World Fusion

"World fusion" refers to a fusion of Third World music or just world music with jazz, specifically:
(1) Ethnic music that has incorporated jazz improvisations (for example, Latin jazz). Frequently, only the solos are improvised jazz. The accompaniments and compositions are essentially the same as in the ethnic music.
(2) Jazz that has incorporated limited aspects of a particular non-Western music. Examples include performances of Dizzy Gillespie’s "A Night in Tunisia" music on some of the 1970s quartet recordings by Keith Jarrett's quartet and quintet on Impulse, in which Middle Eastern instruments and harmonic methods are modified and used; and some of Sun Ra's music from the 1950s into the l990s, in which African rhythms are incorporated; some of Yusef Lateers recordings that feature traditional Islamic instruments and methods.
(3) New musical styles that result from distinctly original ways of combining jazz improvisation with original ideas and the instruments, harmonies, compositional practices, and rhythms of an existing ethnic tradition. The product is original but its flavor still reflects some aspects of a non-jazz ethnic tradition. Examples include Don Cherry's bands; some of John McLaughlin's music from the 1970s and the l990s that drew heavily on the traditions of India; some of Don Ellis's music of the 1970s that drew upon the music of India and Bulgaria; and work by Andy Narell in the 1990s that melds the music and instruments of Trinidad with jazz improvisations and funk styles.

World fusion jazz did not first occur with modern jazz and its trends are not exclusive to American jazz. For instance, Polynesian music was fusing with Western pop styles at the beginning of the twentieth century, and its feeling attracted some of the earliest jazz musicians. Caribbean dance rhythms have been a significant part of American pop culture throughout the twentieth century, and, since jazz musicians frequently improvised when performing in pop music contexts, blends have been occurring almost continuously. Django Reinhardt was melding the traditions of Gypsy music with French impressionist concert music and jazz improvisation during the 1930s in France.