Fusion (music)  

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"The early promise of jazz rock -- that electronics, ethnic influences and rock rhythms could expand the sonic and textural matrix of jazz-- degenerated into the vapidity of fusion." Joel Lewis, The Wire #130

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A fusion genre is music that combines two or more music styles. For example, rock and roll originally developed as a fusion of blues, gospel and country music. The main characteristics of fusion genres are variations in tempo, rhythm, sometimes the use of long musical "journeys" that can be divided into smaller parts, each with their own dynamics, style and tempo.

The notion of fusion refers to the concept of purity of genres.

"Fusion" used alone often refers to jazz fusion.

Artists who work in fusion genres are often difficult to categorize within non-fusion styles, primarily because most genres evolved out of other genres. These artists generally consider themselves part of both genres. For example, a musician that plays dominantly blues influenced by rock is often labelled a blues-rock musician, such as Stevie Ray Vaughan. Vaughan, a Texas blues guitarist, used rock and blues together.

Ray Charles, who recorded gospel and jazz-influenced blues, created what would become known as soul music. By fusing the two genres, Charles pioneered the style of country soul, most famously on his landmark album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, and influenced similar efforts by Candi Staton and Solomon Burke.

Fusion music as a genre broadened the definitions of jazz, rock, and pop music. Herbie Hancock fused jazz, funk, rock, and smooth tones to accomplish a new, rounder, more cultured sound for his band. See Head Hunters or Thrust. These sounds generally consisted of a standard rhythm section: bass, drums, and sometimes guitar, with layered keyboard tracks of Rhodes, strings, clavinet, organ and synthesizers.

Contents

Examples

Heavy metal fusion

Other fusions

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Fusion (music)" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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