Wether Report - Weather Report

Weather Report - Weather Report

Joe Zawinul - Keyboards
Wayne Shorter - Soprano Saxophone
Miroslav Vitous - Bass
Alphonse Mouzon - Drums
Airto Moriera - Percussion

1. Milky Way
2. Umbrellas
3. Seventh Arrow
4. Orange Lady
5. Morning Lake
6. Waterfall
7. Tears
8. Eurydice


I can not explain how happy I was to find this c.d. at Borders bookstore for under $7! Weather Report is not a c.d. that you would expect a retail store to carry, let alone place in their discount bin. I was able to pick up this c.d. and Hank Mobley's Workout for less than $7 each. 'Twas a good day for purchasing c.d.s (this was also the day I picked up Christian Scott's album, which I recently reviewed).

Experimental. Temperamental. Ever-changing, much like the daily weather report. These are the terms I choose to describe Weather Report's debut album. This is a great collection of sonic poetry that will be enjoyed by many fans of jazz and jazz fusion (especially the fusion that Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock started to experiment with in the late 1960s). The group started, more or less, after Zawinul and Shorter worked for Miles Davis on In a Silent Way. The two teamed with Czech bassist Miroslav Vitous (who had recently recorded one of the all time greatest jazz albums with Chick Corea entitled Now He Sings, Now He Sobs). These three were the core of Weather Report for the first few years of the group's inception, as the percussion chair became somewhat of a rotating cast (kind of like Spinal Tap, but minus the bizarre deaths). The three shared a common goal of creating high quality experimental jazz music using electronic keyboards and effect pedals. I am not certain, but Miroslav often sounds like he plays his arco bass with a wah-wah effect pedal. This makes his bass sound like a french horn (listen to the track "Orange Lady" to possibly hear what I am referring to).

Hopefully I have given enough of a backdrop for this debut album, as I would like to start to review the album's tracks. The album starts off with the brilliant "Milky Way." The lay listener may listen to this opening track and be unimpressed by the seemingly random angelic sounding chords that make up this composition. What has made this track legendary is that the group did not use a synthesizer to create the mysterious sound effects. The instrument(s) used are actually a piano and a saxophone. The band claims that they used a prepared piano, but it is not a prepared piano in the sense that it has nuts/screws placed between the strings ala John Cage. What they did was have Zawinul gently press down the notes of each chord on his piano. Then, Wayne Shorter blew the arpeggiated notes into the piano, creating a resonant, majestic sound. The recording engineer pressed record only after Shorter was done playing, so the record only picked up the sustain of the piano. I guess this recording had many people confused for years, but I think it was a great, creative idea from great, creative musicians.

Some of the tracks I would describe as Lush+Groove. "Waterfall" would fall under this category. A vary smooth backdrop of keyboards and bass playing sets up Wayne Shorter for some great experimental soprano saxophone improvisations.

Tracks such as "Seventh Arrow", "Umbrellas", and "Eurydice" are a little more aggressive with their grooves and their in-your-face melodies. The album is nicely laid out, with a gentle track often followed by an aggressive tune.

This album is a really cool debut album from a really cool group. I forgot to mention Airto in this review, but he is kinda the wild card. His guiro playing and his other Brazilian percussion instruments add a nice exotic flavor to this music. This music may be considered the first example of world fusion music due to Airto's contribution. Anyways, this album must be checked out by people that love Miles Davis Bitches Brew. While I find Brew to be a little bit aimless at times, I think that Weather Report keeps its focus throughout. I have to give this album five out of five stars.