Birds of Fire: Jazz, Rock, Funk, and the Creation of Fusion

Refiguring American Music

by Kevin Fellezs

Birds of Fire brings overdue critical attention to fusion, a musical idiom that emerged as young musicians blended elements of jazz, rock, and funk in the late 1960s and 1970s. At the time, fusion was disparaged by jazz writers and ignored by rock critics. In the years since, it has come to be seen as a commercially driven jazz substyle. Fusion never did coalesce into a genre. In Birds of Fire, Kevin Fellezs contends that hybridity was its reason for being. By mixing different musical and cultural traditions, fusion artists sought to disrupt generic boundaries, cultural hierarchies, and critical assumptions. Interpreting the work of four distinctive fusion artists—Tony Williams, John McLaughlin, Joni Mitchell, and Herbie Hancock—Fellezs highlights the ways that they challenged convention in the 1960s and 1970s. He also considers the extent to which a musician can be taken seriously as an artist across divergent musical traditions. Birds of Fire concludes with a look at the current activities of McLaughlin, Mitchell, and Hancock; Williams’s final recordings; and the legacy of the fusion music made by these four pioneering artists.

Genres: Music, Jazz, History

312 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2011

Reviews

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book, but don't be fooled into thinking it's an easy read. Fellezs troubles the boundaries between jazz, funk, and rock (and also a little bit of so-called "world" music) which means that readers will need to take their time in the crucial early chapters where he sets up his theoretical apparatus. The later chapters are case-studies that focus on musicians as diverse as Tony Williams and Joni Mitchell which allow him to explore the tributaries of the changes that occurred in music of the 1970s. All of those explorations come together in the final chapter on Herbie Hancock with an aggressive and bold exploration of what it means when fusion music stops being experimental. Really stunning read, but there are no easy paths through this one.

[Duke Press]

“Fellezs succeeds in being both academic and a fan. He succeeds in bringing these four artists in from the margins while recognising their cross-cultural capital lies in their non-belonging to any mainstream discourse.”--Andy Robson, Jazzwise



“Fellezs offers fascinating biographical detail and the kind of serious critical overview that the music has long deserved. His knowledge is impressive, his perspective thought-provoking, reflected in fascinating historical tidbits and observations. . . . [O]ne-of-a-kind, critical reading.”--Ken Micallef, Downbeat

[Victor · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent case study in jazz fusion. Lots of interesting insight, and Fellezs makes it accessible--low on the musical and academic jargon. Nice to see Joni Mitchell get a proper treatment on her brilliant 70s run.