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I play straight ahead jazz, all standards, with a rotating group of players who come and go. We play events and restaurants and stuff like that. I have a good amount of gigs, I have the amount of gigs I want to have.
I know jazz fusion is pretty popular, there was a guy in another thread saying Metheny is more popular than Wes. I would not have guessed that but I can't really dispute it either. My question is this, where do fusion groups play? Do fusion guitarists have gigs? I'd guess they are not getting hired to play a cafe or wedding cocktail hour. Is it just music clubs, like the places where rock bands and DJs would play? Is it like they want you to draw a crowd or buy tickets or something, as if you are an up and coming artist that will be putting out albums etc?
Or maybe I am wrong and someone is cranking out Al DiMeola licks at some wedding somewhere right now??
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06-02-2024 03:46 PM
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Certainly at Festivals, otherwise usually in venues that are larger than Jazz Clubs (some jazz clubs too, though).
The only famous club that comes to mind (I've never been to it) is the Baked Potato in LA (or was it Orange County?).
I know Allan Holdsworth, Frank Gambale and the like, often played/play and recorded there...
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Italy
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Indeed!
Originally Posted by Litterick
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Used to be the 55 Bar in NYC before covid forced it to close for good.
Doug
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Good question and
Originally Posted by JazzIsGood
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They show up at jazz jams throw shade at standards then say let’s vibe out on D minor and it’s like being at guitar center for 25 minutes.
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I imagine there’s different gigs in different locales. The “Italy” reply reminded me of one. Some years before corona, I was regularly in Malaysia for work. At times there’d be a fusion group playing at a shopping mall. Not headlining or anything, just an anonymous quartet doing tunes providing background music.
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Yes! The nature of general festivals is that the producers want to host a broad range of musical styles. Originally Posted by frabarmus
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yeah its so LA... Originally Posted by frabarmus
Its a small club but had top players..Scott Henderson has been a regular..Larry Carlton..Lee Ritenour and other top names will sit in and play.
There was also Donte's..1966-1988..that had top names including Lenny Breau who had a recording at the club.
I think the club you asked about in Orange County may be The Lighthouse ..a long time jazz club since the late 40's..
Again top stars (Miles) have played there and many have recorded live there.
These days the economics in CA has made it very difficult to maintain a club..which has a full service restaurant & bar.
Often the bar pays for the restaurant. Paying the talent, the employees, supplies and the rent gets covered by
a cover charge..and its never enough..
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They play the same clubs everybody else plays. You can find the Crusaders, Spyro Gyra, Snarky Puppy etc in cities across the US and around the world. We saw Spyro Gyra at the Blue Note in Napa, and it was a wonderful night! Local fusion bands play local venues, from Delbert Anderson to Kamasi Washington to Keyon Harold to Drift Lab to Oz Noy. There's a lot of great fusion in clubs around the world. But truth be told, it ain't restaurant music.
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This is Fusion? Oh crap, I like Fusion and I never knew it. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
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Oz Noy is quite cool! I had only heard the name and (don't know why) I thought they were doing experimental-avantguard (I guess the name sounded like they were doing that.
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An Italian (Neapolitan) band I liked that was big in the 70's and 80's was Napoli Centrale ("Central Naples"). James Senese is a pretty soulful sax player and singer. They didn't define themselves as "Fusion" (in those days) but, rather, "Mediterranean Jazz Rock".
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I’ve played fusion in pizza restaurants and cafes. And of course, on jazz club gigs. They was (or is) a fantastic fusion night at a pizza place near me.
Many places aren’t afraid of a bit of electric jazz. In fact I’d say it’s easier to book that than straightahead at the moment. A lot of venues like it vibey.
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Oz Noy is an Israeli guitarist, not a band. He’s a fantastic player - studio, sideman, leader and everything in between. Originally Posted by frabarmus
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More from Italy (with Alessio Menconi on guitar).
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Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
I recommend Il Paradiso Perduto in Venice, famed for its seafood and progressive jazz.
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You just made my day! Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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I don't think of Metheny as fusion. He's way too melodic for that. Originally Posted by JazzIsGood
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Herbie Hancock is gonna come for you. Originally Posted by lawson-stone
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Nothing like enjoying a relaxing cup of coffee and listening to fusion. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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Yeah a band I play in is a lot closer to fusion and we had a regular thing at a pizza place for a while. Also a great nightclub type place that had live djs before and after. So the guys would bring all their vinyl and play deep cut jazz and Latin stuff on the nights we were there. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
But truth be told, what is fusion:
I saw Band of Brothers with Will Lee et al at the Blue Whale once, and that was straight up eighties style fusion stuff. But …
Is Ben Wendel fusion?
Aaron Parks?
Nir Felder?
Ben Monder?
Gilad?
Kind of hard to make the case that they’re not. In which case fusion plays just about everywhere jazz does.
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TRuly most current jazz that's actually original is fusion of. some ilk...
Probably the most useless classification in music.
I remember when I thought all fusion sounded like Tribal Tech.
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It’ll be you, him, a Keytar and a unnerving grin at 2am. Originally Posted by pamosmusic
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