Who has been most succesful in combining world music with jazz?

[jazzypaul]

Any thoughts?

[Geoff]

Dollar Brand's (Abdullah Ibrahim's) African Piano, is a remarkable album that is a combination of jazz piano, and traditional african music. All played on one piano.

[estonian]

"Brass Brothers" from norway.

[BeBop]

I'd "second" Dollar Brand and add Randy Weston and Yusef Lateef. Some of Pharoah Sanders' experiments were interesting. Or, if you've a penchant for history, some of Dizzy Gillespie's work from the 1940s.

[jazzypaul]

there's always Ka'hil El'Zabar out of Chicago. He's been throwing African Drums, thumb pianos and things of the like into his music for years. A lot of his stuff has a, for lack of a better word, tribal feel to it.

[Coypu]

Can someone give me a good explanation of what exactly the term "world music" means?

[jazzypaul]

World music is music not defined in the "western" sense of the word, as far as I understand it. And, well, the funny part is, if you think about it, world music will change from culture to culture. In West Africa, rock & roll would be world music.

OFF-TOPIC NOTE...

"Jazz can only reach its full potential once it has fused itself with the power of death metal."

Funny, my band has been doing that for a while now, and I haven't heard one person say anything remotely close to that. Usually just "don't you guys play Take Five?"

[Coypu]

Originally posted by jazzypaul
World music is music not defined in the "western" sense of the word, as far as I understand it. And, well, the funny part is, if you think about it, world music will change from culture to culture. In West Africa, rock & roll would be world music.

OFF-TOPIC NOTE...

"Jazz can only reach its full potential once it has fused itself with the power of death metal."

Funny, my band has been doing that for a while now, and I haven't heard one person say anything remotely close to that. Usually just "don't you guys play Take Five?"

Ok, I understand the world music term now. thanks.

I would like to hear your band, do you have any soundclips?

[jazzypaul]

we're working on it. I'm thinking within a month, we'll have music on our website for the world to paruse (sp?)

[scalle]

Rabih Abou Khalil

Trilok Gurtu

[jazzypaul]

trilok is so good as to be scary...

[scalle]

Sometimes

Try The Glimpse (silva records)

[Robert J]

Just thought of Bill Laswell.

Check out "Hallucination Engine" w/ Wayne Shorter, Trilok Gurtu, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Shankar, Zakir Hussain, Jonas Hellborg, Nicky Skopelitis etc.

Pushes the limits between jazz, fusion, world and trance. Though I've argued this album among the purists who feel Bill went too far. That was the point I believe.

True, the sense/meaning of "world Music" has diminished. Even Peter Gabriel admits that many people will not buy his Real World albums precisely because his name is on it as a producer. Appropriation of voice and style is even suspect. Especially when anyone on the planet now has access to the "other", whether it is music, literature, art or images. No one even seems to want to listen to their own heritage. I was in the middle east in 1991 picking up Arab and Indian CD's in the local shops while everyone was listening to Euro-pop, disco, or grunge bands.

I remember seeing the Art Ensemble of Chicago and that was probably the closest moment I had to experiencing something completely worldly (or otherworldly):cool:

[Pharaohrock]

Not everybody digs it, but I happen to like Sam Newsome's Global Unity band, although I have to say it strikes me more as "mood" music than really substantive jazz. The first record has more depth IMO. Elizabeth Kontonamanou doing a wordless vocal rendition of "Caravan" is really freakin- HIP.

[Herb]

whatever world music is (duh!) i guess it means music that doesn't come from the center of the american empire. (and that assumes jazz does.)

fela kuti! from nigeria. now deceased. started receiving recognition in the '70s. amazing player, trained as a jazz musician and then switched over to a funk/jam sound. invented afro-beat, sparked a huge movement in central/west africa to combine jazz styles and idioms with african and caribbean rhythmic structures, proverbs and testimony. lots of improv, lots of funk. dig those james brown horns!

[PiousBionicus]

I hate the "World Music" label, it does not define a type of music, it is just a dumping ground for non UK/US music that is too difficult to catagorise. If you went to a record shop in the UK or US and looked under "World Music", you would find Japanese, Indian, Cuban, French, German, Brasilian music all mixed in together even though they're completely different!

[Spoon]

Originally posted by jazzypaul
OFF-TOPIC NOTE...

"Jazz can only reach its full potential once it has fused itself with the power of death metal."

Funny, my band has been doing that for a while now, and I haven't heard one person say anything remotely close to that. Usually just "don't you guys play Take Five?"

What's the name of your band, jazzypaul? I'm a huge fan of death metal, as well. A mix of the two sounds like a killer combination.

[Joel]

I bought Joe Zawinuls World Tour about 3 weeks ago and I think is a good combination of World Music, Fusion and Jazz (only a sprinkle of it).

All Music Guide defines it as World Fusion.

[c76]

The World Quintet (formerly known as Kol Simcha) is, IMHO, the best proponent of jazz and world music at the moment. I've got lots of MP3s if anyone is interested in hearing them. It's a brilliant hybrid of klezmer, jazz, world music and orchestration. They just teamed up with the London Mozart Players for one of the most rich concerts I've seen in a long time.

In case the sig at the bottom is buggy, you can go to <a href="http://groups.msn.com/jazzmp3">Jazz MP3</a> to find out where to d/l it.

[jazzdude]

Randy Weston. He has been living in Morrocco for more than 20 years. His music is totally influenced by North African music.

Adam Rudolph. A percussionist from Louisiana who is heavily influenced by African, Arabic and Asian music. He plays with Pharoah Sanders, Hamid Drake, Yusef Lateef and a few others.

Check out "Spirits" by Pharoah Sanders and Rudolph.
And dig into "Beyond the Sky" by Lateef and Rudolph.

[DWBass]

One word.................Sting! Ok, Paul Simon too!

[jazzdude]

Actually, Sting and Simon are pop musicians, not jazz musicians. Very good pop musicians. And they do combine pop and world music well. I know Simon first did it way back in the early '70's before the term 'world music' was ever used.

[clifton]

Dave Douglas, with Tiny Bell Trio and Charms Of The Night Sky. Don Cherry, John McLaughlin's Shakti, David Murray, World Saxophone Quartet's "Metamorphosis", Don Pullen. I'm using the term "world music" as a matter of convenience. It's actually condescending to lump the many varied musics of other nations and cultures into one large catch-all catergory. The term "world music" is essentially a marketing strategy to promote experiments by Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon that might not sell as much otherwise. I'm not knocking Gabriel or Simon at all, only the relentless corporate media conglomorates that have to label and market everything.

[jazzdude]

Good points. I agree.

[clifton]

Any discussion of jazz and other musics had better include Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Duke was using Latin rhythms as early as 1940. ("The Flaming Sword", "Conga Brava"). Ethnic musics also influenced parts of "Such Sweet Thunder", and of course "Far East Suite" and "Latin American Suite". It all sounded like Ellington music so its global sweep might not be readily apparent to the casual listener. And Charles Mingus has used mariachi and cumbia elements, as in "Tijuana Moods" and "Cumbia And Jazz Fusion".

[Joel]

I got Joe Zawinul's Faces and Places last month and has made my Best CDs in 2002.

[jazzdude]

I've been telling everyone I know who liked Weather Report to DEFINITLEY check out Joe's disc. It BLEW ME AWAY when I first heard it. I even called my cousin cross country last week and told him to get it.

By the way, I'll be seeing the Zawinul group in two weeks at a jazz club near me. I also think it's the best disc of the year. I hope they sound that good live. Will sound find out.

The bass playing on the disc thruout is KILLING! Like Jaco.

[riverrat]

I would cast my vote for Fela Kuti.

Asking about a combination of jazz and "world music" is casting a very wide net, but I think Fela's extended jazzy sax solos, and those of his sax and trumpet playing bandmates qualify, although the thumping afrobeat groove that anchored his music would be hard to characterize as jazz.

[J Larsen]

I was going to say Fela as well - just as I got to the bottom of the screen, I saw riverrat beat me to it. I saw a river-rat the size of a cat once.

[Joel]

How did I forget...

John Abercrombie and his Middle Eastern tones.

and my idol Pat with his Brazillian flavors..

although both does not really have that "World Music" feel to it, most World Music that I've heard are filled with a lot of instruments, especially exotic and/or indigenous percussions.

[RonF]

Roswell Rudd has pretty much been over the top for me but I've heard a little of his new disc Malicool on which he plays with a group of South African musicians. Roswell would probably kill anyone who used the word accesible when speaking of his music but even I can get into some of this. :cool:

[riverrat]

J Larsen:

"I saw a river-rat the size of a cat once."

Yes I think the term "river-rat" is/was a colloquialism for muskrat.

In my case it means a terminally addicted member of the river running/guiding community aka "whitewater trash", who have guided for so long we're barely fit fer real work.

I would post a picture if I could figure out how to insert it here off my harddrive...

[Muskrat Ramble]

Yes I think the term "river-rat" is/was a colloquialism for muskrat.


Someone called? :)

[Hardbop]

How about Richard Bona? I really like this bass player who hails from I think Cameroon by way of France.

[RonF]

Originally posted by Hardbop
How about Richard Bona? I really like this bass player who hails from I think Cameroon by way of France.

Good call. His last album Reverence (on Columbia) is superb. Special guest appearances by Pat Metheny and Michael Brecker.

[AfricaBrass]

I'll also throw my vote in for Fela Kuti. I love the stuff he did with Afrika 70. I had read about him for years, but I hadn't heard his stuff until a couple of years ago. He's become a favorite.

I also like Randy Weston. I was lucky enough to pick up his album, Tanjah. I believe this album was from 1973. I really enjoy this one also.

I don't know if this qualifies, but he was a jazz musician. Paul Horn's albums on World Pacific are good. There was a double album reissued in the 70s on Blue Note that I love. The music is classical Indian music instead of jazz but it is another favorite of mine.

[J Larsen]

Originally posted by riverrat
J Larsen:
Yes I think the term "river-rat" is/was a colloquialism for muskrat.


Really? I was told that people refer to lieka as river-rats. That could easily be wrong.

[Jazzmoose]

I've gotta go with Pat Metheny. An obvious choice, perhaps, but for good reason!

[JamesJazz]

I think Yusef Lateef was one of the first jazz guys to incorporate Eastern elements into his music.

Yusef began to seriously study music from other cultures after returning to Detroit around 1950.
While working at the Chrysler auto plant in the early 1950s, Lateef met a fellow from Syria who instructed him in making a type of flute. Lateef made one and I think this was the trigger for him bringing Eastern music into his repertoire.
His working band, which recorded for Savoy, Prestige and Cadet, waxed many Eastern flavored Lateef compositions.

[WestCoast Ghost]

Ahmed Abdul-Malik, who worked with Monk and Coltrane in the late 50's/early 60's, was one of the first successful practicioners of this "fusion," IMO. Fantasy has just re-issued his 1962 LP JAZZ SOUNDS OF AFRICA.

[blake]

glad to see a mention for rabih abou-khalil. cactus of knowledge is a tremendous disc.

[Dr. J.]

Originally posted by jazzypaul
Any thoughts?

Al DiMeola - The Grand Passion

Marcelo Zarvos - Labrynth

Chano Dominguez - Hecho a Mano

All Latin-flavored... first thoughts that come to mind...

[Ed Swinnich]

I've got to go with Metheny as well. He's been one of my favorites for a very long time. The PMG's been about as successful as anyone in melding world and jazz.

The other name that popped in my head was Zawinul. Also Oregon

[lazy bird]

'World music' is just a marketing term. Have YOU ever heard music form Mars (except Sun Ra)? All music is world music.

Moreover, jazz musicians have always fused jazz with music from all around the world.

some examples:
Dizzy Gillespie fused jazz with Afro-cuban music.
Coltrane was inspired by eastern and African music.

Maybe jazz is 'THE' world music because it's the art form which draws the most from all kinds of different cultures and musical styles.

[lazy bird]

Originally posted by David Gitin
I don't know about 'best' but David Murray's CREOLE album is a pleasure.

I saw Murray perform with the GWO-KA masters some time ago. great concert!

[Noj]

DJ Krush, a Japanese turntablist, has done a few tracks combining reggae/hip hop featuring a trumpet player, most notably a song called "Edge Of Blue" from this 1993 release:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000005E0R.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

He also did a nice cover of Bob Marley's "Sun Is Shining" featuring Japanese trumpet player Toshinori Kondo on a more recent album.

[Valerie]

The Zawinul Syndicate!!!

[tipitina]

Check out his son Femi! He has a couple of CDs that could be classified as "World Music". I hate that term as well and agree that it is only a Marketing Word. I would call Fela's music "Afro-Beat". It makes you move no matter what you call it.

[Nils]

Originally posted by David Gitin
I don't know about 'best' but David Murray's CREOLE album is a pleasure...

agree completely. his record with the gwo-ka masters of guadeloupe ("yonn-de," review (http://www.allaboutjazz.com/reviews/r0502_101.htm)) blends jazz with their music very well. also his recent latin big band record "now is another time" (review (http://www.allaboutjazz.com/reviews/r0303_004.htm)) which he recorded over two sessions in cuba (thus the real thing). he did "fo deuk revue" (review (http://www.allaboutjazz.com/reviews/r0700_022.htm)), another record with senegalese musicians (perhaps inspired by his work with senegalese drummer mor thiam).

and while on the subject, don pullen's african-brazillian connection (eg. "ode to life") has an emotionally warm and light touch.

nils