Description
Book SynopsisAn analysis of the emergence, reception, and legacy of fusion, experimental music that emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s as musicians combined jazz, rock, and funk in new ways.
Trade Review“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“. . .
Birds of Fire (named for the second album by the Mahavishnu Orchestra) is actually a relatively easy read that posits some fascinating theories about how and why fusion developed and why it was embraced by some, castigated by others.” - Andrey Henkin,
New York City Jazz Record"Kevin Fellezs's
Birds of Fire gives a detailed history of the fusion movement of the 1960s and 1970s. . . . This is an excellent and engaging study of this under-represented musical idiom. . . .
Birds of Fire will appeal to scholars and fans alike, with enough scholarly engagement for the former, and enough biographical and musical detail for the latter.” - Katherine Williams,
Popular Music“More than a study of one underexplored market niche,
Birds of Fire brilliantly illuminates how the market both inhibits and enables creativity, as well as how creative musicians challenge the music industry’s narrowing and naturalizing of complicated, constructed, conflicted, and deeply contradictory social identities.”—
George Lipsitz, author of
How Racism Takes Place“What a pleasure it is to read this insightful, exciting, and extremely well listened analysis of fusion music. Kevin Fellezs suggests new ways of understanding the four artists he profiles, develops a productive framework for rethinking fusion, and helps us to understand why artists and audiences were stimulated by this music even as it was dismissed by purists.
Birds of Fire is a major contribution to rethinking the place of fusion within jazz studies, as well as broader questions of genre across disciplines.”—
Sherrie Tucker, co-editor of
Big Ears: Listening for Gender in Jazz Studies“
Birds of Fire (named for the second album by the Mahavishnu Orchestra) is actually a relatively easy read that posits some fascinating theories about how and why fusion developed and why it was embraced by some, castigated by others.” -- Andrey Henkin * New York City Jazz Record *
“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. . . . One-of-a-kind, critical reading.” -- Ken Micallef * Downbeat *
“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 *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1. Bitches Brew /
considering genre 15
2. Where Have I Known You Before? /
fusion's foundations 33
3. Vital Transformation /
fusion's discontents 65
4. Emergency! /
Tony Williams 91
5. Meeting of the Spirits /
John McLaughlin 123
6. Don Juan's Reckless Daughter /
Joni Mitchell 148
7. Chameleon /
Herbie Hancock 183
Conclusion 222
Notes 229
Bibliography 265
Index 283
