We’ve long known that guitar ace Wayne Krantz is really good, and now with ‘Music Room 1985’ we know that he was really good at the get-go.

Underrated guitar god Oz Noy celebrates the boogaloo style of Latin rhythms applied to soul, jazz and rock ‘n’ roll during the ’60s with ‘Booga Looga Loo.’

‘Black Light’ shows the still-vital John McLaughlin with the help of his spirited band the 4th Dimension incrementally pushing his craft forward.

This is something surprising, indeed: An evocative, quietly communicative exploration on guitar and piano from a pair of typically quick-witted post-fusion instrumental improv talents. I was smitten from the first. You May Also Like: Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, Jon Anderson, Gary Husband and Markus Reuter + Others: Five for the Road

There are more than a few jazz fusion bassists out there with outstanding dexterity, who’ve mastered every Jaco Pastorius lick and made some fusion record full of endlessly serpentine melodies. You May Also Like: The Chick Corea + Steve Gadd Band – Chinese Butterfly (2018)

John McLaughlin is still recording live, even in the digital age, even at the age of 70. And still kicking some serious, serious guitar ass.

We’ve raved before about the thrilling pyrotechnic brilliance of Alex Machacek, one of the most exciting new voices in fusion guitar right now. You May Also Like: Nick Finzer, “Waking Up” from ‘Dreams, Visions, Illusions’ (2023): One Track Mind

Easy comparisons arrive quickly as the new self-titled Abstract Logix debut release by Human Element spins, since the group has connections to the original pioneers who fused jazz and world music. You May Also Like: The Chick Corea + Steve Gadd Band – Chinese Butterfly (2018) Miles Davis’ ‘Bitches Brew’Read More

Guitarist John McLaughlin, decades after his audacious late 1960s’ stateside debut with Tony Williams and Miles Davis, has lost none of his power, virtuosity and vision You May Also Like: How John McLaughlin’s First 4th Dimension Album Brought Things Back in Focus John McLaughlin’s Shakti – ‘This Moment’ (2023)

Guitarist-composer Chris Taylor, at once, brings in familiar fusion influences like Weather Report, Pat Metheny and the Zawinul Syndicate, even while adding these fearless flashes of next-gen electronics — samples, voices, weird keyboard programming, chants, scronks, blips, scratches. It’s jam-packed with aural pokes, the kind of album where Taylor, frontingRead More