Power to the People is an amazing record - I picked it up after you blogged on it and have been listening to a steady diet of it. Despite my mixed feelings about the electric piano (which I can enjoy on occasion but the lack of pedaling makes it a very one-dimensional instrument for me) and particularly the electric bass, which I normally just despise in jazz, I think PttP may be Joe's best record (pardon the Stuart-like hyperbole). Gorgeous subtlety to the arrangements and the playing is outstanding.

Re similar early seventies electro-jazz, I figure the big name ones, which you may already know and own, are Chick Corea's band Return to Forever which I own few tracks by and quite enjoy, the first couple of Weather Report (Zawinul, Shorter, etc) records, and for a little more "rock" in your jazz-rock, maybe McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra stuff, particularly the first couple (based on my own limited experience). Of course all of the Miles stuff from that period was fusion-esque as well. I loathed this music with a white hot passion when I was growing up....it seemed to represent everything that is ego-driven, flaccid, and meaningless about jazz (or what I thought jazz was at that point in my life...truth is jazz in 1975-80 was probably at its lowest creative/commercial point ever....remember Montreal based band UZEB....rrggghhghghg (me shuddering)), versus folk, pop, or punk. Interestingly, I've been re-visiting it carefully over the past few years and can stomach some of it, and even quite enjoy the really good. I think the key for me was coming at it through a more chronological process, learning about jazz's roots, through the bop and free periods, understanding the personalities and progression of the key players (Miles, Shorter, Corea, Zawinul etc) and then electric / fusion suddenly made sense.

Paul Bley did some early work with synths in the late sixties and is well worth tracking down. My man Bill Evans even made a record on which he played electric piano (hey, it was the seventies, elec piano just came along with the cocaine, blow jobs, and transcendental meditation) - not bad either (called The Bill Evans Album).

Segue into Chet Baker discussion, since the opening chords on "Alone Together" from Chet are heartbreakingly rendered by none other than Bill again. The man was everywhere. I agree with your comments about Chet as a trumpeter (I'm a huge fan so I'll lend some of my stuff over time and save you some dough), and about the album "Chet" - it's fantastic after hours music, featuring BE on paino and the great (but under-recognized) Pepper Adams on baritone sax. Chet the singer is also well worth lauding - he created a new sub-genre of jazz vocal in my view, which fit the same moods he captured on his horn so beautifully. I'll blog later on fave Chet B records.