| # | Artist | Song (click to play) | Album | Year | CD label | My Gnosis Rating |
| 1 | Dreams | Try Me | Dreams | 1970 | LP Columbia | NA |
| "While many artists turned away from Fusion and started to play more R&B in the late 70s and early 80s, here are a few Fusion artists who actually *started* in an R&B band and then went on to become big players in the world of Fusion. Billy Cobham, The Brecker Brothers and John Abercrombie all appear on this album." - L Perez | ||||||
| 2 | War | H2 Overture | Deliver the Word | 1973 | LP United Artists | NA |
|
"Practically every War album contains a long instrumental piece. Some albums
have a few. This song is also on their album Platinum Jazz that is a double
album retrospective which also contains a healthy dose of great new material.
If I had to recommend one album to start with though, it would be their 1972
album The World is a Ghetto." - L Perez
War | ||||||
| 3 | Curtis Mayfield | Right on for the Darkness | Back to the World | 1973 | LP Curtom | NA |
|
"This is from Curtis' fourth album including the soundtrack to Superfly. There
has never been an R&B artist quite like Curtis Mayfield; during his solo
career he raised the bar for R&B composers, incorporating Classically
influenced orchestration in much of his work. Indeed, the orchestra in this
piece gives it a seething, ominous power that words can not describe."
- L Perez
Curtis Mayfield Page | ||||||
| 4 | Funkadelic | Jimmy's Got a Little Bit of Bitch in Him | Standing on the Verge of Getting it on | 1974 | LP Westbound | NA |
|
"This album is perhaps Funkadelic's strongest. From the Hendrixian freakout of
Alice in my Fantasies to the Quasi-Spiritual space trip of Good Thoughts, Bad
Thoughts to the greatest Funk tune of all time Red Hot Mama with it's
mind-blowing, incendiary Guitar solo to this Jazzy sendup of a guy going
through a gender crisis, this entire album is a tour de force of what
Funkadelic was." - L Perez
The Motherpage - Makin' Your Funk the P-Funk One Nation P-Funk Page | ||||||
| 5 | Lonnie Liston Smith | Expansions | Expansions | 1975 | LP RCA | NA |
| "While reading the liner notes on all of these albums, I noticed that artists who played a mix of Jazz, Rock and R&B were often referred to not as Fusion or progressive but as crossover artists. Lonnie started his career playing with Pharoah Sanders but when he decided to record a solo album he chose to incorporate R&B as well as Rock influences in his music. Unfortunately, Jazz purists claimed he had turned his back on Jazz and his music really didn't have enough Rock in it to be classified as Fusion hence his highly creative, unique style was sadly overlooked by many. This is the title piece from his third album." - L Perez | ||||||
| 6 | Mandrill | Here Today, Gone Tomorrow/The Sun Must Go Down | Is | 1972 | LP Polydor | NA |
|
"This is from their second album. Mandrill is the only band that I've heard
successfully blend Rock, Classical, Jazz, Funk and Latin influences. I
believe that a couple of their albums have been released on CD by the
Collectibles label. I would recommend starting with their first album and
purchasing each in order. Their first 6 albums: Mandrill, Is, Composite
Truth, Just Outside of Town, Mandrilland and Solid are all excellent."
- L Perez
Mandrill World Music | ||||||