Marcus Thompson

With electronic fusion on the wane and the "young lions" of the '80s reaching middle age, a new hybrid of jazz cropped up on albums and in jazz clubs. This combination of styles borrows its harmonic qualities from post-bop but melds it with the rock-solid foundations of funk and soul. Increasingly, we are hearing a kind of hopped-up mixture of James Brown meets John Coltrane. The result is a rather provocative and fresh reading of jazz in the 21st century. Lonnie Plaxico's MELANGE is just that: a cornucopia of musical styles woven together forming a new and colorful musical fabric.

As one of the pioneers of jazz-rock – perhaps the pioneer in the ears of some – Larry Coryell deserves a special place in the history books. He brought what amounted to a nearly alien sensibility to jazz electric guitar playing in the 1960s, a hard-edged, cutting tone, and phrasing and note-bending that owed as much to blues, rock, and even country as it did to earlier, smoother bop influences.

As one of the pioneers of jazz-rock – perhaps the pioneer in the ears of some – Larry Coryell deserves a special place in the history books. He brought what amounted to a nearly alien sensibility to jazz electric guitar playing in the 1960s, a hard-edged, cutting tone, and phrasing and note-bending that owed as much to blues, rock, and even country as it did to earlier, smoother bop influences.