Fuse One was an all-star jazz band with a fluid line-up founded by producer Creed Taylor and originally signed to Taylor’s label CTI Records. The self-titled debut album – arranged by Spyro Gyra’s Jeremy Wall - was released in 1980 and featured an impressive line-up of members including Stanley Clarke, John McLaughlin, Paulinho Da Costa, Larry Coryell, Lenny White, Don Grusin, and Hugh McCracken playing alongside semi-permanent members Will Lee, Ronnie Foster, Jeremy Wall, and Leon Ndugu Chancler. The core members of the band (Lee, Wall, Foster, and Ndugu) performed a sell-out tour in Japan, where the album was a huge success. Their second album, Silk (1981) – arranged by Weather Report’s Leon ‘Ndugu’ Chancler - featured many of the same musicians that appeared on the first album but also included musical appearances from Eric Gale, Tom Browne, Marcus Miller, Wynton Marsalis, George Benson, and Dave Valentine. Fuse One’s third album Ice was released in 1984 in Japan and 1985 in the U.S. on the GNP Crescendo label. The album featured Steve Gadd, Will Lee, Larry Coryell, Jeremy Wall, George Young, and more. The band didn’t record any further albums as Fuse One, but each member continued to be an integral member of the jazz community. In 1989, the group’s first two albums were combined on one CD and released as Fuse One: The Complete Recordings.
