Jazz Fusion Albums from the 1980's

[progman1975]

Ok peeps--Educate me--Looking for some good 80's fusion to add to the collection besides Brand X--Do They Hurt

[Dan Roth]

I quite like the first two Chick Corea Elektric Band albums released in the mid-'80s. The first s/t one had Scott Henderson and Carlos Rios on guitar, while Frank Gambale replaced him for the second Light Years album.

[nosebone]

All of the Tribal Tech albums are worth checking out.

They're like Weather Report meets Van Halen

[Scrotum Scissor]

Master Cylinder - Elsewhere (1980).

U.S. Canterbury-influenced, intricate (progressive) fusion clearly indebted to National Health and Gilgamesh but also somewhat to early R.T.F. and the likes. I'd say it's arguably more progressive than "straight" fusion, but then again you'd prolly not want too many Spyro Gyra-suggestions.

You're likely to know of it already, of course, but there's Before a Word Is Said by Gowen/Miller/Sinclair/Tomkins from 1981; possibly the very final truly major Canterbury release - but an absolute treat nonetheless IMO.

Bernard Paganotti's Paga from '85 is actually not so much a Zeuhl-album as it's a full-on yet adventurous fusion effort. Patrick Gauthier's Bebe Godzilla from 1981, on the other hand, fits more squarely with the Zeuhl-fold but is also pretty essential listening for 80s fusion.

Terje Rypdal's Descendre and Chaser are both considered sorta classics here up north, although I'm not particularly fond of the latter myself.

Yet there's so much stuff by seriously prominent folks like Eberhard Weber, Pekka Pohjola, Hermeto Pascoal and Klaus Doldinger during the 80s, it's difficult to keep track of all.

[nosebone]

Master Cylinder - Elsewhere (1980).

U.S. Canterbury-influenced, intricate (progressive) fusion clearly indebted to National Health and Gilgamesh but also somewhat to early R.T.F. and the likes. I'd say it's arguably more progressive than "straight" fusion, but then again you'd prolly not want too many Spyro Gyra-suggestions.

You're likely to know of it already, of course, but there's Before a Word Is Said by Gowen/Miller/Sinclair/Tomkins from 1981; possibly the very final truly major Canterbury release - but an absolute treat nonetheless IMO.

Bernard Paganotti's Paga from '85 is actually not so much a Zeuhl-album as it's a full-on yet adventurous fusion effort. Patrick Gauthier's Bebe Godzilla from 1981, on the other hand, fits more squarely with the Zeuhl-fold but is also pretty essential listening for 80s fusion.

Terje Rypdal's Descendre and Chaser are both considered sorta classics here up north, although I'm not particularly fond of the latter myself.

Yet there's so much stuff by seriously prominent folks like Eberhard Weber, Pekka Pohjola, Hermeto Pascoal and Klaus Doldinger during the 80s, it's difficult to keep track of all.

Excellent choices!

Also, Pat Metheny' Offramp and The First Circle & Holdsworths 80s output like Road Games and Metal Fatigue

[Rick L.]

Scofield's Blue Matter is pretty grewvy.

OK. Bye.

[Monet]

Vladimir "Furda" Furduj (b. 1945 - d. 2015) was a Serbian drummer who studied at the Jazz Academy in Bern and had joined one of the first progressive rock bands in the former Yugoslavia, the Korni Grupa, as early as 1968. Furda had released a solo album on Belgrade's Jugodisk label in 1985, simply called "Furda". The music, however, differs from Korni Grupa. It's a jazz-rock album from the 80s, on which music is very flowing, yet powerful. Progressive rock influences can be discerned, but the main thing that stands out is how the music is constantly changing and gradually changing shape over the course of a piece. This truly fascinating record is certainly warmly recommended to all fans of proggy, well-structured jazz-rock efforts full of creative drumming, adventurous guitars and soaring synthesizers. Although Furda's only solo album is an obscure release, he made - with the help of his musician friends from Belgrade - probably one of the best jazz-rock records in the 1980s; just check it out.
In 2020, Croatian label Blind Dog Records reissued the album as a remastered vinyl LP.

[Wah3]

Tribal Tech, Allan Holdsworth and Chick Corea's Elektric Band top my list. All of their albums are good. So are Al Dimeola's and Flim and the BB's and Vital Information's albums from that era.

Also Pat Metheny, I'm partial to Travels and First Circle in particular.

And John McLaughlin. I'm partial to Mahavishnu and Live at the Royal Festival Hall in particular.

Jean-Luc Ponty - Civilized Evil, Mystical Adventures, Fables
Frank Gambale Live!
Jeff Berlin - Champion, Pump It
Players with Jeff Berlin, T Lavitz, Scott Henderson and Steve Smith
Phil Miller - Cutting Both Ways, Split Seconds, Live 1986-1989
National Health - DS al Coda

[FrippWire]

I would like to add Uzeb and Sixun to the list of recommendations.

[interbellum]

Many of my favorites (Holdsworth, Tribal Tech, CCEB, Scofield are already mentioned

The Fents: First Offence (and not First Of Fents like the youtube title suggests):



Great band featuring Adam Holzman.

Frank Gambale and Al Di Meola made some fine albums in the '80's too; and Jeff Beck's There And Back was released in 1980!

The Dixie Dregs-family is also worth mentioning (Steve Morse, T Lavitz).

[aith01]

All of these are great suggestions. I'd like to add Pat Metheny Group's Letter From Home and Holdsworth's Sand as well.

[NogbadTheBad]

Alain Eckert Quartet - s/t
Rahmann - s/t
Steve Tibbetts - Yr
David Torn - Cloud Above Mercury

[Monet]

Fuchs-Goos-Band's "Chameleon 2" (1981, Software Music) is an amazing jazz-fusion album, which is unreasonably ignored and almost forgotten. This band consisted of the highly gifted German jazz musicians: Christoph Spendel (acoustic piano), Joachim Fuchs-Charrier (drums, percussion), Paul Muller (bass), Knut Rössler (flute, saxophones) and Werner Goos (guitar). It's a quite pleasant and calm, yet never boring jazz-fusion record, and if you are a fan with a taste for intelligent soloing and beautiful interplay, you will no doubt get a lot of thrill from this unsung masterpiece of the European jazz-fusion.

[StarThrower]

The two Bass Desires albums with Scofield, Frisell, Peter Erskine, and Marc Johnson.

Danny Gottlieb: Aquamarine w/ John Abercrombie, J. McLaughlin, etc.

John Scofield: Still Warm
Wayne Johnson Trio: Arrowhead, and Grasshopper
John McLaughlin: Live at the Royal Festival Hall, Que Alegria
Al Di Meola: Tirami Su
Chick Corea: Touchstone
All of the Trilok Gurtu albums from the 80s & early 90s are excellent fusion albums.
Chad Wackerman: Forty Reasons w/ Holdsworth
Ed Mann: Get Up
Andy Summers: Charming Snakes

Another vote for Cloud About Mercury on ECM. Great record!

[Monet]

Den Za Den were a short-lived jazz-rock quartette from Skopje, Northern Macedonia (former Yugoslavia). They had released a sole self-titled album in 1980. Den Za Den brought a high-energy and uptempo, featuring forceful melodies, magnificent breaks and brightly rhythms and virtouso solos, while their music featuring a light breath of some wonderful folklore from Balkan heritage. A lot of e-piano and synthesizers outburst, virtuoso guitar parts and clever bass plays complete this entirely instrumental music with an intense sound that heading like for the puzzle. It seems like Den Za Dan creates a fountain of notes in just one minute and all tracks are quite dense, full of proggy flashes within the compositions, where dreamily atmosphere and melody are married with a brilliant technique and astonishing virtuosity.

[pb2015]

And John McLaughlin. I'm partial to Mahavishnu and Live at the Royal Festival Hall in particular.

One of my favorite McLaughlin records came out of the beginning of the 80's, Belo Horizonte. It may not be everyone's idea of fusion as he only plays acoustic guitar on it.

Weather Report were still going strong at that time with Night Passage, the s/t final album with Jaco, and Procession. Wayne Shorter's album Atlantis is great as well.

Paul Motian Band's Psalm (with a quintet including Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano) is worth a listen and more hard rock than you'd expect from Motian.

[pb2015]

On the smooth side, Bob James - "H," Sign Of The Times, Hands Down and Two Of A Kind (w/Earl Klugh) are good background music for office work.

[Bake 2]

It sometimes seems like the richest part of the jazz rock vein disappeared or turned into velveeta cheese near the beginning of the 80's. A lot of bands that made great records seemed to stagnate or take the decade off. There were exceptions, but there was a slick formulaic sheen that was pervasive in that decade, it stuck to almost everything. YMMV, but these were a few that had a fairly low miracle whip content.
Sonny Sharrock-Seize The Rainbow
Dark-Tamna Voda
Marty Fogel-Many Heads Bobbing At Last
Curlew-S/T
Kraan-Tournee
Paul Motian-The Story OF Maryam
Enrico Rava-Secrets
Allan Holdsworth-IOU
Odean Pope-Almost Like Me
Ippe Katka Band-S/T
Ronald Shannon Jackson-Street Priest
Zamla Mammaz Manna-Familjesprickor
Banda Elastica-2
Brian Godding-Slaughter On Shaftsbury Avenue
Lockwood/Vander/Top/Widemann-Fusion
Rypdal/Vitous/DeJohnette-To Be Continued

[Progbear]

Jukka Tolonen Band: Just Those Boys (really quite an underrated disc)
Kaseke: Põletus (a real gem)
Sportquartett: S/T (better than I expected for an album from 1984)

[unclemeat]

Uzeb Club and Live in Europe by Uzeb



If I had to single out "the" classic fusion album from the 80's, that would be Still life (talking) by Pat Metheny.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Alain Eckert Quartet - s/t
Rahmann - s/t

These are both outstanding, but I somehow always regarded the Rahmann a late-70s release as the music was written 1977-79. Fantastic Zeuhl-fusion anyhow.

The Eckert album, to my ears, again sits more squarely with the French avant-garde underground although it came out as late as '81. What a treat it is! Halfway between chamber-fusion, Zeuhl and the faintest rock-in-opposition vibe. There's also the first Abux Dangereux (Le Quatrieme Mouvement) for that thing.

[chalkpie]

All of the Tribal Tech albums are worth checking out.

They're like Weather Report meets Van Halen

Love The Tech! Scott and Willis are bad muthas.

[NogbadTheBad]

These are both outstanding, but I somehow always regarded the Rahmann a late-70s release as the music was written 1977-79. Fantastic Zeuhl-fusion anyhow.

The Eckert album, to my ears, again sits more squarely with the French avant-garde underground although it came out as late as '81. What a treat it is! Halfway between chamber-fusion, Zeuhl and the faintest rock-in-opposition vibe. There's also the first Abux Dangereux (Le Quatrieme Mouvement) for that thing.

I thought about adding that one.

Would Serge Bringolf's albums Strave & Vision also fall into that chamber-fusion zeuhlish arena?

In full transparence I'm trying to broaden Anthony's tastes a little wider than Eddie Jobson & Gavin Harrison.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Would Serge Bringolf's albums Strave & Vision also fall into that chamber-fusion zeuhlish arena?

Most definitely!

But let's be fair and face it; 80s slickadicka fusion basically came down to this... And I'm so gald none of our 70s "prog" heroes were evolved, because otherwise this would have been prone to heavy discussions on merit, talent and unfathomable creativity ("For being the 80s, y'know! Those damn 80s!"):

[Scrotum Scissor]

Yes, this one is very good. I like it way better than their "cousin-bands" Synopsis (with Igor Garshnek) and/or the VSP Projekt, which IMO are too sterile and tend to lose the idiosyncracy of what made those Estonian groups (In Spe, Mess, Ruja and so on) so listenable and worthwhile in the first place.

Gnob'n'gnoll