The Fourth Way -

The Fourth Way was an American jazz-rock band that released a self-titled album on Capitol in 1969, followed by two live albums on Harvest in 1970. Formed in San Francisco by electric pianist Mike Nock, the quartet blended post-bop and avant-garde impulses with early fusion and global rhythmic influences. Violinist Michael White’s use of amplified strings set them apart from contemporaries, while bassist Ron McClure and drummer Eddie Marshall provided shifting foundations rooted in both swing and freeform dynamics.

Members: Mike Nock (electric piano), Ron McClure (bass), Eddie Marshall (drums), Michael White (violin)

Background

The Fourth Way formed in 1967 in the San Francisco Bay Area, uniting four musicians from divergent geographic and stylistic origins. Pianist Mike Nock (b. Sept. 27, 1940, Christchurch, New Zealand) entered the Australian jazz scene in his teens and toured the UK in 1961 with the Sydney-based trio The Three Out. After relocating to Boston, he studied at Berklee and spent two years in Yusef Lateef’s working band. In 1966, he moved to New York and served as house pianist at The Dom, where he worked with drummer Eddie Marshall.

Marshall (b. April 13, 1938, Springfield, Mass.) played swing and R&B as a teen and moved to New York in 1956. By 1958, he was drumming for the Charlie Mariano Quartet and pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi, with whom he resumed collaboration after two years of Army service. During the early-to-mid ’60s, Marshall accompanied Dionne Warwick, worked with Stan Getz and Sam Rivers, and joined Nock in the short-lived Almanac quartet with Bennie Maupin and Cecil McBee.

Violinist Michael White (b. May 24, 1933, Houston) grew up in Oakland, California, and took up violin at age six. After freelance work with Sun Ra, John Lee Hooker, and Kenny Dorham, he gained prominence in John Handy’s post-bop quintet, performing at the 1965 Monterey Jazz Festival and appearing on Handy’s Columbia albums through 1968. White adopted electric amplification and became one of the first jazz violinists to explore fusion aesthetics.

Bassist Ron McClure (b. Nov. 22, 1941, New Haven, Conn.) studied under Hall Overton and Don Sebesky and earned his degree from the Hartt School of Music in 1963. He joined Buddy Rich’s sextet that year, followed by stints with Maynard Ferguson, Herbie Mann, and Wynton Kelly. In 1966, he became part of Charles Lloyd’s Atlantic-era quartet with Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette, a lineup that earned DownBeat’s “Group of the Year” designation in 1967.

By late 1967, Nock, White, McClure, and Marshall had coalesced as The Fourth Way. They performed throughout the Bay Area, mixing acoustic jazz with early electric instrumentation and polyrhythmic interplay, and recorded their earliest live material in 1968.

The Fourth Way

The Fourth Way released their self-titled studio album in September 1969 on Capitol Records.

The album features all four members in rotating configurations of acoustic and electric instrumentation. Mike Nock plays piano on “Clouds,” “Sparky,” “Gemini Trajectory,” and “Dance of the Mechanical Man,” and switches to electric piano on the remaining tracks. Ron McClure plays electric bass on “Everyman’s Your Brother,” “Bucklehuggin,” “Gemini Trajectory,” and “The Sybil,” and acoustic bass on “Clouds,” “Sparky,” “Openings,” and “Dance of the Mechanical Man.” Michael White performs violin on all tracks, while Eddie Marshall plays drums throughout.

Nock composed seven of the album’s eight tracks, with White contributing the B-side cut “Dance of the Mechanical Man.”

A1. “Everyman’s Your Brother” (6:40)
A2. “Clouds” (4:45)
A3. “Sparky” (4:12)
A4. “Bucklehuggin” (2:35)

B1. “Openings” (5:45)
B2. “Gemini Trajectory” (4:08)
B3. “Dance of the Mechanical Man” (3:44)
B4. “The Sybil” (4:35)

The album was recorded on July 22, 1969, at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, with in-house engineers handling the session.

Capitol issued “Bucklehuggin” backed with “Clouds” as a single.

The Sun and Moon Have Come Together (live)

In February 1970, Harvest Records issued The Sun and Moon Have Come Together, a Fourth Way live album sourced from their October 1968 set at the New Orleans House in Berkeley, California.

The album captures Fourth Way between structured acoustic post-bop and a freer, electric form. Several pieces extend beyond strict jazz form, favoring open group interplay and spontaneous textures.

The set features electric piano throughout by Mike Nock, who composed two of the six tracks. Ron McClure, who plays upright bass on all selections, contributes two originals. Violinist Michael White and drummer Eddie Marshall each supply one composition. All four members perform live without overdubs.

Sun and Moon contains both ensemble-based forms and stripped-down interludes. “Farewell Goodbye” veers from time-bound basslines to pitch-bending freeform, with McClure shifting between rhythmic anchor and lead voice. “Strange Love” unfolds from an elliptical theme into an unmoored exchange between bowed bass and violin, later snapping back to its origin. “Ebony Plaza” uses thumb piano and recorder to sustain a fixed motif over circular textures. On “Skiffling,” the group inverts roles: McClure repeats a rigid phrase while others apply sparse commentary—plucked strings, strummed keys, brief colorations.

A1. “The Sun and Moon Have Come Together” (7:55)
A2. “Ebony Plaza” (4:26)
A3. “Blues My Mind” (5:05)

B1. “Farewell Goodbye” (4:58)
B2. “Skiffling” (2:20)
B3. “Strange Love” (9:37)

Sessions occurred live at the New Orleans House in Berkeley, California, with John Palladino producing and Jay Ranellucci and John Wilson engineering. The album includes a dedication from the band: “The Fourth Way dedicates this album to everyone reading these words and to Dorothy Pearl.”

Werwolf (live)

In late 1970, Harvest issued Werwolf, a second Fourth Way live album, sourced from their June 19 set at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Werwolf captures the band’s most unrestrained and electrified set, anchored in dense rhythmic patterns and disrupted by high-voltage tonal extremes. The album marks their final release and most abrasive statement, built around warped textures from ring-modulated keys and amplified violin.

Mike Nock composed five of the six tracks, performing on Fender Rhodes filtered through an Oberheim ring modulator. Ron McClure plays electric bass throughout. Eddie Marshall handles drums, while Michael White contributes electric violin across the set. Bassist Ken Jenkins contributes the opening composition, “Brown Rice.”

The material alternates between grounded, rhythmic figures and unstable, exploratory excursions. “Brown Rice” leans into structured interplay, while “Colours” pushes into squalling, noise-adjacent electronics. “Spacefunk” rides a pulsing low-end with distorted overtones. “Tierra Del Fuego” and “Mesoteric Circle” stretch into freer zones, drawing contrast between electric timbres and linear percussion. The title track sharpens these dynamics with sawed strings and percussive attacks.

A1. “Brown Rice” (7:34) – opens with a defined rhythmic base and ensemble cohesion before shifting into divergent instrumental textures
A2. “Colours” (5:33) – builds tension with sharp tonal spikes and warped modulated keys
A3. “Werwolf” (5:29) – threads distorted electric violin with pulsed percussion and ringed noise

B1. “Tierra Del Fuego” (5:09)
B2. “Mesoteric Circle” (8:08)
B3. “Spacefunk” (7:17) – rotates around a steady bassline with intermittent electronic peaks and rapid violin flares

Sessions occurred live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, on June 19, 1970, with production by Ted Gehrke and The Fourth Way, and executive production by John Palladino.

After Fourth Way

Following the group’s split, all four members sustained prolific careers across post-bop, fusion, and avant-garde circles.

Eddie Marshall remained a sought-after drummer, performing with Jon Hendricks and The Pointer Sisters, and appearing on key albums by John Handy (Where Go the Boats), Ahmad Jamal (Genetic Walk), and Eddie Harris (Sounds Incredible, Exploration). He held a long association with Bobby Hutcherson, drumming on Waiting, The View from the Inside, Highway One, and Ambos Mundos. He also worked with Kenny Burrell, Art Pepper, and John Klemmer, and released his own album Dance of the Sun in 1977.

Mike Nock led and co-led a string of albums throughout the ’70s and early ’80s, including Between or Beyond, In, Out and Around, Talisman, and the ECM solo release Ondas. He collaborated with Bennie Maupin, David Liebman, and Cecil McBee, and recorded solo piano works and electric ensemble projects. In 2024, Nock was inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame, having long been recognized as one of Australasia’s leading jazz figures.

Michael White pursued a path in spiritual jazz, releasing six albums as a leader on Impulse! and Elektra, including Spirit Dance, Pneuma, and The Land of Spirit and Light. He recorded with Alice Coltrane (Infinity), Pharoah Sanders (Thembi, Elevation), Joe Henderson (The Elements), and McCoy Tyner (Song for My Lady). White also contributed to blues recordings by John Lee Hooker and played with Sonny Simmons on the landmark Manhattan Egos.

Ron McClure recorded and toured with Joe Henderson on If You’re Not Part of the Solution…, In Pursuit of Blackness, and Jazz Patterns, and contributed to Carla Bley’s Escalator Over the Hill. In 1972, while teaching at Berklee, McClure briefly joined Thelonious Monk’s quartet. He later recorded with Vince Guaraldi and joined Blood, Sweat & Tears for Mirror Image, New City, and In Concert. In the 1980s, he became a core member of the group Quest alongside Dave Liebman, and recorded a duo album with Michel Petrucciani.