TRANSCRIPT:
I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
Here are a few songs shaped by jazz, where improvisation, rhythm, and harmony push the music beyond boundaries.
Weather Report’s “Birdland” set the standard for jazz-rock fusion, with its layered textures and syncopation influencing progressive rock bands.
Genesis took that spirit into “Supper’s Ready,” a sprawling epic full of shifting time signatures and improvisational passages.
Pink Floyd’s “One of These Days” rides a hypnotic bassline with modal improvisation, while Jaco Pastorius drove Weather Report’s “Teen Town” with virtuosic bass and harmonic daring.
Led Zeppelin surprised listeners with “Fool in the Rain,” weaving a Latin-jazz groove into their heavy rock sound.
And Yes’s “Roundabout” tied it together—jazz-inspired chords, shifting meters, and adventurous arrangements.
Jazz and rock—always borrowing, always inspiring.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and SC Public Radio, made possible by The ETV Endowment of South Carolina.