[BluShady]

Hey there!

I listen to quite a bit of jazz music, especially jazz fusion with my favorite artists within that genre being Jean-Luc Ponty and Allan Holdsworth. Was wondering if anyone else here was familiar with them and if they might have other artists that have a similar sound?

Looking forward to your responses!

- Simon

[musicdre]

mahavishnu orchestra - tho more intense

[MttBsh]

I was a big fan of jazz-rock fusion in the 70s (actually I still am) I saw both Jean-Luc Ponty and Holdsworth perform on several occasions. Both artists were great. However, as musicdre mentions above, I feel the Mahavishnu Orchestra was the best band of that genre and that era. Their concert I attended in Nov 1972 was the most powerful of my young life. Return to Forever was another excellent band, their Romantic Warrior tour was incredible. These were groups that had very little "pop" appeal but were peerless musicians and drew huge concert audiences because of how good they were live.

[snaimpally]

Hey there!

I listen to quite a bit of jazz music, especially jazz fusion with my favorite artists within that genre being Jean-Luc Ponty and Allan Holdsworth. Was wondering if anyone else here was familiar with them and if they might have other artists that have a similar sound?

Looking forward to your responses!

- Simon

I second the Mahavishnu Orchestra (MO) as they featured Jerry Goodman on violin and later Jean Luc Ponty (e.g., Visions of the Emerald Beyond).
After MO disbanded, all of them had solo albums so check out Billy Cobham's albums and Jerry Goodman's albums.

I also second Return To Forever and Chick Corea's Elektric Band, especially albums with Al DiMieola (who also has a ton of solo albums) and Frank Gambale.

Kansas, a progressive rock band, featured a violinist.

Guitarist Frank Zappa, who incorporated many jazz elements, featured Jean Luc Ponty on several of his albums.

Tribal Tech, which features guitarist Scott Henderson, is another fusion band worth checking out. If you like Holdsworth, you may like Scott.

Drummer Tony Williams, who played with Miles Davis, McLaughlin, and Holdsworth, also has some great fusion albums.

[won ton on]

You could try Chad Wackerman and Gary Husband as they have both played with Allan Holdsworth.

[FullRangeMan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZQ_owFdHb8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqaAucECLMM

[BobM]

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.

[BluShady]

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

[BluShady]

I second the Mahavishnu Orchestra (MO) as they featured Jerry Goodman on violin and later Jean Luc Ponty (e.g., Visions of the Emerald Beyond).
After MO disbanded, all of them had solo albums so check out Billy Cobham's albums and Jerry Goodman's albums.

I also second Return To Forever and Chick Corea's Elektric Band, especially albums with Al DiMieola (who also has a ton of solo albums) and Frank Gambale.

Kansas, a progressive rock band, featured a violinist.

Guitarist Frank Zappa, who incorporated many jazz elements, featured Jean Luc Ponty on several of his albums.

Tribal Tech, which features guitarist Scott Henderson, is another fusion band worth checking out. If you like Holdsworth, you may like Scott.

Drummer Tony Williams, who played with Miles Davis, McLaughlin, and Holdsworth, also has some great fusion albums.

I am also a huge fan of Scott personally. I have listened to him quite extensively and I agree, he does have quite a similar style to Holdsworth.

The reccomendation of Chick Coreas Elektric Band is a fantastic one. I noticed on their first album, they had their drummer as Dave Weckl, who happens to be my all time favorite jazz drummer. Looking forward to listening tonight!

I also have heard one or two songs from Tribal Tech, but will add a few more songs from them to the queue tonight to dive in a little deeper.

Thanks for the reccomendations!

- Simon

[BluShady]

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.

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.

I need to listen to more of those artists you mentioned at the end! I have a few tracks from some artists you said like Greg Howe, Billy Cobham, John Abercrombie, and Mike Stern. Ill add some more song from each of those artists to my session tonight and see where they take me!

I also havent heard of many of those bands, outside of weather report, that you mentioned in connection to Jean-Luc Ponty, but I think thats a blessing. Gives me many new artists to explore!

Thanks a ton,

- Simon

[BluShady]

I was a big fan of jazz-rock fusion in the 70s (actually I still am) I saw both Jean-Luc Ponty and Holdsworth perform on several occasions. Both artists were great. However, as musicdre mentions above, I feel the Mahavishnu Orchestra was the best band of that genre and that era. Their concert I attended in Nov 1972 was the most powerful of my young life. Return to Forever was another excellent band, their Romantic Warrior tour was incredible. These were groups that had very little "pop" appeal but were peerless musicians and drew huge concert audiences because of how good they were live.

Incredibly jealous that you were able to see them live back then. I can only imagine the experience of those concerts. Trying to visit more jazz clubs these days and forcing myself to get out to drive to see the current artists live when I can.

[fredgarvin]

The player that is turning everyone's heads, guitarists like Steve Vai and Al DiMeola, right now is Matteo Mancuso.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZTSunkoXuY&t=233s

[qdrone]

Try the original guitarist of Return to Forever Bill Connor. Some great fusion on his albums. The knock on him was he sounds like Alan Holdsworth so you should like him.
Also jazz fusion with flute,give Tim Wiesberg a try.

[doorman]

https://youtu.be/IXN96Lqdgfs?si=W94KPBntp5x0TAbG

[Doublej]

If you type their names in allmusic.com you'll see a bunch of similar artists.

[ArthurDent]

If you find you like John Abercrombie's work I'd suggest you give Terje Rypdal a listen as well. You might also find some of Soft Machine's offerings to your liking as Holdsworth played with them for a bit later in their time. Bundles is one of his with them. They were definitely one of the more eclectic fusion groups of the day. Have fun with the hunt.

[snaimpally]

Also Weather Report, Happy The Man, Camel, Caldera, Brand X, Steps Ahead, Sixun - but none of them use violin.

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.).

[snaimpally]

Most of the Miles Davis alumni are jazz fusion pioneers. Guitarists that played with Miles include John McLaughlin, the guitarist for Mahavishnu Orchestra, John Scofield, Mike Stern, and Robben Ford. Keyboardists that played for Miles include Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul, and Keith Jarrett. Drummers that played for Miles include Billy Cobham and Tony Williams. Marcus Miller played bass and produced some of Miles' albums.

[qdrone]

Alan Holdsworth is the ax man on drummer Bill Bruford's three solo albums. Some great fusion  on these slabs of wax.

[simoon]

Don't get me started!

Although I love other subgenres of jazz, fusion is still my favorite.

Alex Machacek - Austrian guitarist, now living in LA. Was friends of Holdsworth. Plays legato style like Holdsworth, but composes substantially differently / 24 Tales (2010)*, Improvision (2007), Featuring Ourselves (1999), FAT with Raphael Preuschl, Herbert Pirker (2012).

Scott McGill - US guitarist, also legato style, but plays a bit more "outside", and even atonal at times. But the guy has terrifying chops / The Hand Farm (1997), Scott McGill, Percy Jones, Rithchie DeCarlo - FreakZoid (2010), McGill/Manring/Stevens - Controlled By Radar (2002).

Uncle Moe's Space Ranch - Brett Garsed, TJ Helmerich, Dennis Chambers, Scott Kinsey, Gary Willis / 2 releases from 2002, and 2007.

KBB - Lost and Found (2000), 4 Conner's Sky (2003), Proof of Concept (2007), Age of Pain (2013) / Violin based fusion with the virtuosic Akihisa Tsuboy on violin.

Didier Lockwood - French violinist seriously as good as Ponty -  Surya (1980), Didier Lockwood Group (1993) / Surya is a burning violin fusion album. The DLG is a bit more laid back.

Iceberg - Spanish fusion band with the incredible Max Sunyer on guitar. - Coses Nostras (1976), Sentiments (1977), Arc-En-Ciel (1979) / All burning fusion albums, somewhat in the RtF vein. All musicians are world class.

Arti e Mestieri - Italian band that straddles the line between fusion and prog. Lead by beast of a drummer, Furio Chirico. He's as good as any of his better known fusion counterparts. / Tilt (1974), Giro Di Valzer Per Domani (1975), Universi Paralleli (2015). Tilt and Universi Paralleli lean a bit more on the prog side, Giro Di Valzer leans more toward fusion, with a Mediterranean feel. All musicians are world class, with violinist Giovanni Vigliar being a standout.

Nova - Italian fusion band with the great Corrado Rustici on guitar. He plays a bit more in the John McLaughlin style, than Holdsworth. / Blink (1975), Vimana (1976). Vimana has Percy Jones (from Brand X) on bass, Phil Collins on percussion, and Narada Michael Waldon on drums. It has a bit of a Brand X feel at times.

Spaced Out - Canadian band with Antoine Fafard on bass. One of the best contemporary fusion bassist on the planet. They play a pretty heavy style of fusion. Slow Gin (2003) and Evolution (2008) are their best, but all 5 releases are killer.

Vertú - Why did this band only make one recording?! Stanley Clark (bass), Richie Kotzen (guit), Karen Briggs (violin), Lenny White (drums), Rachel Z (keys). Killer fusion band with an all star lineup. 

*24 Tales was based on a 50 minute drum solo that Marco Minnemann recorded, then sent the recording to several musicians to composer and record over. It was called "The Normalizer 2 project". Mike Kennealy and Trey Gunn were the other 2 musicians who took part.