Birds of Fire: Jazz, Rock, Funk, and the Creation of Fusion (Refiguring American Music)

Birds of Fire brings overdue critical attention to fusion, a musical idiom that emerged as young musicians blended elements of jazz, rock, and funk in the late 1960s and 1970s. At the time, fusion was disparaged by jazz writers and ignored by rock critics. In the years since, it has come to be seen as a commercially driven jazz substyle. Fusion never did coalesce into a genre. In Birds of Fire, Kevin Fellezs contends that hybridity was its reason for being. By mixing different musical and cultural traditions, fusion artists sought to disrupt generic boundaries, cultural hierarchies, and critical assumptions. Interpreting the work of four distinctive fusion artists—Tony Williams, John McLaughlin, Joni Mitchell, and Herbie Hancock—Fellezs highlights the ways that they challenged convention in the 1960s and 1970s. He also considers the extent to which a musician can be taken seriously as an artist across divergent musical traditions. Birds of Fire concludes with a look at the current activities of McLaughlin, Mitchell, and Hancock; Williams’s final recordings; and the legacy of the fusion music made by these four pioneering artists. Birds of Fire brings overdue critical attention to fusion, a musical idiom that emerged as young musicians blended elements of jazz, rock, and funk in the late LG6OS and 1970s. At the time, fusion was disparaged by jazz writers and ignored by rock critics. In the years since, it has come to be seen as a commercially driven jazz substyle. Fusion never did coalesce into a genre. In Birds of Fire, Kevin Fellezs contends that hybridity was its reason for being. By mixing different musical and cultural traditions, fusion artists sought to disrupt generic boundaries, cultural hierarchies, and critical assumptions. Interpreting the work of four distinctive fusion artists Tony Williams, John McLaughlin, Joni Mitchell, and Herbie Hancock -Fellezs highlights the ways that they challenged convention in the 1960s and 1970s. He also considers the extent to which a musician can be taken seriously as an artist across divergent musical traditions. Birds of Fire concludes with a look at the current activities of McLaughlin, Mitchell, and Hancock; Williams's final recordings; and the legacy of the fusion music made by these four pioneering artists. Book jacket Birds of Fire brings overdue critical attention to fusion, the musical idiom that emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s, as musicians blended elements of jazz, rock, and funk. Fusion never coalesced into a distinct genre; many artists and critics disparaged the music as amorphous and hard to define. Kevin Fellezs contends that fusion's much-derided hybridity was its very reason for being. By mixing different musical and cultural traditions, fusion artists sought to disrupt generic boundaries, cultural hierarchies, and critical assumptions. Fellezs develops his argument through rigorous analysis of the music of four distinctive fusion artists. Interpreting the work of Tony Williams, John McLaughlin, Joni Mitchell, and Herbie Hancock, he explores the challenges that fusion posed to generic conventions and considers the extent to which a musician can be taken seriously as an artist across divergent musical traditions. Fellezs concludes Birds of Fire with a look at the current activities of McLaughlin, Mitchell and Hancock; Williams's final recordings; and the legacy of the fusion made by the four artists in the 1970s Contents Acknowledgments Introduction One: Bitches Brew - Considering Genre Two: Where Have I Known You Before? - Fusion’s Foundations Three: Vital Transformation - Fusion’s Discontents Four: Emergency! - Tony Williams Five: Meeting of the Spirits - John McLaughlin Six: Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter - Joni Mitchell Seven: Chameleon - Herbie Hancock Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index An analysis of the emergence, reception, and legacy of fusion, experimental music that emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s as musicians combined jazz, rock, and funk in new ways.