- Find out what fusion music is and listen to artists Fela Kuti, Four Tet and Nubya Garcia.
- Explore famous examples of fusion genres such as afrobeat and jazz fusion.
- Start making your own fusion music.
Max Wheeler explains what fusion music is and how he wrote a grime opera.
Ben: Hi Max, thank you for having me.
Max: Yeah. No problem, good to have you here.
MUSIC
Ben: I know you’ve been mixing different genres of music for a few years now. First thing’s first, what is fusion music?
Max: Fusion music is when you combine two different styles of music that already exist, to create something new. For example, the classic one is jazz fusion which is when you combine jazz music with rock music. Another example might be afrobeat. Artists in Africa combine sort of traditional west African rhythms with funk from the US.
Ben: Could you tell us a little bit more about the kinds of music you mix together?
Max: I mean, I like to combine all kinds of different sounds in the studio. House music, dance music. I like to combine that with hip-hop. I’m kind of quite into plays jazz keys and bringing in different types of harmony, through to like the Grime Opera which is a project I did where I was working with a grime artist and also with an orchestra.
Ben: Would you be able to show us something you’ve been working on?
Max: Yeah. Yeah, sure. So I might start out by laying down a little kind of jungle-y beat.
JUNGLE BEAT
Max: Something like that. I could maybe take that and see what that sounds like if I bring in some more sort of jazzy keys over the top. So…
JUNGLE BEAT WITH JAZZY KEYS
Max: So, that might be the starting point for a track. What I might do then is say I could bring in some classical sounds as well, maybe bring in some more bass.
Ben: I’ve actually seen a video of the grime opera you were talking about. Could you tell us a bit more about that?
Max: Eyez is a grime artist and we were basically asked if we wanted to work with an orchestra. So what we did is we took loads of ideas based on some kind of classical themes but then trying to combine it with early grime. It was a good example actually, of how you can kind of take two things that might not necessarily look like they would fit together, but when you do fuse those, they do create something new. I’ll show you sort of how it was built up. So, if we start off with the string section… You can kind of hear it’s got that sort of traditional classical sound. But then I started to bring in things like synthesizers and then obviously, there’s a beat that comes in which changes the vibe of it. It kind of fuses those two things together. Then bring in the rap…
RAP MUSIC… the end, I’m not prepared. Where will I go? I wonder where. I’m losing my sight but that’s already ‘cos I’ve seen a lot…
Max: So, you can kind of see it’s bringing together grime and classical, hopefully making something kind of new.
Ben: Have you got any tips for anyone who’s looking to start out making fusion music?
Max: The first thing really is just to listen to a lot of music. Really spend some time getting to know those different styles. If you start to have a bit of a knowledge of, say, hip-hop and then you’ve got a bit of a knowledge of classical over here, then you can start to think, ‘Okay, well, which parts of each sound do I want to bring together?’ And then trying to get a bit wild and experimental from there is a good place to go next.
Ben: Thank you, Max. It’s been really inspiring listening to how you make music.
Max: No problem. No, I’m looking forward to hearing what you guys get up to so yeah, I hope it goes well.
Fusion music describes what happens when musical styles are combined together to make something new.
Fusion music usually combines two different styles.
Successful fusion music is often controversial as it tries to combine the traditional and the new, mixing things up.
When two styles of music are fused in this way, it can create a new scene of musicians, new record labels and events where musicians can meet up and exchange ideas.
Examples of fusion music
A fusion can be created between any two styles of music. In the video above, producer Max Wheeler describes working with grime artist Eyez to make a fusion between grime and opera. In the past, fusions such as afrobeat and jazz fusion have been breakthrough moments in music history.
Afrobeat
It started with Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, who grew up on styles of African music like highlife and songs and rhythms from Fante and Yoruba culture.
Kuti combined his music with the funk and jazz sounds he heard when he travelled to America as well as strong political messages encouraged by civil rights leaders like Malcolm X and the Black Panthers.
This new style - Afrobeat - didn’t sound like either the traditional African sounds that camebefore it or a copy of the sounds from the US. It was a powerful fusion that createdsomething totally new.
Jazz fusion
This style was created when jazz was blended with rock music styles in the 1960s. Musicians started to play with rock and roll instruments like electric guitars and use rock rhythms.
One breakthrough moment was when the famous jazz trumpeter Miles Davis plugged his trumpet into effects pedals like a rock guitarist.
Many jazz traditionalists were not happy about his new sound and thought that he had ‘betrayed’ jazz.
Listen to fusion music by Fela Kuti, Four Tet and Nubya Garcia
Listen to No Agreement by Fela Kuti. He pioneered Afrobeat by fusing highlife with US funk. Can you hear the electric guitars, jazz keys and African rhythms in this clip?
Listen to Morning Side by Four Tet. This is a fusion of western club music and traditional Indian music. Four Tet has produced a range of experimental electronic and fusion tracks.
Listen to Hold by Nubya Garcia. There are elements of soul and even a hip-hop style groove in this jazz fusion track.
Make your own fusion
- On your own or with friends, think about what styles of music you all know and enjoy. How can they be fused?
- What kinds of music do you play between you? If there’s a rapper and a ukulele in the group, you could try combining them in a piece of music. Look for the most unusual combinations of sounds and play them together.
- Experiment and try mixing the traditional with the new - like how Four Tet combines traditional Indian music with club beats. What unusual combinations can you draw on from the types of music you already know?
- Try taking the drum beat from one style and the melody or chords from another. Do they work together? Does it create a new sound?
Quiz
Keywords
| Keyword | Definition |
|---|---|
| highlife | A style from Ghana featuring horns and guitars. |
| afrobeat | The style created by Fela Kuti, fusing highlife with African rhythms. Don't confuse this with ‘Afrobeats’, a contemporary style with more electronic sounds and often rap. |
| jazz fusion | A style combining rock and jazz. |
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