Jazz has always been a music that incorporated elements of ethnic world music, but 'world fusion' generally refers to the deliberate mixes during the past few decades of Third World music and jazz improvisation. The music of India and Africa in particular share many of the same elements of melodic and rhythmic development that are found in jazz, a fact that inspired artists like Yusef Lateef, John McLaughlin, Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, and John Coltrane to initially experiment with external influences beginning in the 1960s.

Notable Artists: Mickey Hart, Shakti, John Zorn's Masada