Jazz had one of the strongest influences on the rock genre when rock first developed. At first, there was a heavy focus on the saxophone being the lead instrument in rock music. Both genres also faced a largely negative reaction by mainstream music culture at first, but both eventually became staples of the culture. Additionally, as Jeff Fitzgerald of AllAboutJazz puts it, “both went through more ganja than Willie Nelson hanging out at Snoop Dogg’s playing Guitar Hero with the ghost of Bob Marley.” But, the influence of jazz doesn’t stop there. Throughout the 1960s, more and more bands (King Crimson, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Doors, Cream, etc.) borrowed characteristics of jazz that they instilled in their own music. In “Cat Food”, Keith Tippett hammers away jazz chords on a piano, but the song still maintains its prog rock feel with Greg Lake’s vocals. Long rock pieces like “Light My Fire” by the Doors were inspired by John Coltrane’s extended jazz improvisations.

Towards the end of the 1960s and beginning of the 1970s, musicians were blending jazz and rock so much that a whole new genre was born: jazz fusion. Miles Davis was the most famous example of a jazz fusion artist. Davis combined the electric sounds with the smooth improvisations of jazz to create of the first jazz fusion essentials, Bitches Brew. As time went on, more bands like the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report released jazz fusion albums, which skyrocketed the genre to new heights. One of the most excellent examples of jazz fusion emerged in 1975 with Jeff Beck’s Blow By Blow, which was produced by former Beatles producer George Martin.