Of all the genres that have been popular down the decades, the one that has rarely had a fashionable moment in the sunlight of fashion is jazz-rock. That thick, rich noodle soup that was popular for a few minutes in 1975 but rarely since.
Where did it start? Miles Davis, I think. Seems as good a bet as any. His group with John McLaughlin had many of the elements but the first fully realised album was perhaps Inner Mounting Flame by Mahavishnu Orchestra. A pivotal record, with McLaughlin’s blizzard of soloing and Billy Cobham’s frantic wonky rhythms and detailed percussion. But Tony Williams Lifetime’s Emergency! With Larry Young on keys and McLaughlin on guitar pre-dates it by two years and is the tap root of much jazz rock.
There was always a British strand to the genre, quite different from the American. Colosseum in 1969 embodied the UK approach with parping sax. And the Graham Bond Organisation did similar stuff. Perhaps more blues/jazz inflected until Jeff Beck breathed new energy into guitar-based jazz rock. Wired and Blow By Blow were game changers in the mid-70s and those who had shown a passing interest developed it into a full-blown style. Return To Forever was important. And Al Di Meola and Pat Metheny strayed into the territory. Meanwhile British bands like Tempest with Ollie Halsall made groundbreaking records without being especially commercial. Allan Holdsworth who also played for them, flew the flag in the UK with astonishing albums like 1976’s Gazeuse! By Pierre Moerlen’s Gong, Bundles and Land Of Cockayne for Soft Machine and the first UK album. He became a giant of the genre, of course.
Other lesser known bands like Nucleus, Isotope and Colosseum II with a young Gary Moore were embraced by fans like me, along with Bruford, the brilliant Brand X and If. In America, Zappa strayed into the territory with Waka/Jawaka and Jan Hammer and Neal Schon made records few bought. Chicago on the other hand were huge and maybe with Blood Sweat And Tears led the popularisation of the genre in America.
Magma and Focus showed Europe’s jazz-rock influences and solo artists like Stanley Clarke developed their career around it. Weather Report kept their jazz to the fore but were a big jazz-rock influence but as we got into the 80s it fell out of fashion with only Level 42 on nodding acquaintance.
You can seek out people who still embrace it but the days of Blow By Blow making #4 (though didn’t chart in the UK) are sadly long gone.
That thick, rich noodle soup - Jazz-Rock...
