The First Day of Work: Jazz or Fusion?

Miles Davis

As I've mentioned before, the purpose of this blog is to share stories of  triumphs, failures, and reflections. Rather than bore you with a simple journal of daily activities, I'll attempt  to highlight unique experiences, powerful moments, and comical situations.

The first day of work, on Monday, July 23, proved to be a great day. I managed to avoid any excessive anxiety, and instead just enjoyed meeting my headmaster and assistant headmaster and colleagues. We have a very diverse group of Teaching Assistants. I look forward to getting to know them better. We were told a bit more about the school's mission and objectives. 

One unique moment stands out in my mind. 

In our conversations, one of my colleagues happened to wonder aloud as to the difference between Jazz and Fusion. Hearing this, my deep-seated musical sensibilities saw an opportunity to add a bit of clarity to  the  world. While both styles are great, it seems that the popular understanding often struggles to differentiate between them.

Without even thinking, I blurted out: "Fusion is Jazz with a rock beat." Immediately, several faces in the room adopted a somewhat fuzzy nodding expression, as if to say, "Hmm. Interesting. What exactly does that mean?" And at that moment, I knew that a blog post was needed to settle the question once and for all. Listen to the two samples below.

Exhibit A:  Jazz (Dave Brubeck Quartet playing Take Five)

Exhibit B: Fusion (Herbie Hancock & band playing Chameleon)

The difference in style is apparent. The Fusion sound relies on a more repetitive and discernible groove or riff element, and uses a more modern instrumentation (electric guitar and synthesizer instead of saxophone and piano). Most importantly, the drummer maintains the steady rock-style beat.

Fusion came to prominence in  the 1970s when many of the great jazzmen, who were usually rather impoverished, realized that if they took their sound closer to pop, they could (1) make more money and (2) reach new levels of cool. So, bop masters like Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock started mixing in some of the elements listed  above to sound more like rock n roll or funk.

But all is not so neatly and tidily explained. I contend that much of what masquerades today under the pseudonyms "jazz" or "fusion" or sometimes "smooth jazz" is really none of those things. It is elevator music. Awful instrumental R&B. Take this for example; more about elevator music in an upcoming post.