Writing music for a fusion combo?

[Wasted Bassist]

I was recently asked to join a four piece jazz combo by a friend of mine who is a godly pianist. She got us a breat drummer who I've done a lot of work with and an amazing saxaphonist. We've practiced a few times going through standards and whatnot and putting a fusiony spin on them. Today after rehersal, I was talking to the pianist, and I suggest we try writing some original material, to which I recieved a positive response. Both of us have comprehensive theory knowledge and enjoy writing so we figured... "Eh, why the **** not?" I'm trying to figure out now is how I should approach composing harder fusion jazz/rock songs for this kind of band. I was thinking along the lines of me playing lead guitar style lines, the saxaphonist doing singing vocal style lines and the piano covering the bass/rythm guitar parts. By a general concensus, would this be a good method to go about, or would my fellow tbers suggest something different?

[VroomVroom]

Run with it - see how it sounds to your ears. Personally, I think the traditional role of the bass sounds best and should be the rule...however, that can make the exception sound even better. I suppose I'm a little confused by defining lines to the instrument...melody is melody, right? Maybe you can compose the lines as you'd like to hear them in the context of the entire piece, and then assign them to each instrument in the rehearsal process?

Good luck and have fun!

[Thunderthumbs73]

The balance that you suggest at the end of your message seems alright, but at some point in the song, I'd go back to playing bass parts, and let someone else carry the melody and solos. If you wanted to end the song as you began it, that could work if the transition from where you play bass to where you play lead/main melody is really good. A lot of the success here will not depend on you, but how much space and what kind of playing does on while you are playing the melody. Having the rest of the band play the exact same thing as if you were the playing the bass lines and someone else was playing the melody might result in covering you up.

As a drummer, guitarist, keyboardist, I would be playing different voicings to give you space, or doing different things in terms of volume, and perhaps feel/rhythms that help make the music feel/sound good without the presence of the bass on the bottom.

[Wasted Bassist]

Thanks for the tips. I didn't really mean to say that in every song we write I'd do the melody the whole way through. We've been making sure we find room in our songs so that all of us can be featured or solo.

My favorite tune we're doing now is a version of the Greyboy Allstars' song Fried Grease where in the solo section we trade off fours between me, the drummer, then the pianist (doing her psycho fast synth lines) back to the drummer a few times. It gets really instense at the end of that section when me and the pianist come back together for a nice break down into the next section.

[MysticMichael]

No rules, WB. Except maybe a guideline - not so much a rule:

Instead of immediately focusing on arrangement issues - as this thread seems to do - why not first step back a couple of paces and ask yourself: 'When I imagine developing original material for this group, what is the sound I hear in my head'?

Before you commit to addressing any of the implementation issues, first fully and completely explore the musical "vision" you have for the ensemble - and develop that. Only once that has visualized (audiolized?) as completely as possible (at least for a first round), then turn your attention to the matter of 'How do we best translate the concept into finished, polished material'?

Get the horse before the cart. Make sense?

MM