Fusion in Music

Fusion describes the merging of different musical styles and intentions. In the best case, Fusion is an open door to all music traditions everywhere to merge with novel, exciting creativity. Fusion is not always an easy path to follow. Musicians who are well established in one musical genre usually face criticism and degrees of rejection when they move in another direction. Bob Dylan switched abruptly from folk music to a rock and roll, electric band, suffering angry criticism in the process. Dizzie Gillespie and Charlie Parker were criticized by fellow jazz musicians for their new jazz style "Bebop." Miles Davis also faced criticism as he moved from more "traditional jazz" into continuously evolving styles that incorporated world music and at times came perilously close to rock and roll. Davis attracted the best musicians available so that innovation was an eclectic group effort.

Rock and Roll emerged through the combination of rhythm and blues, gospel and country music. Some rock bands with more diversified and talented musicians moved in the direction of jazz bands and some moved to long pieces with symphonic orchestration. Jazz fusion merges progressive jazz formats with a wide variety other musical styles including funk, rock, R&B, electronic, latin and world music.

Latin Music arrived In American as a fusion mix of music traditions-- native music with Spanish, Portuguese and African music. In the US, Latin music fused with jazz, R&B, rock and roll and hip hop, in ever-changing, derivative styles.
Miles Davis moved through "classic jazz" to Bebop, cool jazz, and modal jazz. The 1968 album “Miles in the Sky” introduced Herbie Hancock playing electric piano and Carter playing bass guitar. In 1969, electronic instruments dominated the next album “In a Silent Way”, an innovative fusion album. The musicians who played with Miles often continued to develop fusions styles. 1970’s fusion bands originated with Miles Davis alumni: Tony Williams Lifetime, Weather Report, McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra, Corea's Return to Forever, and Herbie Hancock's Headhunters band. Herbie Hancock was one of the first jazz keyboardists to use synthesizers. Funk jazz emerged in his albums, Head Hunters 1973 and Thrust in 1974.

Weather Report, featuring Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter developed world music fusion jazz. Jaco Pastorius, the electric bass player, went on to great fame and a tragic death in 1987. In 2006, Pastorius was voted "The Greatest Bass Player Who Has Ever Lived" by reader submissions in Bass Guitar Magazine. Zawinul, a jazz keyboardist and composer used synthesizers was widely admired. He won the "Best Keyboardist" award 30 times from American jazz magazine.

Chick Corea, another of the great keyboardists, founded the band Return to Forever in 1972 with latin-influenced music. The band soon evolved into a jazz-rock band.

John McLaughlin was influenced by his guru, Sri Chinmoy and created the Mahavishnu Orchestra that merged psychedelic rock with Indian music.
Carlos Santana’s band blended Latin salsa, rock, blues, and jazz. Pat Metheny started a fusion band in 1977 that produced popular recordings that made both jazz and pop charts.


Persona Music Recordings: Our Music Catalogue includes recorded performances by the P2500 Band, Em4U, and the Persona Classical Consort. Music previews and downloads are delivered from Reverb Nation and Alpha Online. Some music online is offered to illustrate music history, advance music education and appreciation. The recordings presented online demonstrate Persona Studio's arranging, recording and mastering techniques. All the recordings are completed in house by Stephen Gislason. The music selections and their history are explained in the book, Sound of Music.

Persona Music Jazz Links
Lois Armstrong
Wayne Shorter
Miles Davis
Chick Corea
Joe Zawinul
Louis Armstrong
Pat Metheny
Tom Jobim and João Gilberto
Dave Sanborn
Rippingtons
Herbie Hancock

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Link to Persona Classical Consort at ReverbNation

Music Elements and Meaning

Music Elements

The elements of music began millions of years ago with other animals. We humans are just recent practitioners of the art of sound communication. Our brains have evolved to detect and evaluate discrete low volume sounds. Everyone who has spent time in natural environments will know that little sounds are ubiquitous in nature. Loud sounds are unusual and signal danger.

Human musical abilities, however, exceed the abilities of other primates. We have the special ability to synchronize movements so that group dancing and chanting to the beat of drums is a powerful method of achieving group cohesion. Ancient humans made wood and stone tools, hitting objects against each other, creating rhythmic sounds. Sticks, wood blocks, logs and animal skins came together as percussion instruments.

Musical information consists of pitch, loudness, timbre, location, and movement of the sound source. A combination of sounds of different pitches produces harmony and a sequence of pitches becomes melody. Timbre describes the harmonics in a sound that give it recognizable qualities. You can identify a trumpet, an oboe or a violin by recognizing different timbres. Music performance involves many agreements about instrument design, pitch assignment, the meaning of notation so that groups of people can produce harmonious sounds with compatible rhythms.

Music, in the original sense is communication, a feature of group assemblies that featured drumming, vocalization and dance. In an evolved sense, music became attached to rituals, celebrations, theatre and entertainment.

Music Unites Humans

Music is a powerful ingredient in human societies that facilitates group bonding and conveys feelings more poignantly than other forms of communication. Shrock suggested:” As a college student, my eyes would often well up with tears during my twice-a-week choir rehearsals. I would feel relaxed and at peace yet excited and joyful, and I occasionally experienced a thrill so powerful that it sent shivers down my spine. I also felt connected with fellow musicians in a way I did not with friends who did not sing with me. I have often wondered what it is about music that elicits such emotions. Philosophers and biologists have asked the question for centuries, noting that humans are universally drawn to music. It consoles us when we are sad, pumps us up in happier times and bonds us to others.”

 Oliver Sacks in his book Musicophilia suggested that music is as important communication as language and gesture. I prefer to recognize that music is language and gesture, not really a separate form of communication.  Music is feeling is meaning.

Scholarly investigations of music will emphasize the efforts of highly skilled professional musicians and forget that music begins with full participation of all members of local groups. Singing, dancing, chanting are aspects of group identity and group cohesion.  An ideal human group is coordinated by rhythmic expressions; they play instruments, sing and dance often. Music, as a performance by skilled musician who play to silent audiences sitting in chairs is a recent innovation that does not represent the deeper meaning of musical communication.

Schrock suggested that music “is almost always a communal event: everyone gets together to sing, dance, and play instruments. Even in societies which differentiate musical performers from listeners, people enjoy music together in a wide variety of settings: dancing at a wedding or a nightclub, singing hymns in church, crooning with their kids, Christmas caroling and singing “Happy Birthday” at a party. The popularity of such rituals suggests that music confers social cohesiveness, perhaps by creating empathetic connections among members of a group.,, music’s power stems from its tendency to synchronize our activities.”

The Sound of Music by Stephen Gislason

Persona Digital Studio

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^[i] Karen Schrock. Why Music Moves Us. New research explains music's power over human emotions and its benefits to our mental and physical well-being. Scientific Amer Mind: July 2009