Indo jazz

Indo jazz
Stylistic origins	Jazz, classical, Indian classical music, raga
Cultural origins	Mid-1950s
Typical instruments	Saxophone, guitar, bass, drums, violin, sitar, tabla and other Indian classical instrumentations
Other topics
Folk jazz, jazz fusion, minimalism, serialism, twelve-tone technique

Indo jazz is a hybrid musical genre consisting of jazz, classical and Indian influences. The structure and patterns would be based on Indian music with the improvisation typical to jazz overlaid. The term might be comparatively recent, but the concept dates at least to the mid-1950s. Musicians including John Coltrane, Yusef Lateef and others showed Indian influences.

The Mahavishnu Orchestra might be an early example of a jazz group with Indian influences as John McLaughlin at that time was a devotee of Sri Chinmoy. Others found the improvisational elements already in some Indian music to fit well with jazz. Although John Mayer and Joe Harriott are perhaps the most important influences in the movement. In addition Alice Coltrane is also known for relational work.

In the early 1970s, L. Subramaniam pioneered a new movement of Indo-Jazz fusion, which he called "Neo-fusion." It became very popular especially after the release of his albums such as Fantasy Without Limits (1979), Blossom (1981), Spanish Wave (1983), Conversations (1984), Indian Express (1985), and Mani and Co. (1986), in which he collaborated with musicians including Stephane Grappelli, George Duke, Stanley Clarke, Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock, Larry Coryell, Emil Richards among others.

The most popular Indian-based Indo-jazz band would be KARMA, with internationally acclaimed tabla maestro Subhen Chatterjee, Lew Hilt (India's best known bassist), Amyt Dutta (one of India's best jazz guitarists) and others fronting the band.

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