SPRING 2007

The REAL news for the past year is the multitude of jazz-rock videos online... can you say "YouTube"? Thousands and thousands of hard-core jazz-rock fans and musicians are checking them out and uploading new ones everyday!

We thought it was a good idea to share a few "gotta see" video clips and celebrate some of our favorite musicians courtesy of YouTube.com.

Starting from the golden days of jazz-rock we have the following video retrospectives laying down the immutable laws of jazz-rock protocol: improvise, mix it up, experiment, and play your ass off.

Note: if the visuals get choppy or out of synch you can simply click directly on the video which will take you to its original YouTube page... you will want to close this page when watching at YouTube... having all these videos on the same page can create choppyness and audio synch problems depending on your computer speed and browser caching.

It all started with Bitches Brew... 1969


So where were you 20 years ago? ...who is that red-striped dude with a "keytar" strapped around his neck? Check out our fearless Jazz-Rock.com editor trading licks with Miles on the '87 TuTu Tour... Live in Japan!

See Adam jamming with Miles...


Here below is a video clip to really set this Spring 2007 issue of Jazz-Rock.com on fire... are you ready for some serious LIVE "Magician" from "Romantic Warrior"? For your supersonic viewing pleasure: Return to Forever (1976)

The Magician


And you know when tribute is paid to "Return to Forever" there must be room to celebrate the two other pioneering jazz-rock supergroups of supergroups: Weather Report and the Mahavishnu Orchestra...

"Black Market" Weather Report (1978 Germany)


Check out master Jaco in his prime! (dedicated to Tommy T and his beautiful new wifey! Yaki fuatana sauwa sauwa Tom and Tartia... congratulations and much love to you both!)


"You Know You Know" The Mahavishnu Orchestra


And how about those jazz-rock guitar-gods?

"Blue Wind" Jeff Beck, Jan Hammer, & Simon Phillips


"Proto Cosmos" Allan Holdsworth


From the rock n roll side, drummer and composer, Bill Bruford, perhaps personifies the very definition of what jazz-rock has always been: a constant mix of musical styles that emphasizes creative beats and insanely adventurous, and oftentimes athletic, musicianship. He has come from the progressive sounds of Yes and King Crimson, to his own hybrid mix of rock/jazz music beginning with the unforgettable band "UK" and then his own groups, "Bruford" and the much more jazz influenced "Earthworks". There are 5 "YouTube" clips from his "Rock Goes to College" DVD at Bill Bruford's jazz-rock.com page.

As everyone should know by now, one of the hottest jazz-rock groups currently touring the world is the Scott Kinsey band featuring Matt Garrison on bass, Gary Novak on drums, and Scott Henderson on guitar. These guys eat, drink, and dream about "jaming their ass off" every day.

Here they are at Joe Zawinul's Birdland in Austria 2006...


There is great article on Scott at All About Jazz and you can visit his website at www.scott kinsey.com. Also, read all about Scott's latest album, Kinesthetics. Related jazz-rock article about Joe Zawinul's current projects.

On more of a jazz-rock experimental cinema soundtrack level, we invite you to take a listen and look at the new website your friendly neiborhood Jazz-Rock.com editors composed at www.artofsuperman.com. We orchestrated 8 new jazz-rock soundtracks for 8 classic superman cartoons from the golden age of animation (1941-1943). The project gave us a good excuse to fool around and have some fun with new music for some of the greatest animation ever made by the infamous Fleischer Brothers (Popeye, Betty Boop, Guliver's Travels).

As for the past year, it has been a truly slammin blur smorgasbord of supremely tasty sweet new music, as well as, unbelievably great, vintage jazz-rock CDs and DVDs! To further explore the vast spectrum of everything jazz-rock, visit the hugely successful online stores: Abstract Logix and Audiophile Imports.

One last thing, don't forget to check out the 38 page Jazz Rock Article (pdf) written By Rick Calic with contributions from Billy Cobham, Peter Erskine, Adam Holzman, Richard Kolp, Dave Liebman, and John McLaughlin.

Hope you liked all the movies and there are thousands more at YouTube.com!

Why jazz-rock? One can make the case that the last major development in creative instrumental music was, perhaps, the early 'golden age' of jazz-rock (roughly 1969 to about 1975). When a new sound emerges, it is in that moment of discovery, the beginning of a new style, that often the freshest music is made. There is a kind of energy that happens when an old form is pushed to its limits and a new form breaks out. The energy of those early jazz-rock classics is undeniable, and the music has stood the test of time.

To oversimplify, the density of be-bop gave way to more open approaches in the late '50s and early-to-mid 60's; hard bop, free jazz and modal. But after Coltrane, where can you go? By the late 60's one of the only unexplored areas left was the exploration of actual Sound, which at that point in history meant electronic sound.

It also had the nice side effect of appealing to a wider audience, a mass audience that (thanks to Hendrix, the Cream, etc.) was starting to become accquainted with the idea of extended solos. Tony Williams was one of the first people to really understand this (check out the early Lifetime records!), and Miles and Weather Report were with him in the vanguard of this new movement. By the time Headhunters, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return To Forever came out, the public and the rock biz were ready. Jazz-rock was triumphant! The world was saved! Hoo-ray!!

Around this time I was a teenager living in Los Angeles. To my friends and I, bands like Mahavishnu and Return To Forever were pretty much the same as big rock bands. I was really drawn to the style. I remember seeing Weather Report at the Long Beach Arena and thinking that there might be a real future with jazz-rock, especially since it already seemed so popular. I assumed that jazz-rock would move forward for many years as an Important Branch of Music.

However, like any great creative period, the moment passed. Critics starting dissing it first, then some of my heroes put out less-than-great albums. The market had really stepped in and people started releasing a lot of boring music. Jazz-rock became associated with fast licks and drum solos. What a lot of people didn't realize (musicians included) was that what made the classic albums great was NOT the fast solos but the Writing and the Vibe.

Then came the neo-traditional movement of the 80's and early 90's. For the first time the center of jazz was no longer the creative NEW shit, but a style that had been popular years before. Jazz-rock lost momentum. A lot of good players drifted towards other areas of music. People stopped trying to push the form. 'Smooth jazz' became a popular radio format, the only 'electric jazz' widely played on the radio at that time.

In the mid 90's it was pretty much a done deal. By that time the radio formats were so rigid that nothing got any airplay besides smooth jazz and traditional acoustic. Without radio behind the style the major labels backed off. And there it was: Electric Jazz, stalled before its next Great Phase.

Miles's later albums pointed to new directions, and Herbie and Scofield have constantly evolved. When I started playing with Miles in the mid-80's, he was working with a more open-ended groove approach that was often structured around the bass lines. The idea of chromatic melodies and dense polychords on top of a serious groove opened up another world of possibilites (check out "Decoy"). The instrumentation in Miles' band was almost like a rock band, but the sound wasn't really jazz-rock, it was something else.

So, jazz-rock is not really a style but an Approach. There is room for a lot more great music using these tools (musicianship + electric instruments) combined with good compositions. Jazz-rock hasn't croaked, it's just retreated to smaller labels and European tours where it can Survive.

Why Jazz-rock? Well for one thing, it's an opportunity to be completely creative. If you can squeeze by, it's almost worth it! But those days are Over... The time has come for us jazz-rockers to stop grovelling in our little clubs, to step out into the bright light of the market place, to seize the Moment! -- Adam

A CALL TO ACTION:

The true nature of the assault on the jazz-rock masses has now revealed itself. Reactionary forces have conspired to unseat the spirit of Progressive Face Melting from the power nexus of contemporary music. Revisionist swine have combined with puppet politicians to Control the Gateway of Influence and Culture. Our cause is united. No longer can the funk-based groovers and the phrygian mode riffers afford to bicker and squabble over insignificant intra-party controversies. Our enemy has raised himself in all his corpulent commerciality. He must be Deep Fried. These are the most Mediocre of times. We must make things Excellent in the World! Jazz-rockers of the world unite! We have nothing to lose but our Black & Decker Mighty Sweep patio cleaner. -- AH

JAZZ-ROCK.com - JUNE 2005

What's cookin on the jazz-rock pre-summer grill?

Adam has been jammin his ass off in New York City with his new trio "Big Bang Theory" and just played the MoogFest at BB Kings in midtown last week. He has also been back in the studio with Wallace Roney working on a new CD and is getting ready for a European tour, including a week long engagement at Joe Zawinul's "Birdland" in Vienna. John has also been busy in the recording studio with his improvyzational band "VyZ" and is orchestrating a real-time movie event triggered by his Roland/Triton drumkit (thanks to Apple's new Motion 2 midi-animation software). He also just negotiated a deal with SoundSpectrum, Inc (the makers of the G-Force plug-in) to include custom visualizations synched to the music on his Pythagoras film (to be released this fall)...check out this mp3 "Dance of the Universe - Part 2" from the Pythagoras soundtrack which features Adam on keyboards.

So, now for the coo-coo-ca-choo news: THIS IS THE SEASON FOR LIVE MUSIC!

Fast on the heels of fellow Weather Reporter, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter is releasing his live CD, "Beyond the Sound Barrier," on June 14 from Verve Records. All reports indicate this is yet another excellent Wayne Shorter Quartet album with Brian Blade on drums, Danilo Perez on piano, and John Patitucci on bass.

Guitar great, Scott Henderson, has also released a 2005 double live CD appropiately called "Live" and includes the great Tribal Tech drumming of Kirk Covington and bassist, John Humphrey. You can preview the entire 2 disc set at Amazon.com

For even more jazz-rock guitar heaven you can pre-order the "Visions of an Inner Mounting Apocalyps" from the Abstract Logix site which says it features an "all star cast paying tribute to the great John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. The musicians have handpicked their choice of tunes to play from all the Mahavishnu records. The rhythm section is comprised of Vinnie Colaiuta, Kai Eckhardt and Mitch Foreman and Jeff Richman (also the producer and a soloist). John Abercrombie, Warren Haynes, Jimmy Herring, Mike Stern, Steve Lukather, Steve Morse, Greg Howe, Frank Gambale, Jeff Richman and Dave "Fuze" Fiuczynski perform their solos respectively."

Allan Holdsworth and his new label, Alternity Records, released "The Best of Allan Holdsworth, Against the Clock" which is a 2 CD set of over 130 minutes and 26 tracks of Holdsworth's selected favorites digitally remastered from 11 studio albums he produced. The collection also includes some Holdsworth rarities, including the special Japan version of "Tokyo Dream," and two new studio recordings, "Shenandoah," and "Let's Throw Shimp," never before released. It also includes a 12-page booklet with rare photos and words contributed by John McLaughlin, Joe Satriani, and Bill Bruford. Get it at the Alternity Records site and support this pioneering new label of musical innovation.

And in the keyboard domain, we want to give a major thumbs up to David Sanctious and his very cool "Cinema" CD. David is so often the unsung hero backing up great musicians like Peter Gabriel, Santana, Sting, etc. The CD features David on Synthesizers, Piano, Guitar, Acoustic Synthesizer with Tony Levin on Bass and Will Calhoun on Drums & Percussion. Check out the mp3 samples at Abstract Logix.

Last but not least, since we are currently featuring Joe Zawinul, it is more than appropriate to call attention to the absolutely insane jazz-rock album of 2005: Mysterious Voyages - Tribute to Weather Report. This 2 CD Set features artists like Scott Kinsey, Matthew Garrison, Rachel Z, Marcus Miller, David Fiuczynski, Gary Willis, Michiel Borstlap, Jim Beard, Dennis Chambers and many more. The amazing thing is that that Weather Report spirit comes through loud and clear no matter who is doing the playing! Jazz-Rock is alive and kickin in 2005 without a doubt!

JAZZ-ROCK.com - WINTER 2004-2005

Happy Holidays!

Jazz-Rock.com has finally been updated after a very busy fall with Adam touring the world with Wallace Roney and his own band in Europe... not to mention, a stellar gig in Tokyo with the Steps Ahead band featuring Michael Brecker, Mike Mainieri, Darryl Jones, Mike Stern, and Steve Gadd. John has been burning the midnite oil with his film about Pythagoras and a slew of projects ranging from DVDs to websites as part of his digital arts school.

As always, we want to take this moment to congratulate our featured artists, Matt Garrison, Jack DeJohnette, and Asaf Sirkis, for producing such highly inspiring and original music for us all to celebrate! 2005 is definitely going to be a great year for new, progressive, musical ideas in the timeless spirit of jazz-rock past, present, and future.

Starting off the new year is the exciting news that Jane Getter's new CD "See Jane Run" is going to be coming out on Alternity Records! Alternity Records is the home of Allan Holdsworth and Jane's band is going to be opening for him at BB Kings in NYC on Jan 13th!!! Very cool Jane, big congrats! We featured Jane here at jazz-rock.com last summer.

And speaking of Alternity Records, check out their major release of "Riptyde" featuring Chris Hoard on keys, Amon Freon on e-drums, and non-other than Holdsworth himself! On a side note, you gotta love Alternity's company description: "At our little label, we like to say we do our best to offer the timeless alternative to the clueless mainstream." ...and timeless alternative music is what it's all about indeed!

Other sparks of progressive light are MoonJune Records and Abstract Logix's recent re-design (looks great!). Both of these adventurous companies are promoting new artists that deserve all of our ears and dollars to support their efforts. Abstract Logix also provides great up-to-date artist info such as a recent December 5th interview with our forever articulate, rhythmic, English gent and jazz-rock hero, Mr. Bill Bruford (who continues to amaze and blaze new musical trails).

Stick Enterprises is another niche player in the alt electric music scene with the Chapman Stick front and center. Great article here on the history of the Stick: "The Evolution of a Musical Art." Just click on any of the artist names to explore some cool websites that feature the Stick made so popular by the infamous, Tony Levin.... and speaking of which, Tony Levin has really delivered with his "Double Espresso" album mastered by good friend and guitarist, David Torn. The album features Larry Fast, Jerry Marotta, and Jesse Gress. We hear that their version of Zeppelin's "Black Dog" is the twisty surprise we all live for. Tony is also working with Allan Holdsworth toward the release of the legendary "Soma II" project with keyboardist/producer/composer Mark Gleed and drummer Guy Eckstine.

On the mystical rock side of things, master Crimson the King, Robert Fripp, has also been up to his inventive kraftiness at Discipline Global Mobile. In addition to releasing some priceless KC live ballyhoo from the early days of 1970-71, you can pre-order the King Crimson "Power to Believe Tour Box" which contains an audio CD + 20 page booklet, featuring the "Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With" (demo) and a Soundscapes Suite. Of course, our favorite DVD these days has got to be "Eyes Wide Open" which features the boys live in Tokyo in 2003 and London in 2000.

In other jazz-rock related news, our hats are off to Audiophile Imports for all their hard work making the really, really great music they sell on their site so accessible. They have a special "Fusion Spotlight" page that has some excellent previews of music by artists such as Derek Sherinian, Akira Wada, and Jeff Babko, as well as, video clips of a Steve Gadd tribute DVD recorded at the Zildjian show in 2003.

We finally caught up with fusion guitar great, Frank Gambale, who released a killer album in 2004 called "Raison D'etre." It features the legendary Billy Cobham on drums, along with Ric Fierabracci and Steve Billman on bass. "This album is the debut of Frank's new patent-applied-for tuning called Gambale Guitar Nouveau Tuning. You will hear chords that you have never heard coming from guitar."

Last but not least, we are blown away by Japanese guitarist, Kazumi Watanabe's, amazing 2004 album,"Mo Bop II", featuring Richard Bona and Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez which continues the phenomenal musicianship delivered by the "New Electric Trio" on the 2003 best-seller, "Mo Bop."

Well, that's about it for now. 2004 ended up being quite a comeback year for many jazz-rock/instrumental musicians and incredibly tasty music continues to be produced despite the commercialized dogs of doom. We know it will get even better as independent music website efforts rule the day and wish you all continued success in 2005.

As a parting Christmas present from the jazz-rock.com editorial staff, check out the free mp3 download, "Level 3 Containment Suit," from Adam's latest Brave New World studio album, and "Dance of the Universe" from John's upcoming movie about Pythagoras called "The Beginning Has Begun."

Keep us posted on all your new music news and contact us anytime... especially if you want to be considered for a future feature here at our humble abode.

We remain your devoted jazz-rock servants,

John & Adam

First of all, we want to congratulate our latest round of Jazz-Rock.com featured artists - Jane Getter, Gary Husband, and Steve Topping - for all the great music they have just released! With music like this we are confident the jazz-rock spirit is alive and well as we move into the summer of 2004.

So, what else is going on?

Well, our good friend Bill Bruford is currently touring throughout Asia and Europe with a whole new bag of unconventional and refreshing music coming from his latest cd, Random Acts of Happiness. Bill recently gave a great interview on the All That Jazz website called Bill Bruford: No Random Act.

Wayne Krantz is touring with the Chris Potter Band in Canada and Europe through June and July. If you haven't heard Wayne's live CD he put out last year, get it now! Here is a great K3 article!

On the jazz-rock nostalgia side, Jeff Beck will be touring the UK with Jan Hammer this summer. Jeff was honored with his fourth Grammy Award this year for best instrumental performance.

Guitar master, John Abercrombie, is also featured on All That Jazz and gives some great perspective on group interplay and the art of improvisation in his interview: John Abercrombie: Extending the Tradition.

On a hillbilly jazz-rock note, Scott Henderson, the Tribal Tech sonic guitar painter, is touring South America and Italy this summer with Kirk Covington on drums and John Humphrey on bass.

Still full of surprises, Joe Zawinul and the great Zawinul Syndicate just finished touring the US and Europe this spring. Here is a great interview with Joe given on March 26, 2004 at Zawinul Online.

Jazz-Rock monsters, Tetsuo Sakurai on bass and Dennis Chambers on drums, will be touring Japan this fall after Dennis finishes his European tour with Santana.

John McLaughlin is currently doing his Remember Shakti tour in Russia and Europe... see tour schedule here. For the guitarists among you, McLaughlin will shortly be releasing his much anticipated, multi DVD, instructional project called "This is how I do it."

Also, don't forget to check out the super tasty compositions and drumming on Chad Wackerman's latest album, Legs Eleven.

For those of you visiting the Big Apple this summer, check out the BB King Club for some great bass playing by Marcus Miller on June 21 and 22nd, and the ever amazing Percy Jones, who opens for Ozric Tentacles on July 7th with his SUPERHOT band, Tunnels...check out this Tunnels mp3 ...this band has no fear! And if you are looking for the jazz-rock classic concert of the summer, get tickets now to see Stanley Clarke, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Al Dimeola in Central Park on August 21st at the New York Jazz Festival! Here is their "Rite of Spring" summer tour schedule.


jean-luc ponty, stanley clarke, and al diMeola ©stanleyclarke.com

Finally, we would like to invite everyone to share a moment of silence in honor of one of the great rhythmic legends, Elvin Jones, who passed on May 18th at the age of 76. Elvin was a true inspiration to anyone who ever saw him play. He was an innovator and a master of time and improvisation. He was indeed a most positive force in music around the world and will be greatly missed. Thankfully, his spirit will live on in all the hundreds of recordings he made throughout his life. See this memorable article written in Downbeat magazine on March 28. Here is the news of his passing written at Jazztimes.com. The Jazz on 3 BBC show has a great Elvin Jones tribute program you can listen to here with an excellent support article written here.