The Fusion Party proposes its first fusion mix: 83 minutes of seminal fusion for listening and discussion.

The first of series of fusion mixes I made earlier in the year, "First Intimations of the Cosmic Pilgrimage" is 83 minutes in length, and all songs are recorded directly from vinyl . Precedence is given to the original recordings in their entirety; of course there's no scratching or beat-matching of any kind at all. Listen to or download the mix here, it will be availabe for a limited time. www.level4productions.com/fusionparty1.mp3 The intro is a track called 'ping pong' from Finnish fusion trio JTB. Guitarist Jukka Tolonen's name is synonymous with 'guitar god' in Finland, from what I've heard, and this is one of many European acts that are out there to be discovered. Note the album cover, all the way on the other side of the sea, has some typical '500 miles high' imagery at play here; complex multi-faceted entities beam down from the heavens.  Mr. McFuzak will be happy to hear that Coryell's composition "Spaces" (at 1:00), with the incredible lineup of Corea, McLaughlin, Vitous and Cobham, recorded in 1970 and certainly reflecting a sound very distinct from the traditional fusion equation (for more on this look at michael's nov. post on the distinctions of fusion, jazz-rock) is the thematic focal point for the first section of the mix. In keeping with the idea that this mix would reflect First Intimations of the Cosmic Pilgrimage, some of these selections are tunes that only hint at what would come later on to be definied as fusion, upon the genre's larger explosion to its full brightness in the mid and late 70s. Coryell's Spaces album, though not released until 1974, is a must-have for anyone looking to explore these fruitful times .  

Next up is Bob James-penned tune "The Golden Apple" (at 9:49), perhaps a reference to well-known off-broadway musical by the same name (which was itself an adaption of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey) -or maybe it's an Asimov reference. Tunes like this go a long way in support of my pro-Bob James movement within the Fusion Party. The turning point happens with the insertion of a phenomenal 7/4 bass riff (at 11:58) courtesy of Gary King (a CTI mainstay who also recorded with Tom Scott, George Benson, Hubert Laws, Earl Klugh and many more). The incomparable Steve Gadd is on drums, and King and him provide a perfect backdrop for a really tasteful, assertive Richie Resnicoff guitar solo, showing how James got beyond the much-reviled worlds of pop and funk (more on that later) to craft a real fusion gem. Teruo Nakamura is a bassist who played with Lenny White extensively, Steve Grossman, Hubert Eaves, Onaje Allan Gumbs and more, based in NYC in the 60s and 70s. His tune "Precious One" (at 16:59) is another example of rock and roll's beat structures rubbing off on otherwise jazz-oriented players, taken from his exceedingly rare 1975 album Rising Sun -if you see this, buy it! Grossman works the saxophone, Shiro Mori plays a real sharp guitar solo (at 20:27) and Harry Whitaker a nice electric piano solo. The aptly named Art Gore is on drums and Nakamura, as expected, lays a phenomenally mobile bass line underneath the whole thing. Following Weather Report's well known hypnotic 'big room' fusion cut "Nubian Sundance", Miles Davis' track "Kix" will, like James' inclusion, almost certainly provoke ire from so-called fusion purists (which if anything raises this more important question: can something that is inherently a fusion of various elements itself ever be pure?), but I firmly believe that Miles' "We Want Miles" is a more perfect portrait of the possibilities of fusion than is, for example, the much lauded "Bitches Brew" album, though BB had far more talent involved in its recording, and has met with much more acclaim in the years since. Marcus Miller owns the funk/fusion bass groove on this beautiful, wistful tune, the only low-point being an unfortunate feedback occurrence (at 35:57) onstage in the midst of a Davis solo.  The mix closes with a series of classic fusion pieces from Mahavishnu, Jeff Beck, Billy Cobham and George Duke, and Return to Forever that illustrate, among other things, the musicians' growing fascination with the occult and more specifically the Church of Scientology. There's even a later Corea work, 1978's "Madhatter Rhapsody" (at 62:52) from Corea's roundly-dismissed "Madhatter" album, in a creepy Latin circus mode typical of Corea, with Steve Gadd and noted non-scientologist Herbie Hancock helping out in addition to Gayle Moran, Chick's wife and fellow disciple of Scientology (judging by her wiki page, there's some sort of Church ban, probably Corea-initiated, on providing detailed information about her many real-life accomplishments) adding vocals on the coda (her ominous verse here actually closes the entire album). More on that in a sec. Solo works of Corea provide a window into the soul of the man, his compositions here unfettered by the concerns of band mates and the like, his concepts allowed to grow freely from what was clearly a rampant imagination. Moran closes the album with a coda verse that has never, unsurprisingly, been transcribed by any of the seemingly endless lyrics-based websites (see: Church of Scientology vis a vis internet). Remember little friends I'm always loving you Now I can see I can be Here or there, everywhere Times will lie Love never dies Living on, on and on I'm not 100% sure about the 'Times will lie' line, but it's quite clear what's going on here. To paraphrase Moran, 'Xenu will always be loving his little followers. Give him your soul and your money, and good things will happen.' Whether Gayle is acting as Corea's brainwashed drooling Sci-ton, or whether she's a vehement believer herself (maybe Corea was seduced into the church by her vixen's call?) is not made evident... Only many repeated listenings to Corea's oeuvre will give us a clue (thank M. McFuzak for the stylistic merits of above bold usage). Works like this will lead those listeners not already familiar with fusion music's close ties with Scientology into a deeper understanding of the spirituality behind the music. Even Mahavishnu Orchestra weigh in on the eternal debate here with two songs on the topic of the great thetan dream of revisiting the mother-planet. Track listing and mix info: L4Pcd0100: Fusion Party 001: FIRST INTIMATIONS OF THE COSMIC PILGRIMAGE 1-JTB - Ping Pong 2-Larry Coryell - Spaces (Infinite) 3-Bob James - The Golden Apple 4-Teruo Nakamura - Precious One 5-Weather Report - Nubian Sundance 6-Miles Davis- Kix 7-Mahavishnu Orchestra - Celestial Terrestrial Commuters 8-The Billy Cobham -George Duke Band - Juicy 9-Jeff Beck - Scatterbrain 10-Chick Corea - The Mad Hatter Rhapsody 11-Mahavishnu Orchestra - On the Way Home to Earth 12-Return to Forever - The Magician All vinyl. mixed & arranged by Sri Sarcastic. Wed. June 03 2009 @ Saint Dominique's Preview