferred style respectively.”

Xhol – Essen 1970 (2009)

2009 Germany jazz fusion krautrock Xhol No Comments

“Xhol Caravan, known first as Soul Caravan and later as simply Xhol, was one of the first bands participating in the launch of the Krautrock movement in Germany in the late 1960s. Their music draws from varied influences and fuses rhythm and blues and free jazz with a psychedelic rock sensibility… The live recordings include improvisational pieces stretching in some cases well beyond 25 minutes in length.”

Chicago Odense Ensemble – Chicago Odense Ensemble (2011)

2011 Chicago Odense Ensemble jazz fusion progressive rock USA No Comments

“Chicago Odense Ensemble is a unique collaboration that came together in the winter of 2008 while danish musicians Jonas Munk and Jakob Skøtt stayed in Chicago. Through mutual friends a studio session was arranged for the two to improvise and lay down ideas with some of Chicagos finest improvisers, including members of Tortoise and Chicago Underground Collective. Improvisation is not unfamiliar to the two danes, however, as they are more than accustomed to working from spontaneity and freeform structures in psych/kraut/prog unit Causa Sui in their hometown of Odense… The result is something quite unique: a musical blend that exists somewhere in between the aesthetics of impro jazz, hypnotic rock and electronica. The closest reference for this kind of music is probably early 1970s proto-fusion jazz that strived for a similar synthesis of jazz improvisation, psychedelic rock, eastern and african sounds and the use of the studio as a musical tool instead of merely a recording facility.”

Elephant9 – Dodovoodoo (2008)

2008 Elephant9 jazz fusion Norway progressive rock 3 Comments

“Elephant9 is a Norwegian jazz/prog rock band. Their music sounds like a modern take on 70’s prog and hard rock, with clear influences from Miles Davis. Their live shows are said to be stunning. Classic Hammond driven prog fusion and great big real deal analogue instrumental pieces on a direct line from somewhere in 1974. Flowing jazz flavoured progressive rock pieces that feel like well considered structured focused jams. Well focused is a relative term, they’re not afraid of a long piece (or two) of healthy prog rock self indulgence, a self assured style, tight accomplished musicians who just let it all naturally flow rather then feeling any kind of need to show off how good they are. Thrilling ride through the glories of organ driven 70’s sounding jazzy prog rock, bits of funk, Deep Purple sounding hard rock jams, and more notes that you can reasonable expect to be coming at you none stop in such a gloriously good way.”

Kickbit Information – Bitkicks (1998)

1998 Germany jazz fusion Kickbit Information krautrock No Comments

“Pure krautrock gravy from the loins of some of its finest architects, the hairy jazz rock blowout herein being choice enough to even overlook the gristly and distorted warts-and-all recording quality of these never-intended-for-release rehearsal room recordings. Led by Ex-Guru Guru and future Spacebox bassist Uli Trepte, this briefly assembled outfit (which also featured Frumpy’s Carsten Bohn and Thirsty Moon’s Willi Pape) churn out three slabs of classic kraut fusion here in the rawboned and hectic style that Trepte would soon carry forward with Spacebox.”

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