Jazz Fusion Poll

[NJ Joe]

Let's hear it.

[bwv 1080]

It's a toss up between pre-Jaco WR and Mahavishnu.  Sweetnighter and Birds of Fire are my two favorite albums

Never had any respect for chick corea and his Scientology bs

[Mirror Image]

Easy choice for me: Return to Forever, especially the album Romantic Warrior. Great stuff. Love Al Di Meola. And 'Scientology BS' aside (), Chick Corea is an amazing musician.

[Mirror Image]

But, if Jean-Luc Ponty was on this poll, he would have easily won.

[HIPster]

The real answer is Mwandishi. . .
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But, I opted for Mahavishnu Orchestra in the case of this poll.

All of the groups listed in the poll have very strong moments (and some weak ones too).

[NJ Joe]

The real answer is Mwandishi. . .
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But, I opted for Mahavishnu Orchestra in the case of this poll.

All of the groups listed in the poll have very strong moments (and some weak ones too).

I thought about adding HH but for some reason didn't do it.  The poll is hereby amended.

[bwv 1080]

Although as far as Miles Davis alums go, I have spent far more time listening to John Scofield's various projects than anyone on this list

[mn dave]

This type of music usually sounds pretty corny to me. I voted Mahavishnu as least corny.

[NJ Joe]

Will mainstream popular music ever see a period like this ever again?!? Real musicians, with depth, experimenting and creating fantastic music, with major label backing to boot! And these groups used to sell & pack them in!

Weather Report's sound came into focus when the great Jaco Pastorius (the greatest electric bassist of all time imo) came into the fray and the writing became so much better .. less reminiscent of what Miles was doing in electric jazz, and more sounding like the voices of Joe & Wayne (both great) .. as composers. The sound also because more focused and varied. The run of albums from Tail Spinnin' through to Night Passage is illustration of this and so extraordinary in all regards. So much fun.

Lifetime was a great band, with great players .. Tony Williams still is the greatest drummer ever imo. I love the early stuff a lot (with McLaughlin) despite the often rough recorded sound, but also love the incarnation of the band that created Believe It that included guitar genius Allan Holdsworth, who completely re-defined the instrument and is one of the most lyrical players ever, and contributing some of the most earth-shattering guitar solos ever recorded.

Mahavishnu Orchestra was also a truly great band (one of the greatest), with great players and great compositions .. that has since been bettered in popular music. I love virtually all of their recordings from 1971-1976, favoring the earlier efforts with the classic line-up.  Billy Cobham, John McLaughlin, Jan Hammer .. these guys are major talents in their own right and did a lot to expand things on their respective instruments.

Return to Forever are the also-rans of the lot, in terms of players & recordings. Chick is a great musician, and their is much to choose from within his vast body of work .. but I don't think RTF compares favorably to the others. I do enjoy some of their stuff though.

It is really hard to pick but it is probably a toss up between Mahavishnu & Weather Report. I'll vote for Weather Report here.

And Herbie Hancock deserves mentioning, Head Hunters & Thrust are truly epic recordings in every way .. still.

Excellent take, James.  I've amended the poll to include HH.  I'm largely in agreement with you except for RTF, where I hold the eponymous debut album and Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy (w/Bill Connors) in high regard.  Romantic Warrior ain't too shabby either.  I got to see the "Returns" tour in 2009 and other than an excessive amount of time devoted to spotlighting the individual musicians, they still packed a wallop.

[mn dave]

Not that surprising as you listen to much adolescent oriented music a lot of the time.

Oh, ow. You got me.

[bwv 1080]

Funny how many jazz purists use the same rhetoric to denounce this music, particularly the more commercially successful stuff like WR