Start here first! Classic jazz-rock masterpieces. Recommended popular tracks.
“Jazz rock” is, literally, a crossover music genre that fuses jazz and rock, and abroad it’s also referred to as a subgenre of jazz fusion.
There are works by innovative musicians from the jazz side that take a rock-oriented approach, as well as sounds by rock and progressive bands and artists that incorporate jazzy elements, so it’s not a genre with strictly defined boundaries.
In this article, we’ve carefully selected and highlighted a number of classic tracks by renowned bands and artists associated with jazz rock.
Of course the songs themselves are fantastic, but be sure to remember the names of the musicians involved as well!
Start Here! Jazz Rock Masterpieces: Recommended Popular Songs (1–10)
Do It AgainSteely Dan
Steely Dan seamlessly fused a wide range of genres—including not only rock but also black music such as soul and jazz, as well as Latin music—through exceptional technique and taste, achieving major commercial success with their refined, distinctive sound.
Led by the core duo of longtime college friends Donald Fagen, who originally aimed for a career as a songwriter, and Walter Becker, who sadly passed away in 2017, they created a series of highly polished works that left a lasting mark on rock history, employing different musicians for each project.
The song being introduced here, “Do It Again,” appears on their landmark debut album, Can’t Buy a Thrill, released in 1972.
It became one of their early signature tracks and a hit, reaching No.
6 on the U.
S.
singles chart.
Rather than straightforward jazz-rock, it’s stylish rock at its core, enriched with jazz-like chord progressions and R&B elements.
The exquisite ensemble that casually showcases advanced musicianship had a profound influence on subsequent artists.
Even rock fans who aren’t fond of overly ‘jazzy’ sounds should find it pleasantly listenable.
Birds of FireMahavishnu Orchestra
With its mystical resonance, the Mahavishnu Orchestra is a band formed in 1970 around British guitarist John McLaughlin, renowned for his extraordinary technique.
A pioneering force in jazz-rock, the group thrilled countless music fans with a singular ensemble that drew not only on jazz and rock but, as the name suggests, on Indian music as well.
Birds of Fire—also known in Japan as Hi no Tori—opens their second album of the same name, an epoch-making work that, remarkably for the jazz-rock category, reached No.
15 on the U.
S.
charts.
Featuring a lineup of elite players—starting with the virtuosic drummer Billy Cobham, who worked with McLaughlin under Miles Davis, along with keyboardist Jan Hammer (later a major film composer), electric violinist Jerry Goodman, and bassist Rick Laird—the band brought together distinctive talents whose fully realized individual voices created a sound that remains timeless.
McLaughlin’s guitar seems poised to soar heavenward like a phoenix; the drums forge an overwhelming groove with a muscular bass line; the violin takes the lead on par with the guitar; and the synthesizers cast a dreamlike spell.
A truly “progressive” masterpiece!
The Valentyne SuiteColosseum
That moment when the solemn Hammond organ resonates and the intro drums come in from the band’s central figure and technical drummer, Jon Hiseman—it never fails to give me chills! Colosseum, a pioneering force in British progressive rock and jazz-rock, released their second album, Valentyne Suite, in 1969, and its namesake epic finale is, just as the title suggests, a three-part suite—a dramatic masterpiece themed around the final three months in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
While retaining the band’s blues-rock roots, the sound incorporates big-band-like arrangements, and the architecture of the piece is nothing short of breathtaking.
The drums and saxophone bring a deeply jazz-inflected approach, while the timbres of the organ and piano carry a classical sensibility, and the weighty band ensemble even borders on hard rock.
In fact, its overwhelming power would send run-of-the-mill hard rock scurrying barefoot—the very definition of a monumental achievement in British progressive and jazz-rock born of the 1960s.
All Along the WatchtowerAffinity
Affinity, despite disbanding after releasing just one album, remains hugely popular to this day for its cutting-edge British progressive rock and jazz-rock.
Their effective period of activity lasted roughly four years, from 1968 to 1972, and although they unfortunately never found commercial success, the singular album they released in 1970—Affinity—is universally acclaimed for its exceptional quality and continues to be cherished by British rock and prog fans worldwide.
Fronted by the group’s sole female member, vocalist Linda Hoyle—then in her early twenties—whose smoky delivery combines a distinctive sensuality with a maturity beyond her years, the band also boasts versatile guitar work, an organ whose subtle tone nonetheless anchors and propels the entire sound, and a rhythm section that tightens each track with a distinctly jazz-inflected feel.
On some songs, Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones even contributes brass arrangements, adding to a sound that could only be described as quintessentially British.
Every track is essential listening, but here we’ll focus on their cover of Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower, which closes the album.
If the keywords jazz, prog, and psych resonate with you, this sound world is guaranteed to send you soaring.
StratusBilly Cobham
When it comes to drummers with jaw-dropping technique who are indispensable to the history of jazz-rock, one immediately thinks of Billy Cobham, the Panamanian-American born in 1944.
In addition to his historic work with groundbreaking jazz artists and groups like Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy has released many recordings as a solo artist.
Among his brilliant discography, this time I’d like to introduce “Stratus,” a track from his landmark 1973 solo debut, Spectrum.
The band ensemble—rooted in a crossover fusion sound informed by his Mahavishnu Orchestra experience, but pushed even further toward rock—is electrifying and incredibly cool.
Billy’s drumming drives the dramatic song development, raging between subtlety and power, and the impassioned performances from the guest musicians are also outstanding.
A particular highlight is the scorching, freewheeling guitar solo by Tommy Bolin—Deep Purple’s guitarist, who tragically passed away two years after this album at the young age of 25.
As a side note, this track is quoted in Massive Attack’s classic “Safe From Harm,” so be sure to check that out as well!
FaceliftThe Soft Machine
The progressive rock bands made up of musicians from Canterbury, England, are known abroad as the Canterbury Scene and, here in Japan, as Canterbury Rock, Canterbury Music, or simply Canterbury-style, with Soft Machine recognized as one of the flagship bands.
It’s worth knowing the historical fact that members of a band formed in 1964 called The Wilde Flowers branched out to form notable Canterbury bands like Soft Machine and Caravan.
A masterful progressive-to-jazz rock group and the pinnacle of the Canterbury sound, they released the early classic album Third in 1970, which includes the celebrated track Facelift that I’d like to introduce.
The album itself consists of four tracks, each nearly 20 minutes long, and Facelift runs over 18 minutes.
The composer is bassist Hugh Hopper, and the piece stands as an emblematic track marking their shift from their earliest psychedelic sound toward jazz rock.
Their guitarless ensemble weaves several motifs and a main theme together, unfolding with complexity that’s quintessentially progressive.
While undeniably jazz, it also incorporates an experimental edge with noisy, near-dissonant textures, all the while retaining the vibe of a rock band’s approach to jazz—which makes it incredibly cool.
Nuclear BurnBrand X
The tension created by the perversely writhing fretless bass and the ultra-fast, intricately chopped drums is something that ordinary rock-to-prog or fusion bands could hardly hope to match! Brand X, formed around members like guitarist John Goodsall and bassist Percy Jones, is also famous for having Phil Collins—Genesis’s frontman and a globally successful solo singer—participate as the drummer.
Because Collins is so extraordinarily well-known, some people apparently hold the mistaken belief that it’s “his” band; in any case, just listening to the masterpiece featured here, Nuclear Burn, makes it clear that Collins’s presence as a drummer is absolutely formidable.
This track opens their 1976 debut album, Unorthodox Behaviour, and the album as a whole showcases a scorching band ensemble—packed with heat, taste, and technical prowess—that more than holds its own against America’s technically driven fusion outfits.
The guitar and keyboard, which carry the melody, also convey a sense of shading and lyricism—another hallmark you could say is characteristic of British bands.