Fish out of water - Chris Squire

To me this is maybe the first  prog fusion album. I know some might say Lizard or Islands by King Crimson or even maybe the band Colosseum but to me those are prog with jazz influences or just jazz rock in the case of the latter. FOOW fits the bill for me. What do you guys think? 

Ummm...no. Try even earlier than that. Soft Machine's Third (1970), for instance. Or even earlier, Zappa's Hot Rats (1969). Throw in Santana III (1971) and Caravanserai (1972).

I consider them fusion and not pure prog. Same thing with Santana. Soft Machine were very jazzy but so were Traffic. I don't consider SM or Traffic to be  prog fusion. 

I did come across a rather obscure album on youtube called Burning Red Ivanhoe who put out a self titled album in 1970 that might qualify. Secret Oyster and Kraan are other bands who were earlier than Chris Squire but I'm not sure if they would qualify as prog fusion. SO in particular might though. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Hw69ZRvEA&list=PL8a8cutYP7fowSjSK7eUrxFtHi1mHf-W7

Now that I think about it, Soft Machine's third could very well be a contender. I haven't actually heard it though so it's maybe not fair for me to comment one way or the other. However, is it really more prog fusion thank KC's "lizard" and did it come out before or after it?

Edit: Nevermind. I see that SM 3 came out before Lizard.

I am familiar with Hot Rats and early Santana though. I don't hear much prog in them. Hot Rats is more jazz rock than pure fusion(which didn't really develop until MO and RTF a little later anyway imo). There are rock elements and jazz elements but the two aren't really fused on that album the way they would be later. Plus I don't really hear much(if any)pure prog on it. Again this is just my opinion. Unlike some of you I'm not pretending to be an expert on the subject and trying to present something as fact. 

Just like the what was the first prog album question I get the feeling here there is no definitive answer(not that I ever really thought there would be though)but instead several possibilities.  

I'd suggest "21st Century Schizoid Man" as an option.  My first guitar mentor, an amazing chap, turned me onto this when I was perhaps 14 and said it was "jazz rock," my first introduction to the idiom.  

Imo, it's prog with fusion elements as opposed to just jazz elements. Sound chaser from Yes would be a good example but the whole of relayer isn't really prog fusion or fusion imo. Regular fusion(and even "jazz rock")is rock with jazz elements but not prog at all if any. I know some are pointing to RTF but just because they used synth doesn't mean there's a really heavy prog element. I see no evidence any of the big three fusion bands(RTF, WR and MO)were influenced by prog. Maybe RTF a tiny bit but the others were just taking rock with jazz and I don't hear prog. This is all my opinion. 

It's funny you mention 21st century schizoid man as I was thinking about that song earlier. It has that saxophone break in it. A few of the early bands used sax but not necessarily in a very jazzy way. The sax solo on Schizoid man has a very free form jazz sound to it so you might have something there.

Still not entirely sure what constitutes 'Prog Fusion' but if you mean Prog + regular Fusion you might be guilty of double dipping the rock element i.e Prog (which encompasses Rock) + Jazz + Rock. Perhaps I have misunderstood you but wouldn't someone like Colosseum, Return to Forever, Out Of Focus or Supersister fit the bill?

Thanks, the sax solo was exactly what I meant! 

I had the great pleasure to meet Bob Fripp in a record store during his "Drive to 1981" Frippertronics tour, 18 June, 1979.  Bob gave a wonderful Frippertronics show and then answered questions for the smallish audience (perhaps 30?) who had attended.  

He discussed how chaotic it was to compose 21st Century and played a bit on his black Les Paul!!  He said that he started with the crashing C chord that opens it, and then he said they segued to the middle....with a twinkle in his eye and a big smile, he exclaimed "Now, everyone SOLO!!"  His guitar work in that song is sublime, as is Lake's bass playing.  

It gets my vote as the signature song of progressive fusion/jazz rock, being that it is from 1969 or so. 

I'm having a hard time seeing what you're trying to articulate with the word "prog fusion", OP; it feels redundant in terms of terminology.

Take Hot Rats. Is there a lot of soloing? Yes. Is there saxophone and double bass? Yes. This does not suddenly equal jazz. I know post-Kind of Blue, most jazz combos were going modal, but even then, Willie the Pimp and Gumbo Variations feature drawn out jams over one chord (ostinato), and it's more pentatonics than bop stylistics. There are jazz influences all over the album, but I hesitate to call all or most of it jazz rock.

What I think gets glossed over with Hot Rats (and I know this is off topic) are the modernist elements. The two (in my opinion) most interesting tracks off that record, Little Umbrellas and It Must Be a Camel, have Zappa's contemporary classical leanings written all over. And many of the great jazzers of the time listened to that kind of stuff too (Jarrett, Corea, etc.). 

Fish Out of Water certainly featured at least that one flute player who was versed in jazz, but I don't think there are quite enough elements of jazz to call it a prog fusion album. Though I agree there are certainly fusion elements.

Jazzy is different than jazz, I suppose.

I thought about that one because I know about it but I'm not really familiar enough to comment.