The Top Jazz-Fusion Albums of the '70s!

Join host Pete Pardo for an exhaustive look at some of his favorite Jazz-Fusion albums of the 1970s! Included are the albums:
Miles Davis-A Tribute to Jack Johnson
Larry Coryell- The Eleventh House with Larry Coryell
Brand X- Moroccan Roll
The Brecker Brothers Band- Heavy Metal BeBop
Larry Carlton-Larry Carlton
Frank Zappa and the Mothers-The Grand Wazoo
Hatfield and the North-Hatfield and the North
Colosseum II- War Dance
Dixie Dregs-What If
The Crusaders-The 2nd Crusade
Lee Ritenour-First Course
Bill Bruford-Master Strokes (One of a Kind/Feels Good to Me)
Stanley Clarke-School Days
Billy Cobham-Spectrum
Herbie Hancock-Thrust
Al DiMeola- Elegant Gypsy
Alphonse Mouzon-Mind Transplant
National Health- Complete
Matching Mole-Little Red Record
Gong-Gazeuse!
Chuck Mangione-Feels So Good
Pat Metheny-Bright Size Life
The Mahavishnu Orchestra-Inner Mounting Flame
Santana/McLaughlin-Love Devotion Surrender
Santana-Caravanserai
Isotope-Illusion
Nucleus- Elastic Rock
Return to Forever-Where Have I Known You Before
Passport-Cross Collateral
Oregon-Out of the Woods
Soft Machine - Third & Bundles
Jean Luc Ponty-Enigmatic Oceans
Terje Rypdal-Odyssey
Jaco Pastorius-Jaco Pastorius
Secret Oyster- Sea Son
Transit Express-Opus Progressif
Iceberg-Sentiments
David Sancious-Just as I Thought
Jeff Beck-Wired
Weather Report-Heavy Weather
Lenny White- Venusian Summer
Tony Williams Lifetime- The Collection (Believe It/Billion Dollar Legs)

[@Jellybeantiger]

Alot say jazz and prog is souless but I have had more goosebump moments listening to these two genres than any other.

[@robbjj1]

Picked up Mahavishnu Orchestra "Inner Mounting Flame" after watching the video

[@AnthonyGargini]

Oh thats a great one

[@brucecullenward7106]

Not their best by a long way.

[@thelax5311]

Nothing beats Jazz Fusion.

[@samkinison2375]

Don't know if it would be considered fusion but my favorite Miles Davis album is Miles in the Sky

[@veli-mattiturunen4011]

Totta,Electric Miles,wow🤗

[@bernardjharmsen304]

Miles' 1968 Filles de Kilimanjaro was a transitional fusion album that introduced electric piano and bass to acoustic post-bop

[@Jellybeantiger]

My two go toos Jazz and prog but I love funky folky jazzy country like Little Feat.

[@jamesgingrich3837]

Yep

[@sidneypasquarelli2122]

Miles Davis! In a silent way! Masterpiece!

[@brianleonard9872]

That came out in the 60s. His list is based on 70s releases. But that is a fantastic album!

[@jamesgingrich3837]

Yes it was

[@bernarddussault2365]

get up with it

[@byronmcgee4118]

Agharta

[@doodahdavesrecords4319]

Where have I known you before RTF IS A BEAST! love it and saw this tour!

[@tychoasavrick]

Thanks for including Oregon, a band that is criminally under-appreciated. There has never been another band like Oregon. Truly unique.

[@progger53]

I got a quad recording put into a 5.1 CD of one of their fusion albums.

[@jamesholderegger38]

I saw Oregon when I was going to U of O and they put on a great show that was really interesting and different. I have been a fan since and find Out of the Woods a soothing relaxing album while keeping me engaged. I have seen them 3 times over the years at Yoshi in Oakland, CA. I like their two-record live album a lot too.

[@sidneypasquarelli2122]

I absolutely love jazz fusion and I've been a fan since '83! Anything from Miles Davis to John Mclaughlin to Jeff Beck! They're such great musicians!

[@bksherm]

I was saying I wish I knew some good jazz fusion to get into and then of course Pete Pardo jumped into my mind, voila here we are. Thanks Pete this was super helpful.

[@sbwfdr]

So glad to see "Believe It" mentioned. (Tony Williams). Fun show!

[@vicentcarro]

Tony Williams I love this guy, he is titan grade artist

[@halearly3749]

Excellent list. 70's Jazz Fusion Forever. Thank you . . .

[@j20man9]

Great timing on this. I've been obsessed with jazz fusion lately and you've given me some great ideas. Thanks!

[@allthingsclassicrock]

j 20man me too! This is a perfectly timed video.

[@ivozanette7010]

Awesome finds. Lots of stuff I've forgotten and will definitely re discover. Thanks, excellent as always

[@swingthestatue]

Can only say I've been binge watching your channel for the past 2 weeks - thank you for the excellent recommendations and excellent delivery, your passion for music is contagious.

[@rolandevans5894]

I am so happy that I stumbled across this little gem. I am enthused and looking forward to sampling your recommendations; I love your passion and appreciate your extensive knowledge. Many thanks.

[@bongolong]

....oooohhh.... I'm giddy with excitement, just started watching!!

[@randybrickson4290]

the first two Bruford albums are fantastic, and the third one is quite good too

[@progger53]

I got both of those and DVD 5.1

[@cpu554]

Two that come to mind are Chase and Don Ellis Orchestra. The first Chase album was balls to the walls trumpet fusion and Ellis Live at the Fillmore was the bomb. Time signatures all over the place and quarter tone trumpet played through a ring modulator. Works for me.

[@richardwalker9826]

i was always a Chase fan and don ellis too i played the chase pure music album on my quadraphonic zenith stereo back in the 70's til the walls almost fell down!!!!

[@57hound]

I’ve really been enjoying your videos, interesting to hear someone else’s take on old favorites and to learn about music that is new to me. Thanks for listing the albums in the description!

[@gilwood7530]

Space jazz fusion GONG

[@jotagomezmusico]

Great job! Finally a good video for this great music! Thank you and greetings from Chile!

[@TheZeekgeek1]

Aww yeah! Great stuff

[@stuartwexelbaum9070]

Awesome show..brought back many memories..

[@keithnutman3736]

This is a fantastic video, thank you sir

[@marvinthompson9010]

Fantastic programme!

[@rustykuntz94]

Been a huge metal & rock fan since my teens but just in the last 2 years I've gotten heavy into Jazz Fusion. Miles, Weather Report, Herbie, Brand X & everything in between.

[@prockrog5219]

Really cool show! Keep it up!

[@Jon-bb3sk]

this is great! your what i've been waiting for

[@Audiojunkabus]

Pete, once again you have blown me away and changed my life. 1st it was Wishbone Ash now it's Secret Oyster. You humble me Sir. thanks for impacting my life.

[@thekeywitness]

good list, I'm seeking some out. Glad you mentioned The Grand Wazoo - I've been on a Zappa kick this week. Love his jazz-rock stuff.

[@matts9064]

Pete this is an awesome list!!! More jazz lists please!!!!

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

Fantastic list. Great service to the music community. Thank you.

[@paulcollins5586]

All classic choices. Great reviews.

[@Martroid]

Awesome stuff, Pete. Moroccan Roll and Wired are two of my all-time faves 🤘👽🤘

[@pgarvie]

Wow, you really know your stuff! Very informative, and a great list to start exploring this genre. Thanks, Phil

[@mikekeeler6362]

Yes Pete does have a lot of very informative

[@throe68]

Me: "....no Weather Report?" - then 37:15....patience, Grasshopper...lol

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

LOL! Great comment Joe! Do you know how MANY people watch like 5 minutes and are already typing "why no this, why no that"....watch the whole video people! Thanks for watching!

[@bernardjharmsen304]

abcdefghijklmnpoqrstuv WEATHER REPORT! It's called suspense

[@BattManion1979]

Nice work...quite an anthology..keep you busy listening for years.

[@paulw8860]

your channel is absolutely fascinating! Jazz-fusion is one area I always wanted to get into, and you made it so easy. I am indulging to the albums you introduced here. They are all great. Thanks a million

[@davidcole7408]

What great video. I never really got into jazz-fusion until l lately and I going try a few of these albums can wait.

[@billray903]

That was great. I had so many of these albums, and now get to take a closer look at them, and renew the whole genre. Love these videos. I also check them at iTunes, and add to wishlist. Thanks Pete !

[@frukwon420]

So glad I just found your channel! Great video hope to see more!

[@adamh9498]

Great vid! I’m 19 and love music from the 70s as well. I think I’ll start listening to these albums one by one

[@AllMediaReviewsPodcast]

NIIIICE..(at work now, will watch later, but I am certainly looking forward to this collection of releases from you Pete!)

[@ryanbumgarner6388]

Thank you so, so much for your knowledge on this genre of music! I'm enjoying your list thus far! Just listened to Brand X and School Days by Clarke and Co.! Whoa! Let's see what other gems you have waiting for me!!!! Many Thank yous!

[@668_neighbor_of_the_beast6]

Loved this video, great job

[@Scoofnie]

Man I love your videos. I am listening to the Miles Davis tribute album , amazing. When I look for music similar to the funky jazz faze of Zappa I don't really know what to search for, so this has really lead me down some awesome paths, thank you a million times.

[@youmothershouldknow4905]

Excellent!

[@TheTruth-pl3mk]

Billy Cobham "Spectrum", Mahavishnu Orchestra "Inner Mounting Flame" and Gong "Gazeuse!/Expresso". Those are my go-to jazz-fusion albums, though there are hundreds of great ones.

[@KickflipGnasty]

Dude Spectrum is so amazing. Bolin and Cobham together is SAVAGERY.

[@wk4max263]

Check out GONG LEAVE IT OPEN ,really FUNKY !! Kicks ass!!! Also if you like ZAPPA one size fits all check out Eorge DUKE ..I love the Blues ,she heard me cry

[@wk4max263]

George*

[@user-ih2hb3cu6h]

Me too!!!

[@gil-evens]

4 minutes in and I'm hooked. I'm going to watch the full video with a nice fusion album playing in the background lol

[@steverogers2635]

I was waiting for Jeff Beck's "Wired". One of my very favorite fusion albums. Nice video man.

[@paulpower7018]

&" Blow by Blow" lp. By him too !

[@roblake9856]

@@paulpower7018 Agreed. I always play them both, back-to-back.

[@paulpower7018]

@@roblake9856 yeah me too !

[@tonypeake467]

Always have rated Wired, Becks number 1. Every piece a gem

[@manutopia61]

Yes Pete, Jack Johnson is crowning this very day. Thanks.

[@sidneypasquarelli2122]

You're making me discover several jazz fusion musicians and you're very informative with your details and analysis and reviews! Must take a listen!

[@kenjones6441]

You’ve picked some fantastic albums there, great stuff.

[@VincentBautista365]

A fantastic list!

[@mikemullins8020]

Pete, just found your channel. Man, finally! Found someone with the same taste. I own 90% of what you reviewed today. I could sit with you for hours and have been. Thanks so much,!

[@progmanjum]

Very nice round-up. A few that I had never heard of that I need to check out. \m/

[@terripederson4026]

Thanks Man!

[@johnsimmons5056]

I have discovered so much cool music on this channel...can't thank you enough.

[@marciopainhas5828]

WOW! What a show, Pete! I thank you for the great picks! Will check out almost all of them... Very surprised with Secret Oyster, Isotope, Nucleus, etc... Greetings from Brazil!

[@birderybirdery]

Fantastic list!

[@mrheem44]

That Hatfield and the North LP oh yeah oooooh yeah

[@ryanbmd7988]

Pete!!! This video was amazing!!! Please do this format for other genres, you’re a wizard of fine taste and we music genius junkies need your pearls and explanations!!!!! Thanks dude!!!!

[@sotdude7]

Thanks Ryan!!!

[@chevydavehartwig]

thanks so much for this video.

[@theamitar4001]

Pete, great video, I was into all that jazz fusion along with all the progressive rock, and the big bands like Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Sabbath, etc. Totally agree with you on Stanley Clark. What a great decade for music.

[@johndoyle2544]

I lived this era and can relate to many that you mention... I now realize that I really have missed so much of it. On all of your videos too, it’s become clear that I have some work (listening) to do! Thanks for this, I’ve now subscribed

[@Damaged262]

I have to agree with you. Even more so with the Prog Rock videos. Though, I always thought of Billy Thorpe as a Prog Rock sound. I know, that was off topic here, and a year late to the party.

[@bernardjharmsen304]

Congratulations! Thanks for including Oregon. A pretty thorough intro to British and Euro fusion here too

[@channelmixer]

I really enjoyed this, I used to be a big fan of fusion so this certainly brings a lot of memories.

[@jerryjazzbo2845]

Your best episode yet!

[@johnpick8336]

We are running on a parallel Jazz Fusion road and it is interesting to hear your favorites, Thank You!!!!!!

[@zappawaitsfornewmiles3528]

I always searching for new unkonwn fusion-bands (for me), so thanks for Brand X! I never heard before!

[@Boognish_]

Phil Collins!

[@tonysimmons5729]

TBolin, Lee Sklar, McLaughlin, DiMeola, Pastorius, Jordan, Cobham ++++ many more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These cats were AMAZING!!!!! Thanks so much for not ignoring some GREAT music!!!!

[@kh-si5iq]

Great list, great presentation, great knowledge..I'll be checking out some of those albums I'm not familiar with..thanks

[@bongolong]

Nice show. Some bands I've never heard of.... looking into to them........... NOW!

[@gerardgiudice8303]

thanks brother awesome video

[@kevinogracia1615]

My teen years were in the seventies... loved prog and jazz/fusion... thanks for turning me to the few that slipped through the cracks... Peace On Earth...

[@gordongrant8351]

I was a teenager then too and a local free form station would play alot of fusion. I was a Led Zep. Who, Alice Cooper, Roxy Music - type teenager. But, I did really like alot of the fusion stuff, too, like Weather Report, Return To Forever, Larry Coryell (?), Jeff Beck's Wired, Airto, etc. Great to remember that stuff. What happened to this kind of music?

[@stewartconacher6552]

Really enjoyed this informative video.A lot of albums that you mentioned I had never heard of before.Just finished listening to Pat Methenys first album.I never realised that he played with Jaco on this.Thanks for introducing me to a fine album.Cheers.

[@Fontsman]

Miles: On the Corner and Agharta. Weather Report: I sing the body electric and Mysterious Traveller. Soft Machine: Bundles. Zappa: Waka Jawaka Apostrophe.

[@joeb-guitar]

the world so very needs this

[@stringstroker22]

I found myself nodding yes during the entire video. Great synopsis.

[@mikeschrammel1790]

Dann fantastic insight into this often misunderstood genre I am so glad that you mentioned Caravanserai my favourite Santana album Man Holdsworth really was a busy muso putting himself. Out there I never realised until now he did do much.So I have to thank you for that.

[@glmglm5480]

Thumbs up for recognizing FZ in this category. SUPER thumbs up for putting my favorite Frank Zappa album and one of my all time favorite albums on that list. I'M NOT ALONE! ;)

[@1alwayswired]

Really great topic Pete. You did a great job picking out a lot of the highlights. Thanks for the shout-out for Darryl Stuermer. I saw Jean Luc Ponty live a number of times and Stuermer would just tear it up with his guitar solos. Yet no one knows about him except as part of the Genesis touring band. He was a super talent.

[@andya2665]

Romantic Warrior by Return to Forever. Mic drop. Chick Corea keyboards, Al Dimiola guitar, Stanley Clark bass, Lenny White drums.

[@arunb3713]

Great list!

[@thecatsinthekitchen1309]

Great stuff!

[@matthewdeluge5214]

Thank you for sharing. I'm a newbie to the jazz fusion genreand this is exactly what I needed.

[@virtual_graphics]

That was a very good overview and I knew or owned all but one myself (that Dutch oyster band....never heard of it). Thanks for mentioning bands like Oregon, Ripdal and of course the last one, Tony William's Lifetime, absolute masterpieces I can listen to over and over again. Looking foward to more great videos...

[@stevecox6714]

Thank you for doing this video! I'm undergoing a renaissance of sorts re-connecting to the music of my teen years. Of course along with the classic heyday of hard rock in the 70's. You've given me LOTS of artists to check out, and jogged my 62 yr old memory on a number of recordings I used to own, God forbid- on 8 track! Others got lost over time. I'm glad someone is providing this info. The music of today leaves me searching for substance.

[@williamwalker146]

This video is so helpful since I'm looking into taking up the gauntlet of jazz fusion and need to find out some of the essential albums.

[@badwolfarchives3246]

Pete, I checked out Miles Davis, A Tribute to Jack Johnson. Killer! Can’t thank you enough for recommending me that. Im a newcomer to your channel. Brilliant work. Love it.

[@paint1955]

Weather Report .. Procession Jeff Beck .. Blow by Blow/Wired Stanley Clarke .. School Days/Journey to Love Jan Hammer Jerry Goodman .. Like Children Al Di Meola .. his contribution to Allergies by Paul Simon and Casino

[@MrLindeman]

Thanks again for the new stuff to listen to. One great Jazz Fusion group I've loved for years is John Zorns Naked City, (not the 70's well aware) out of this world kinda stuff. Peace

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

Naked city r great been listening 2 them recently, so have to give credit but they r f avant garde and improv, they aren't f fusion 70's ffs f fhead ,: O

[@treeduck3705]

Great video!

[@jamiecottle5850]

Awesome, Pete. Love your channel and your AMAZING CD collection. Love how you are unabashedly a CD collector. On my channel I review/present both CD and vinyl. Keep up the great work.

[@KiraPlaysGuitar]

Holy shit. Thank you so much for this. First video of yours I've seen. Will definitely get into this full list. Also a huge fan of anything proggy or jazz fusion. Seeing a bunch of names I love, some I don't yet know. Exciting. I want to recommend Casiopea's self-titled debut, from 1979.

[@TheRockGuitarChannelShow]

Excellent presentation. Your channel is like a college course in contemporary Rock/Blues/Prog/Fusion guitar.

[@michelemichele3375]

Great reaction. Thanks to Rudi. Marley dancing in his sweater makes this great track top tier. So swinging! Thanks ✨🤪

[@m.m.friedrich6691]

Thanks a lot man!

[@awickedtribe]

I don't know how you got into my album collection but you picked the right ones for the most part. Nicely done. As an aside I saw Mahavishnu Orchestra open for Jeff Beck back in 75/76 just before "Wired' dropped. After doing his encore, Beck brought out Mahavishnu and both bands jammed for another 45 minutes. McLaughlin and Beck, what an amazing duo, Beck with his insane phrasing and whammy bar chording and McLaughlin with his incredible speed and dexterity ! (I'm holding my Bic up old school to this one!)

[@anthonyferraro9854]

Jeff Beck - There and Back and Jan Hammer - The First Seven Days

[@tommonk7651]

Good to see you mention the Dixie Dregs. Several of those guys were originally from Augusta, GA. Just saw them a few months ago with essentially their original line-up. Great show! They are still a group of amazing musicians.

[@treborbraverhart]

Great review!