Jazz Jam Rock
tagStarted 1991Peak 1996-2008Last big hit still active
Located in 1 route
Fusion-minded jamming where rock energy meets jazz harmony: organ-trio interplay, modal vamps, odd-meter excursions and a chordal sophistication beyond the blues box. Improvisation is genuinely conversational and through-composed in feel — groove-based but harmonically restless, mixing Hammond B-3, electric piano, and exploratory guitar into instrumental, head-then-solo structures.
History
Drew on '70s fusion when keyboardist John Medeski formed Medeski Martin & Wood in 1991, fusing avant-jazz with funk grooves the jam crowd embraced. Trumpeter-led Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and the Bela Fleck-rooted instrumental scene followed; saxophonist Skerik and organ trios kept a jazz-school harmonic edge inside the festival improv world.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medeski_Martin_%26_Wood
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_Fleck_and_the_Flecktones
- https://relix.com