[simoon]

I'll keep going...

Edition Spéciale - French band with the great Ann Ballester on all keys. / Aliquante (1977) and Horizon Digital (1978) are both great. Some female vocals in French give it  nice touch.

Isotope - British band with Gary Boyle on guitar. They released 3 albums, but Illusion (1974) is their best. A vastly underrated album, with the vastly underrated Boyle on guitar. He's fast and clean, with plenty of creativity. The follow up, Deep End (1974) is also quite good.

Nova Collective - British band with only one release, The Further Side (2017). This is a side project of musicians from the prog-metal bands, Haken, Cynic and Between the Buried and Me. And, even though it is a fusion album, it has a lot of the rhythmic complexity and heaviness of prog-metal. Constant time and tempo changes, ridiculous chops, etc.

OHM - How could I have forgotten my home town (LA) fusion heros?! With phenom, Chris Poland (from Megadeath) on guitar, Rob Paglieri on bass, and various drummers over the years, including Kofi Baker (son of a much more famous drummer with the last name of Baker). Poland also plays in a legato style, but does not sound like Holdsy.  OHM (2003). Amino Acid Flashback (2005), Circus of Sound (2008). Many consider their live album Live on KPFK, to be their best release.

Panzerballett - German band lead by guitarist Jan Zehrfeld. If there is any modern fusion band with greater musicianship, I haven't heard them. They do mostly original tunes, but they also have killer covers on their albums. But when they do covers, they play them in odd time signatures. They have covers of: The Pink Panther, The Simpsons theme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme by ABBA, Some Skunk Funk by the Brecker Brothers, (I've Had) The Time of My Life, and several Zappa medleys. The do a version of "Take Five" in 2 different time signatures at the same time. Starke Stücke (2008), Hart Genossen Von ABBA Bis Zappa (2009), Tank Goodness (2012), Breaking Brain (2015), Planet Z (2020).

Art Metal - Lead by Swedish bassist, Jonas Hellborg, who became recognized through his work with John McLaughlin on the 2 last Mahavishnu albums. / Vyakhyan-Kar (2007) This is heavy, and complex, with Anders Johansson (drums), Mattias IA Eklundh (guitar), Kanjira (Selvaganesh), Jens Johansson (keys).

Ghost Rhythms - French band. Even though they have chops, they are more interested in sophisticated interplay, than soloing. Not quite as intense and fiery as most of the bands I listed, but they make up for it in other ways. And even though they are more laid back than the others, don't mistake them for "smooth jazz". They have 6 albums, all great. Ghost Rhythms (2007), Sept Cercles (2012), Madeleine (2015), Imaginary Mountains (2020), Spectral Music (2021), Arcanes (2024).

[Holygeezer]

If I recall correctly, Jeff Lorber comes to mind. He did some fusion jazz back in the day.

[simoon]

Wow! The response to this post is incredible. I will definitely look into Mahivishnu, seems like he is universally loved here.

I have also recognized many of the other names mentioned here, i.e. Al Di Meola, Chick Corea, Weather Report, Zappa, etc. and its so refreshing to see people with similar tastes to my own. I am creating a playlist of all of the aforementioned artists as we speak and preparing for a listening session of the ages tonight.

Thank you all again for your recommendations! Looking forward to seeing any future suggestions here.

- Simon

Yeah. Mahavishnu Orchestra is one of the best fusion bands ever!

Just stay away (IMO) from Inner Worlds, Mahavishnu, and Adventures in Radioland. Not that they are horrible, but they are a shadow of what came before, and not really representative. Everything before those 3 are all world class. And don't forget, The Lost Trident Sessions, because even though it was released in 1999, it was recorded in 1973 right after Birds of Fire.

Some of the band members were not happy with the recording, so it was never released, then the masters were lost in the vaults for 20 years. They were found, cleaned up and remastered and released. I am not sure what the band had problems with, but it is every bit as good as their other early 70's recordings.

After you get done exploring Mahavisnu, you should also check out some of John McLaughlin's other projects. The One Truth Band - Electric Dreams (1978) is very good, with L. Shankar on violin, could be the best violinist (technically speaking) he worked with.

Also, several of his releases in the 2000's are pretty killer, too: Industrial Zen (2006), Floating Point (2008), To the One (2010)

More to check out:

Brand X - band that Phil Collins (from Genesis) played with, as a side project, for a while. Even though Collins was well respected as a drummer with Genesis, he proved that he had the chops to play fusion. With: John Goodsall on guitar, Percy Jones on fretless bass, Robin Lumley on keys. One of the best fusion bands of the time. Their best are, Unorthodox Behavior (1977), Moroccan Roll (1977), Masques (1978), Product (1978).

Dixie Dregs (later became simply the Dregs) - Steve Morse on guitar is brilliant, Allen Sloan* on violin is killer, Andy West (bass), Rod Morgenstien (drums), and new guy Steve Davidowski on keys.

*Allen Sloan left the band back in the early 80's, to practice medicine (I believe he was an anesthesiologist), to be replaced by blue grass phenom, Mark O'Connor (he won national fiddle competitions at the age of 12 against adults). When O'Connor left, he was replaced by ex Mahavishnu Orchestra violinist, Jerry Goodman. Now, Sloan is back in the band, and they are touring in 2024!

Billy Cobham - one of he best fusion drummer ever! Had some killer solo albums. Spectrum (1973), Crosswinds (1974), Total Eclipse (1974). Spectrum is the best, the others have some killer stuff, but they got a bit too funky for my tastes.

Lenny White - the other killer fusion drummer from the 70's. From Return to Forever obviously. Venusian Summer (1975). The piece, The Venusian Summer Suite, alone, is worth the price of admission.

Planet X - 2000's fusion band, that is highly technical. Lots of stop on a dime time signature changes, killer chops. If someone claimed that drummer Virgil Donati, is the best drummer on the planet, it would be hard to argue. His limb independence is phenomenal. They have 3 releases in the 2000's, the best are Moonbabies (2002) and Quantum (2007).

Deus ex Machina - Italian band that straddles the line between fusion and prog. Mauro Collina (guitars), Marco Matteuzzi (drums), Alessandro Porreca (bass), Alessandro Bonetti (violin), Luigi Ricciadello (keyboards), Alberto Piras (vocals). Alberto Piras has a 5 octave vocal range, but his style does take some getting used to. On most releases he sings in Latin. All but their first release, are killer. Self Titled (1992), De Republica (1995), Equilibrismo da Insofferenza (1998), Cinque (2002), Devoto (2016). De Repunica, Equilibrismo da Insofferenza, and Cinque are their best. Let me add, that they can get a bit experimental  at times.

Forgas Band Phenomena - French band with long pieces, with lots of musical development. Also leans a bit toward prog at times. Benjamin Violet (guitar), Igor Brover (keyboards), Sébastien Trognon (tenor & soprano saxes, flute), Dimitri Alexaline (trumpet & flugelhorn), Karolina Mlodecka (violin), Kengo Mochizuki (bass), Patrick Forgas (drums). All 5 of their releases, from 1997 up through 2018, are killer. Their best are probably: L'Axe Du Fou - Axis Of Madness (2009), Acte V (2012), L'Oreille Électrique (2018).

[qdrone]

There are 2 sets of Weather Report "Original Album Classics" with 5 CDs each so you can get 10 WR CDs for around $50. This series uses the latest remasters etc.
Happy The Man and Camel both had Kit Watkins as their keyboardist. He also had quite a few solo albums with the drummer/percussionist from Happy The Man (Coco Roussel). Kit has retired and made all his albums are available for FREE as mp3 files on his website: http://kitwatkins.com/recordings/index.htm

The recording quality is superb and he uses many unusual rhythms (5/4, 7/8 etc.).

Wow,thanks. This is why I come to Musical 🎼  websites,to drink from the well of others knowledge.
Thank you.
I believe Steve Morse is with the latest line up of Deep Purple,caught them 4vyears ago.

[simoon]

Jen Luc Ponty was a violinst, obviously. If you want more violin fusion then Mahivishnu (as mentioned by others) is a great place to look. Also check out Michael Urbaniak. But also remember that Jean Luc's style of fusion was emulated by other bands without violins. His style was a bit spacy and bands like Return to Forever had their moments that could be considered similar. Also Weather Report, Happy The Man, Camel, Caldera, Brand X, Steps Ahead, Sixun - but none of them use violin.

As for Alan Holdsworth, the preeminant Holdsworth player, other than Alan himself, is probably Scott Henderson from Tribal Tech.There are many others who emulate his style, like Guthrie Govan, so find out who they play with and see if you also like those bands. Now Holdswporth played with many people, so check out those bands that include him, like Bruford & UK. Other bands that are somewhat similar in their technical prowess are Chick Corea Electric Band, Tony Williams Lifetime, Billy Cobham, Greg Howe, Mike Stern, John Scofield, John Abercrombie, George Duke, Steve Vai.

Many of those I mentioned will likely appeal to you, if not exactly in the same way as your original two, but I think there's a vast catalogue of jazz fusion that also bleeds into prog rock territory a bit and all are worth exploring.

Enjoy the search.

How could I forget Urbaniak. Definitely an underrated fusion violinist. I was even listening to one of his CD's in my car just last week.

Happy the Man and Camel are killer! But I would be hard pressed to consider them fusion. For me, they are firmly within the prog genre.

Caldera is a bit too funky for me, but Jorge Strunz is an incredible guitar player.

Sixun is good. A bit of a Weather Report vibe.

[Jazzman53]

Billy Bang: 

https://youtu.be/G2sRWypnzAc?si=mXr43mBO96Idx2lE

[Jazzman53]

Ragina Carter:

https://youtu.be/BF4ifBXx-Z8?si=sJQK5s1VJuOD56Pa

[simoon]

Man, Gurthrie Govan is such a fantastic artist. I never noticed how similar some of his work is to Holdsworth, great connection there. Have you ever heard his trio band The Aristocrats? Theyre absolutely brilliant. Definitely recommend listening if you havent.

- Simon

In an interview with Govan a few years ago, he had this to say about Holdsworth:

"To me, Allan’s playing is a rare example of a guitar player exhibiting no kind of ‘family tree’ whatsoever - when you listen to most players, you can hear at least some evidence of their early influences, and yet with Allan, the most logical explanation for what you’re hearing is that the this guy must have arrived very abruptly and unexpectedly - if not from another planet then, at the very least, from the future!"

Which very closely replicates what a good friend of mine, a top LA studio musician, and movie/TV arranger, said about Holdsworth about 5 years earlier:


 "For me, Allan Holdsworth was the most innovative improviser of all time on ANY instrument. The great jazz soloists (McCoy, Brecker, Freddie Hubbard, Trane, etc.), all had predecessors on their respective instruments that they copped licks from and modified with their own voice. There clearly was no guitar lineage leading up to Allan's approach. This freak landed ship with a completely new vocabulary not based on anything that was already established. No blues, pentatonics, bop, post-bop...NOTHING"

[ric]

Recently I listened to Chien Chien Lu ( The Path), and it reminded me of some of the driving bass/drums fusion of yesteryear.  Then I loved her bass player's playing and checked out Richie Goods (My left hand man).
  Enjoy!

[JDoyle]

I recently discovered this internet station… I’ve added about 20 songs to my playlists already from it 

https://live365.com/station/JAZZ-FUSION-RADIO-a45483

[Jeff_From_Michigan]

I recently discovered this internet station… I’ve added about 20 songs to my playlists already from it 

https://live365.com/station/JAZZ-FUSION-RADIO-a45483

Thanks for the tip on Radio365.  Some pretty cool stations there, including the one you mentioned. 

I can see some of these stations filling in at a party or while doing housework, similar to the role that Radio Paradise plays. Sometimes I just want to put on a station that will provide good entertainment for a few hours.

"Mountain Town Radio" has been playing here for a bit, and I find myself enjoying it so far. Time will tell... To be honest, I haven't even had it on long enough to find out if/how many/how often they play commercials - but so far, so good.

[JDoyle]

A second plug for this station… I just discovered this dude who actually features Allan Holdsworth 

[steve k]

Check out Avishei Cohen--very unique trumpet player who owes his style to no one. Listen to "Flood" for starters.

[steve k]

Another good fusion band is Snarky Puppy

[simoon]

Check out Avishei Cohen--very unique trumpet player who owes his style to no one. Listen to "Flood" for starters.

I love Cohen, but I am not sure I would consider what he does in the fusion subgenre of jazz.

To me, he is pretty solidly in post-bop. At least on the few recordings I have of his. I haven't heard his complete catalog, what I have heard does not have much in common with fusion in general, or Allan Holdsworth or Ponty specifically.

[snaimpally]

If you are looking for fusion in the style of Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, etc. then check out BrandX, a 70s British fusion band. I had one of their albums on vinyl back in the day, but they were a fairly obscure band so their records were very hard to find. All 6 of their studio albums, along with some live tracks from the BBC, have been released in a 4 CD compilation called Nuclear Burn. As a bonus, its priced at around $25. Several albums feature Phil Collins (of Genesis) on drums. I was blown away by his drumming with BrandX. Because the original recordings were very well engineered, the compilation sounds excellent - probably some of the best sounding tracks I have heard from that era.

[snaimpally]

Happy the Man and Camel are killer! But I would be hard pressed to consider them fusion. For me, they are firmly within the prog genre.

Agreed, but (1) there is some overlap between fusion and prog and (2) listeners who like one usually like the other. In terms of overlap, just look at Jean Luc Ponty (fusion) teaming up with Jon Anderson (prog). Saw this combo live during their tour some years back.

[snaimpally]

Brand X - band that Phil Collins (from Genesis) played with, as a side project, for a while. Even though Collins was well respected as a drummer with Genesis, he proved that he had the chops to play fusion. With: John Goodsall on guitar, Percy Jones on fretless bass, Robin Lumley on keys. One of the best fusion bands of the time. Their best are, Unorthodox Behavior (1977), Moroccan Roll (1977), Masques (1978), Product (1978).

Billy Cobham - one of he best fusion drummer ever! Had some killer solo albums. Spectrum (1973), Crosswinds (1974), Total Eclipse (1974). Spectrum is the best, the others have some killer stuff, but they got a bit too funky for my tastes.

Lenny White - the other killer fusion drummer from the 70's. From Return to Forever obviously. Venusian Summer (1975). The piece, The Venusian Summer Suite, alone, is worth the price of admission.

BrandX is an awesome fusion band - get the 4 CD compilation that features all 6 of their studio albums plus some live tracks - I just posted about it
Cobham tends more towards funk (as do some of Lenny White's releases) but there is some fusion in there. There are some good Cobham compilations available that allow you to get a lot of his work for not a lot of money.

Jeff Beck featured ex-Mahavishnu keyboardist Jan Hammer on several of his albums so he is another guitarist to check out. One of the greatest guitarists of all time, IMHO, as his playing encompasses so many styles.