I bought the weather Report “Heavy Weather” album and I honestly think it is the best jazz album I’ve ever bought or listened to. Completely blown away. No pun intended.
Black Market is my favourite too. The compositions are superb, and the production is stunning. It’s a great album to play to jazz neophytes. I pretty much agree with your ranking, particularly re the ‘80s stuff. Cheers.
Another aspect of Weather Report that was jaw dropping to me is the fact they could make improvised passages sound written out and vice-versa. Signs of high level musicianship for sure!
Over the past year I've been buying up all the Weather Report records I can find in the used bins in my city. When I came across Tale Spinnin' it was quite the pleasant surprise. Completely agree that it's an unsung gem in their catalogue.
Mysterious Traveller is my favourite followed by I sing the body Electric and then Heavy Weather. Also check out Live in Berlin release. Pre Jaco with Alphonso Johnson tearing it up!
I bought several of these albums back in the 70's and 80's, and they quickly became some of my favorites from my entire record collection. Currently listening to track 1, Corner Pocket on Sportin' Life. Man, that is a powerful tune!
Andy this is absolutely excellent stuff. My favorite band and it’s uncanny how my views on all the albums almost mirror yours. All I would add is that the lesser albums, particularly Mr Gone and Weather Report 1982 , were the result of a punishing schedule of yearly albums and world tours. So those two albums in particular suffer from a lack of time going into them. I totally agree with what you say about the Jaco compositions on Mr Gone - they are just unfinished ideas. Notice how River People is just a bass line he used as early as 1976 on Gibraltar - the live at montreux version. And as you rightly point out - even the lesser albums, it’s still Weather Report ! To me Joe and Wayne are two of the greatest musicians ever. Your take on the band and their trajectory is absolutely spot on.
Thanks very much Steven. I really wanted to give some love to the Omar/Bailey band. Elsewhere those albums get knocked but I think some of the best WR is on those albums. Also the Jaco era often gets refered to as the classic lineup but actually take way Heavy Weather and the rest is a little patchy. Of course all this is in comparison t their greatest stuff which is the best of the best. I think the run from I Sing to Heavy Weather was their peak....
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer Yes so many Jaco fans think the band is all about him but it was way way more than that. The final edition of the band was great , Hakim was a beast. I love Night Passage though and especially the tour of 1980 which in Uk was b4 the album release. To me they were treading water a bit in 1978/79 as the Jaco star trip got a bit tedious. But 1980 was a whole new set list of unheard material, pre internet so no spoilers. When they opened up with fast city then Madagascar the audience was utterly floored, ive never seen or heard anything like it to this day, it was totally incendiary ! 25 minutes of relentless goose bumps .....
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer On the subject of Jaco - what did you think of the Trio Of Doom album with John McLaughlin and Tony Williams and Jaco ? It was a problematic performance but enjoyed Tony William's drumming on it.
A brilliant overview of all the WR albums. For me the holy trinity are: I Sing the Body Electric, Sweetnighter and Mysterious Traveller. These albums changed my life.
Nice Andy. Thanks for the good advices. I only own Heavy Weather that i bought in the spring of ´85. I loved it right away, but the damn thing is that i never bought another of their albums. At some point i need to go there, and now is as good as any old time. I was 19 years old back in ´85, and now soon to be 57. I still own that CD, yes it was an early compact disc, and i believe i´d like to buy all the others on CD also. I bought my first CD-player (a Sony) right before christmas in ´83. In the early days of CDs, where i lived in Norway, jazz and jazz fusion was what the record store had to offer us young and hungry for the future dudes. This was basically how i got into jazz. I was forced in. It was Miles, and George Duke, Chet Baker, Weaher Report, David Sanborn, The Brecker Brothers, Stanly Clarke, Herbie Hancock and some others - like the brilliant Pat Metheny and the fascinating Jean-Luc Ponty (and Frank Zappa for Gods sake). I can´t buy all in one sweep, so i´ll i maybe go for three waves. How do i decide which go i this and that stack? Jesus... I don´t know.
8:30 is my favourite - it was the first Weather Report album I acquired, and the playing is brilliant. Teen Town and Birdland swing like the clappers, and the entire band is on top form.
Love WR! A couple years ago back when I was 15/16, I was in the Jazz Band in my high school. My teacher introduced me to this band and have been listening to them since. My three favourites would have to be Procession, Night Passage, and Black Market.
Heavy Weather and Mr. Gone were the first 2 WR albums I bought back in the late '70's, and I absolutely loved them both. In retrospect I would say that Early Period = Live in Tokyo, Mid Period = Everything (including Mr. Gong) Late Period = Procession.
Hey Andy....great summary of a truly amazing band. Encouraging me to go explore the albums I've not played for a while as well as the pinnacle of their creativity such as Heavy Weather, so also appreciate that! Still loving Singularity btw and looking forward to hearing Rain's next phase!!
My first Weather Report album was "Night Passage" and I loved it - and still do. I then bought "Heavy Weather" on SACD and "Domino Theory" and love them too. I will have to get a few more.
Brilliant analysis of an incredible band. Really enjoyed it. My favourite album is Tail Spinnin', to me a simply incredible record. 'Between the Thighs' is my all-time favourite Weather Report composition, a truly awesome feast of sounds and rhythm. Thanks for a great video. 🤣
This is super helpful, thank you Andy! Might you be planning a guide to Headhunters/Mwandishi, too? You mention Headhunters here.... I love these guides all, so far, and really needed it for Weather Report!
I absolutely agree with your view on Black Market. It's simply their best produced album with their best collection of compositions. My favorite track is Herandnu because of the excitement, extended solo's and odd time signatures. It's not everyday that you come across a composition with a theme in 33/16 (6/8+6/8+9/16) and solos in 11/4. The coda in 11/8 is a bonus :)
Beautifully done Andy! You definitely did your research. I actually love the very first WR album (got it as an 18th birthday gift) and especially liked the songs like "Tears"(rare instance of Miroslav playing electric bass), "Orange Lady" and the track after "Milky Way". Also dig the Alphonso Johnson era a lot. Definitely agree with you on the last album Jaco was on, , bored me to tears and I never bothered with it again. I saw the "Procession" tour and that new band was on fire live. Of the 80's WR albums, "Procession" was easily the best one. Have to say though, the track with the Manhattan Transfer" just annoyed me as being really corny and contrived, same with the vocal tracks on the subsequent albums (I did think "Domino Theory" had some good moments) "This Is This" was the one I could not stand at all, it was obvious the magic was gone, but they did have a contractual commitment to fulfill. After that I saw the one-off "Weather Update" band that Zawinul took on the road. Great lineup (Thomas, Erskine, Bailey with Steve Kahn on guitar) but honestly, the music was rather underdeveloped and lacking focus. However it did pave the way for the Zawinul Syndicate shortly after. Got to see the Wayne Shorter tour for "Joyrider", which was mind-blowing. Wayne seemed to be really enjoying himself on that one. Saw one of Jaco's solo gigs in 1983, OMG what a trainwreck! It was obvious the drugs had done their evil work. I have to give major kudos to his bandmates (Mike Stern, Kenwood Denard, Bob Berg, Don Alias) for trying extra hard to hold it together. Sorry to be so long winded but just wanted to say how much I dig your commentary and honesty. Keep up your great work!
Good and fair overview of their music. I bought I sing the body electric first and then Mr Gone. I prefer early and the funky sweet lighter era. Although I enjoy all of them.
My favorites are the first two albums. I bought them when they first came out and as for myself I always prefer music that takes me somewhere I've never been before and these two albums did that .
Great guide, i never heard tail spinnin before. To me weather report is defined by the bass players. Vituos was the Bitches Brew era, but you can hear the first early signs of what is to come in 2nd Sunday in August. Alphonso Johnson is the signature sound era, Mysterious traveler and most of black market. Then there is the Jaco era. Bass as a co instrument, doing beautiful melody and solos. Never cared for his pop pop pop bottom end though, reminds me of a mad rooster.
WR was originally a trio of composers, Zawinul, Shorter and Vitous. Miroslav had invited John Mclaughlin to join also but he declined, being just about to form the Mahavishnu Orchestra. There's a Japanese import called 'Purple' that shows what WR might have sounded like with JM on guitar. The first three albums are basically the core trio plus a number of percussionists (Mouzon was never 'officially' a member of the band according to the excellent book on this band's history, 'Elelgant People'. Miroslav was replaced by Alphonso Johnson on Mysterious Traveller, arguably the best WR album IMHO. Of course he was replaced by Jaco and the rest is mega band history :)
Thanks for this great rundown. I do enjoy some of their stuff. But as a very amateur guitarist, I tend to shy away from music with no guitar. I tend to find myself thinking, man some sweet guitar riffs would be great right here! I will have to dive a little deeper into their catalog.
Mysterious Traveler, Sweetnighter, Black Market my top three. I bought Mysterious Traveler, shortly after it was released and could not have been more than 13 years old and my dad was influential in my love of jazz. I love that era the most with Alphonso.... Jaco was great and all that but Alphonso's playing was the epitome of what great bass playing is.
I'm so glad I found your channel on TH-cam the other day. Slowly working my way through all your vids! I love Weather Report so I especially enjoyed this one. Believe it or not my introduction to them came through John Peel - not someone you would normally associate with jazz-fusion or whatever, but back in the mid-70s he had a Saturday afternoon programme on R1 and one week he opened it (if I remember correctly) with Man In The Green Shirt from Tale Spinnin' - I bought the album quite soon after and played it non-stop that summer. The cover on my copy didn't have any details of who all these guys were - I though Joe Zawinul looked like my cousin's husband! I noticed you seemed to be reading the lineup from the back of the cover of your copy - is that right? I got Mysterious Traveller presented to me as a Christmas present later that year and then in '76 Black Market came out and that got played continuously also - my favourite WR track is Gibraltar. There's a great version of it on the The Legendary Live Tapes. I've got all their official recordings I think but not really investigated any of the bootleg stuff available. Thanks for a great video.
It's great that people are still getting into Weather Report. I think Heavy Weather is the greatest WR album but the track, Birdland, is a bit OTT. The other compositions are amongst the strongest they did. They were indeed superstars by the mid 70s. Joe Zawinul was named best electric keyboardist 28 times by Downbeat Mag. readrers.
Read the book by Chris Bianchi - “Elegant People” fabulously referenced, fascinating meeting of musicians. The most enduring exciting development was the keyboard and synthesiser rigs Joe Zawinul put together…a demanding titan he was a tough task master. So many fabulous band members. Mysterious Traveler, Black Market, Sweetnighter, Night Passage faves. Don’t throw out Heavy Weather because of commercial success…lots of gems on that album. Jaco was just one of many great bassists. WR played plenty of funk. Boogie Woogie Waltz and River People can get anyone out of their chairs and moving.
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer on the Flight time live album Billy makes a big burp at the beginning Only on the vinyl original edition not on the CD Super funny to listen to
I'm enjoing seeing a consistent pattern between our perspectives where i find myself vehemently agreeing with you during a build up on most things. And i get lost in it, forgetting that there will inevitably be this sharp notch cut out of the flow thats coming up, that shouldnt but does surprise me. Like I'm in this pep rally where the cylinders are firing perfectly. "Fuck yeah, I sing the Body Electric is an underrated incredible album! Yep, Milky Way is great but the rest is tough. Hell yeah, Tale Spinnin gets looked over. Damn right Black Market could be their best album. Couldn't agree more Mr. Gone is their wors... wait... huh???". Ha I'm kind of surprised you feel that way about Mr. Gone, especially after hearing your thoughts on Tin Drum and generally championing the ideas of being progressive/creative/innovative. Mr. Gone is WR's "Tin Drum" well crafted aet piece. And their absolute best album. I wonder if you're focusing too much on it not being such "band" album or grooving/jamming like their other in a particular linear way that their albums usually do. Mr. Gone is incredibly progressive, incredibly innovative and incredibly ahead of its time ..and honestly, I'm not sure time has even caught up to it to relate back to. Yet it still accomplishes this with gorgeous melodies and harmony which sometimes seem "out of key" for even progressive jazz. There's video game music in there, there's deceptively basic sounding MIDI jazz that could be a demo button on a childrens keyboard, there's jazz that should have been in the cantina scene of Star Wars, ha.. They accomplished on this album what others haven't been able to in movies, when teying to portray music of the distant future. That is both alien but also contains a thread to the past in a bizarre way. They are spitting in the faces of those who think they know what jazz is and how it should sound, even on the fringe. And not overtly doing so in a rude manner. I will say in possible defwnse against the album, that when i got into WR at age 17 in 1990, Body Electric was the first album of theirs I got. It wasnt hard to quickly get into and love, containing numerous elements that spoke to my surging teenage boy testosterone. Ha. The next album i got was Mr. Gone. I actually remember where i was, driving in my car past this church at a stoplight at the intersection of Fielder and Pioneer Parkway in Arlington, Tx 1990, when i popped the cassette in and began listening. "What the fuck is this shit?" I thought. Scanned forward through the next couple songs and started laughing at how ridiculous it was compared to other WR I'd heard. "Damn, is he playing a version of the Leave It To Beaver theme there?? (Mr. Gone) This is stupid." I took the cassette back to the store and exchanged it for somethong else. Ffwd a few years and i got the albim again just to complete my collection of their albums. Sat for a couple years more. The whole time though i was haunted by the memory of those stupid sounds and melodies of Mr. Gone. In mybown musical compositions, i found myself doing similar thing influenced by it. Perhaps a similar concept of you turning into your parents?.. ha. Anyway, gave it a proper listen and it was just game over. That was my favorite and the depthnofbit just hit me right and has continued to be a wealth of inspirational nuggets of composition, sound architechture, mood, energy, etc etc etc.
I think it's having the coversation that is worthwhile, not the end result. I thought the opening track is good but it's a zawinul solo piece, not Weather Report. But the rest just meanders. There are some beautiful tunes on there. especially from Shorter.
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer I'm thinking about the definition of meandering which is something close to "wandering aimlessly", probably. And that simply doesn't technically apply to the songs on Mr. Gone. If we're talking about a relative meandering, then i would classify jamming/soloing as leaning more toward meandering. If thats the case, then the surrounding albums Night Passage and Heavy Weather fall into that realm, where Mr. Gone does not. Quite the opposite, it's more focused and cohesive considering the different drummers used. Also, not sure what you mean by it being Zawinul solo. The band is playing on all tracks. Assuming that were the case though, there are countless examples of band members doing solo tracks on a the band album. As well as certain songwriters in the band doing more or less writing on different albums for various reasons. Other members being burned out, on drugs, drinking heavily, family issues etc. Would have to be extremely pronounced to disparagingly call it a solo album by the more present member. There may have been factors that led to Zawinul carrying the lions share, but this still soundsblike Weather Report. A bitnof an aesthetic diversion, but what classic band hasnt done that? Not necessarily trying to start shit here, just taking what you've replied in and it doesn't compute.
@@chordpop6259 Jazz improvistaion should go somewhere. It often doesn't on Mr Gone.. and by solo track, I mean that Zawinul has greated most of that by overdubbing
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer @AndyEdwardsDrummer i think that if you'd only said you didnt care for the music it would be a dead issue. The only reason i continue is that the characteristics you're listing seem to be in conflict or don't make sense with what is actually happening on the album, so i feel i must say something to flatten the wrinkle. First of all, overdubs. Is that really an issue in itself? Aren't there many examples of fusion bands doing overdubs? I'll be damned if Medieval Overture, for one, wasn't overdubbed, ha. I think that as sequencers and electronic etc became increasingly incorporated, as well as the number of tape tracks increasing, even fusion groups made use of it. In regard to Zawinul carrying a lion's share on the first track or throughout the album, again, who cares? Aren't there many examples of individual members contributing a solo track on a band's album? From something as simple as a solo acoustic guitar piece, to them doing a song as a multiinstrumentalist. But the first track here doesn't seem so dramatically like that at all. There are apparent additional keyboard layers, but very quickly you have the other musicians coming in and playing throughout. Honestly, Feathered Hat technically sounds more like a regular WR tune than the others. Stuff happens to people in bands and at different points one or another member might step forward as the one whonis most present. Drugs, alcohol abuse, family issue, burnout, etc. I think it would have to be very unusually pronounced for people to start saying that it's no longer the band but so and so's solo project. Zawinul may have been that guy at this time, but its not that dramatic. Improvisation. What improvisation? Ha. Of course there is some, but i believe the nature of the aesthetic they created on this album doesn't call for it as it does on their other more "establish a funky groove and stretch out soloing" albums. The couple times a more regular improvisation occurs, it becomes apparent that only a dash will do. Because the songs are more compact and almost presented as related musical vignettes, the (what i would call) improvised flourishes they do work perfectly in this structure. I re-listened to the album trying to hear things you were describing. Overall, not hearing a lack of focus or direction or any literal meandering. When i focus on the flourishes, if i strain a bit i kind of can hear what you might be referring to. But they match up with the different material, serving to help push it forward in a way that their more standard improvising would not. Its a bit glitchy (to put it in modern terms) and more random, but by design. I believe Zawinul (and even Shorter in places) was pushing himself to play a bit differently, outside of his (already unusual) usual patterns. Maybe I'm reading between the lines incorrectly, but i seems like you're communicating between them. Where you simply dont care for the music but are listing characteristics to describe it that technically arent there. From watching your video and reading your commentary, it seems to point to that there is stuff/certain habits that you like that WR does and they chose not to do it very much on this album. What i think that is, is more traditional grooving and improvising. When i put myself in their shoes around this time, i can totally see how this album came about. The massive sucess of Heavy Weather the higher level they were put on, the touring, the expectations, etc. As a composer, ive been there several times. You feel burned out in a certain avenue and people want a thing ..and you find yourself gravitating to the opposite of that. You want amazing solos? Take barely any and a bunch of glitchy flourishes that sound like an early AI playing notes in learning mode. You want a bad ass groove where we stretch out? Sorry. Ha, i love it. I'm 50, and just young enough that I'm from the portion of Gen X that doesn't mind soloing, but doesn't love it even more. The generational tipping point where soloing began to be seen as something that should be tempered or scrutinized, lest it be wanky. I played drums in a prog band in the mid 90s. The other guys in the band were 5 years older than me. In their case, just old enough to live on the other side of the line where soling is purely innocent, agiven and should be provided for to occur in every song. It got pretty cheeseball, to my taste. They were all like "Ok, solo section goes here" as a thoughtless habit. Very cringey to the degree they assumed should be agiven. I was young but this gave me insight into the mentality of musicians generally on the other side of the generational line. I don't accept any old solo for any odd length of time. It has to work and fit conceptually, otherwise its trash. Soloing is selfish by nature and should be viewed as guilty until proven innocent. It has its place. I love that Zawinul had the mind to challenge this notion of soloing as agiven, especially on Mr. Gone. Lastly, it seems the idea of "What is jazz" is being alluded to here. The "is it just improvisation or can it be mainly composition too" notion. Duke Ellington vs Louis Armstrong territory. Perhaps this is not what is being suggested, feel free to correct me. If you take a children's Casio keyboard and press the button that says Jazz, where the preset beat/bass line/chords starting playing and make a recording of that, what do you call it? Because it does sound like "jazz", right? The company programmed the pattern to trigger people's identification of the style. I believe this is what WR (with perhaps Zawinul as the most present member) was exploring, conceptually here.
my favorite tunes are havona and elegant people I don't think anyone mentioned this, did you guys know about the 4cd live set titled The Legendary Live Tapes 1978-1981 ? I don't think it was released until 2015, was a series of raw and unaltered soundboard bootlegs basically collecting dust for decades, co-produced by Erskine. There are several other bootlegs released after 2015 I haven't heard.
And they did a 'Live and Unreleased' album too. I heard it when it came out, and I thought it was better than 8.30. Alex Acuna was playing incredible on it. Haven't heard that for a long time
Thanks for this Andy. That is a great summary. I would agree with most of what you say although I really like the first side of Weather Report 1982. D flat waltz has to be one of my favourite WR tracks. If you've not seen it watch the South Bank show documentary that Melvyn Bragg did.
I remember watching that doc when it came out! And yes, I listened it WR 82 again for this reveiw and it was a lot better than I remembered. Also This Is This sounds a lot better than it seemed at the time.
Always liked Swamp Cabbage off Domino. Not the flamboyant band of the 70s but it’s different. A dance track but with impeccably organised playing. And Db Waltz is amazing.
I was lucky in my part of the world to get the 1972 Live in Tokyo back in the day as my introduction to this band. It was a Japan import double LP and I think it took until the CD age to be released worldwide. Biased by that, I Sing the Body Electric is very high on my list, only topped by Black Market. Number three would be the debut followed by Tale Spinnin' (I was astonished to hear that this is not considered a top WR album). After the first six albums, they go down half a step for the next three album. After that, they trail away with albums still listenable but no longer very interesting. Just like with Mahavishnu Orchestra, their peak was just so high that it is amazing that they could maintain the high quality for even more than one or two albums. PS - I agree with Procession being the best of the 80s albums - and compared to other fusion at that time they are still better than any...but when talking about such a band, it is really a whole tier down from the first 6 albums.
I agree with all of that although I have a soft spot for Procession, Domino Theory and Sportin Life. In the 80s these were quality fusion albums compared to what else was on offer. Tale Spinnin is indeed their forgotten masterpiece, and for me is their greatest recordings.
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer Off topic - I saw Mtume mentioned in one video but cannot find the reference anymore...unless you already know, he made some terrific albums prior to his disco phase, Kawaida in 1970 (with Herbie Hancock + Don Cherry), Alkebu-Lan from 1972 (Ndugu, Gary Bartz, a double album recorded live but actually a kind of concept album, very political and very angry), 1977's Rebirth Cycle (many musicians from Agharta here). These albums may be hard to find but if you do, grab them.
Welp Andy... I watched this vid with growing enthusiasm about "discovering" a new-to-me jazz fusion band. I pulled up Heavy Weather on the ol' streamer, hit play, and was totally... unimpressed. "To Each, Their Own" is the motto I try to live by and I'm not knocking WR, it's just not for me. At least Heavy Weather isn't. Since it's so easy to pull up other WR releases on my streamer, I may try out some other albums. Hopefully, one of those might reach out and grab me. I shall see.
interesting choices !!!! good n ok choices hard to pick really that good recording from the beginning 2 the end of w.r. ( Brown st - sight seeing)8:30 (tale spinning) whole record (black market) whole record 👍 ( 1.2.3.w.r) excellent. heavy weather 👍(one of ther best) 👍 hard choices of W.R .they sound as good 2day as they did back then 👍zawinul syndicate .takes it to another level may b. more better than his previous bands hard 2 believe ZAWINUL was a genius and the players that played with HIM thank 👍u👍W.R.👍
I saw the 74 (Mirslav Vituous on bass) WR at the Whiskey au Go Go. I had Sweetnighter completely worn out the grooves. I spelled Mirslav wrong. They did what all great bands do...they tore the roof offa the sucka. I play "Will" regularly. Dark meditation music.
True Story: I cleaned Tim Hauser's (founder, Manhattan Transfer) Los Angeles apartment for two years. Nice bloke. I played him a homemade (tabletop cassette recording) guitar bit and he said "that's got grease!" and I thanked him and he split and I cleaned his apartment.
Both Sportin' Life and especially Domino Theory are better than Procession. And Night Passage is the best Erskine/Pastorius album. And the best album of all is I sing the Body Electric-unreal studio compositions and the best edit of a live concert ever on side two.
Listened to Black Market and Heavy Weather again and have to agree, Black Market is their best. Enjoyed Mr. Gone but wouldn't put it near the top. As I recall, Downbeat Magazine gave it a 1 star review. Joe Zawinul and Jaco were not pleased.
I won a radio contest and the prize was a ticket to Joe Zawinal's last L.A. performance. He died later that year. I showed up at the club and I had no money for drinks and little imagination. I couldn't sit in that bar/club, it was full of stinky beautiful people. I went outside and listened through the firedoor. Joe frikken Zawinal, maybe I spella his name wrong.
Great discussion. Saw the band many times between 1972 and 1982. The records are great. But the band live in performance was transcendent. Very, very special. Favorites? Tough call. But the two I listen to most frequently are and 'Live in Tokyo' and '8:30'. Live was best with WR. And post-WR as it turns out. Take 'Brown Street' for example...th-cam.com/video/mP4NvVRqAC4/w-d-xo.html
Black Market is brilliant. ... My brother turned me on to WR with Tailspinning and I Sing but, after Heavy Weather, he wasn't as interested in the group. ... I became less interested after Mr. Gone. ... 8:30 could've used a better remastering.
But to me the greatest fusion group wasn't electronic it was a real fusion.. The fusion of ideas and influences plus Ralph wrote often challenging changes for improvisation and that band was Oregon,
Brilliant!!! Great overview i would put.them in the same order ! ,im made up you like possession it could be my favourite ,can't get.into.Domino theory or this is this as much I used to cycle to Reaction Records.in New.Brighton in the 80s coz they had a second-hand jazz and fusion section I'd pay two of three quid for inner mounting flame or Romantic.Warrior or headnunters , they had Everything ,Stanly Clarke ,the Crusaders, and great fusion compilations like "Fuse one"! I bought the whole shop over ten years also got to buy the jazz section in my local.record.library when they changed to C.D, loving your amazing channel man, and in digging out all my fusion albums again! cheers ,Max,.Wirral 😎
I bought the weather Report “Heavy Weather” album and I honestly think it is the best jazz album I’ve ever bought or listened to. Completely blown away. No pun intended.
Black Market is my favourite too. The compositions are superb, and the production is stunning. It’s a great album to play to jazz neophytes. I pretty much agree with your ranking, particularly re the ‘80s stuff. Cheers.
You have great taste!!!
Another aspect of Weather Report that was jaw dropping to me is the fact they could make improvised passages sound written out and vice-versa. Signs of high level musicianship for sure!
The joke about Mr Gone was that it was referring to Wayne Shorter not being on it much.
I could listen to Harlequin, Palladium and The Juggler from Heavy Weather every day and never get tired of them.
Havona too
@@AlmostEthical 👍 That song has one of Jaco's best solos.
@@JustyStoky Yup. The start of Jaco's solo always reminds me of an interview he gave, where he said he tried to sing like Frank Sinatra on the bass
Over the past year I've been buying up all the Weather Report records I can find in the used bins in my city. When I came across Tale Spinnin' it was quite the pleasant surprise. Completely agree that it's an unsung gem in their catalogue.
Mysterious Traveller is my favourite followed by I sing the body Electric and then Heavy Weather. Also check out Live in Berlin release. Pre Jaco with Alphonso Johnson tearing it up!
Bingo!
I bought several of these albums back in the 70's and 80's, and they quickly became some of my favorites from my entire record collection. Currently listening to track 1, Corner Pocket on Sportin' Life. Man, that is a powerful tune!
Very interesting, thank you! Saw the Night Passage tour and the Prosession tour. Incredible bands!
Great to see you 1 year ago, after seeing all of your new stuff. Great video.
I was lucky to have seen them in Boston around 80 or 81. Amazing concert.
Andy this is absolutely excellent stuff. My favorite band and it’s uncanny how my views on all the albums almost mirror yours. All I would add is that the lesser albums, particularly Mr Gone and Weather Report 1982 , were the result of a punishing schedule of yearly albums and world tours. So those two albums in particular suffer from a lack of time going into them. I totally agree with what you say about the Jaco compositions on Mr Gone - they are just unfinished ideas. Notice how River People is just a bass line he used as early as 1976 on Gibraltar - the live at montreux version. And as you rightly point out - even the lesser albums, it’s still Weather Report ! To me Joe and Wayne are two of the greatest musicians ever.
Your take on the band and their trajectory is absolutely spot on.
Thanks very much Steven. I really wanted to give some love to the Omar/Bailey band. Elsewhere those albums get knocked but I think some of the best WR is on those albums. Also the Jaco era often gets refered to as the classic lineup but actually take way Heavy Weather and the rest is a little patchy. Of course all this is in comparison t their greatest stuff which is the best of the best. I think the run from I Sing to Heavy Weather was their peak....
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer Yes so many Jaco fans think the band is all about him but it was way way more than that. The final edition of the band was great , Hakim was a beast. I love Night Passage though and especially the tour of 1980 which in Uk was b4 the album release. To me they were treading water a bit in 1978/79 as the Jaco star trip got a bit tedious. But 1980 was a whole new set list of unheard material, pre internet so no spoilers. When they opened up with fast city then Madagascar the audience was utterly floored, ive never seen or heard anything like it to this day, it was totally incendiary ! 25 minutes of relentless goose bumps .....
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer On the subject of Jaco - what did you think of the Trio Of Doom album with John McLaughlin and Tony Williams and Jaco ? It was a problematic performance but enjoyed Tony William's drumming on it.
your insight is amazing----off the charts!!! I am hooked for sure!. thanks so much!!!
You are so welcome
Never seen as good an overview of the band than this! Great stuff man. Reading the new book Elegant People right now
Thank you very much. Have you checked out my review of Zawinul album from 19712?
Excellent book!
A brilliant overview of all the WR albums. For me the holy trinity are: I Sing the Body Electric, Sweetnighter and Mysterious Traveller. These albums changed my life.
Just getting into Weather Report... thanks for the guidance!
Nice Andy. Thanks for the good advices. I only own Heavy Weather that i bought in the spring of ´85. I loved it right away, but the damn thing is that i never bought another of their albums. At some point i need to go there, and now is as good as any old time. I was 19 years old back in ´85, and now soon to be 57. I still own that CD, yes it was an early compact disc, and i believe i´d like to buy all the others on CD also. I bought my first CD-player (a Sony) right before christmas in ´83. In the early days of CDs, where i lived in Norway, jazz and jazz fusion was what the record store had to offer us young and hungry for the future dudes. This was basically how i got into jazz. I was forced in. It was Miles, and George Duke, Chet Baker, Weaher Report, David Sanborn, The Brecker Brothers, Stanly Clarke, Herbie Hancock and some others - like the brilliant Pat Metheny and the fascinating Jean-Luc Ponty (and Frank Zappa for Gods sake). I can´t buy all in one sweep, so i´ll i maybe go for three waves. How do i decide which go i this and that stack? Jesus... I don´t know.
Thank You for uploading! Very interesting vore on the albums! Take care😊
Thanks Robin.
The "Weather Report" debut is my favorite album in their discography, and I love everything up to "Black Market"!
I know what you mean. There is amagic to all those albums
8:30 is my favourite - it was the first Weather Report album I acquired, and the playing is brilliant. Teen Town and Birdland swing like the clappers, and the entire band is on top form.
Love WR! A couple years ago back when I was 15/16, I was in the Jazz Band in my high school. My teacher introduced me to this band and have been listening to them since. My three favourites would have to be Procession, Night Passage, and Black Market.
Heavy Weather and Mr. Gone were the first 2 WR albums I bought back in the late '70's, and I absolutely loved them both. In retrospect I would say that Early Period = Live in Tokyo, Mid Period = Everything (including Mr. Gong) Late Period = Procession.
Hey Andy....great summary of a truly amazing band. Encouraging me to go explore the albums I've not played for a while as well as the pinnacle of their creativity such as Heavy Weather, so also appreciate that!
Still loving Singularity btw and looking forward to hearing Rain's next phase!!
Nearly there with next album....
My first Weather Report album was "Night Passage" and I loved it - and still do. I then bought "Heavy Weather" on SACD and "Domino Theory" and love them too. I will have to get a few more.
Brilliant analysis of an incredible band. Really enjoyed it. My favourite album is Tail Spinnin', to me a simply incredible record. 'Between the Thighs' is my all-time favourite Weather Report composition, a truly awesome feast of sounds and rhythm. Thanks for a great video. 🤣
It is so underated...they really fly on that album
This is super helpful, thank you Andy! Might you be planning a guide to Headhunters/Mwandishi, too? You mention Headhunters here.... I love these guides all, so far, and really needed it for Weather Report!
Debut for me, love it !
Black Market is my favourite album by them too. Volcano For Hire, and Palladium, two favourite tunes outside that album.
(I have to admit - I haven't listened all the way through to their post 1982- albums.)
Spot on
I absolutely agree with your view on Black Market. It's simply their best produced album with their best collection of compositions. My favorite track is Herandnu because of the excitement, extended solo's and odd time signatures. It's not everyday that you come across a composition with a theme in 33/16 (6/8+6/8+9/16) and solos in 11/4. The coda in 11/8 is a bonus :)
Yes....I always that was a sly nod to the Mahavishnu..like...we can do time signatures, and when we do there like this....
Freezing fire on the Tale Spinnin' record might be my favorite weather report song. At least today.
Beautifully done Andy! You definitely did your research. I actually love the very first WR album (got it as an 18th birthday gift) and especially liked the songs like "Tears"(rare instance of Miroslav playing electric bass), "Orange Lady" and the track after "Milky Way". Also dig the Alphonso Johnson era a lot. Definitely agree with you on the last album Jaco was on, , bored me to tears and I never bothered with it again. I saw the "Procession" tour and that new band was on fire live. Of the 80's WR albums, "Procession" was easily the best one. Have to say though, the track with the Manhattan Transfer" just annoyed me as being really corny and contrived, same with the vocal tracks on the subsequent albums (I did think "Domino Theory" had some good moments) "This Is This" was the one I could not stand at all, it was obvious the magic was gone, but they did have a contractual commitment to fulfill. After that I saw the one-off "Weather Update" band that Zawinul took on the road. Great lineup (Thomas, Erskine, Bailey with Steve Kahn on guitar) but honestly, the music was rather underdeveloped and lacking focus. However it did pave the way for the Zawinul Syndicate shortly after.
Got to see the Wayne Shorter tour for "Joyrider", which was mind-blowing. Wayne seemed to be really enjoying himself on that one.
Saw one of Jaco's solo gigs in 1983, OMG what a trainwreck! It was obvious the drugs had done their evil work. I have to give major kudos to his bandmates (Mike Stern, Kenwood Denard, Bob Berg, Don Alias) for trying extra hard to hold it together.
Sorry to be so long winded but just wanted to say how much I dig your commentary and honesty. Keep up your great work!
Great wrap up! 🙏🏻
Thanks
Thank you for the review.
Any thoughts on Alphonso Johnson’s Moonshadows?
Picked up today at the record shop and am enjoying it quite a bit.
8:30 is my favorite followed by Heavy Weather and Black Market. I’ll try some of the others you recommend.
Good and fair overview of their music. I bought I sing the body electric first and then Mr Gone. I prefer early and the funky sweet lighter era. Although I enjoy all of them.
Love the cover version of What's Goin' On..on Sporting Life. Victor's bass guitar on it is sublime.
Mr Gone, a great stuff!
My favorites are the first two albums. I bought them when they first came out and as for myself I always prefer music that takes me somewhere I've never been before and these two albums did that .
Great guide, i never heard tail spinnin before. To me weather report is defined by the bass players. Vituos was the Bitches Brew era, but you can hear the first early signs of what is to come in 2nd Sunday in August.
Alphonso Johnson is the signature sound era, Mysterious traveler and most of black market.
Then there is the Jaco era. Bass as a co instrument, doing beautiful melody and solos. Never cared for his pop pop pop bottom end though, reminds me of a mad rooster.
Tale Spinnin is their blowing record, they stretch out and burn on that one.
WR was originally a trio of composers, Zawinul, Shorter and Vitous. Miroslav had invited John Mclaughlin to join also but he declined, being just about to form the Mahavishnu Orchestra. There's a Japanese import called 'Purple' that shows what WR might have sounded like with JM on guitar. The first three albums are basically the core trio plus a number of percussionists (Mouzon was never 'officially' a member of the band according to the excellent book on this band's history, 'Elelgant People'. Miroslav was replaced by Alphonso Johnson on Mysterious Traveller, arguably the best WR album IMHO. Of course he was replaced by Jaco and the rest is mega band history :)
Thanks for this great rundown. I do enjoy some of their stuff. But as a very amateur guitarist, I tend to shy away from music with no guitar. I tend to find myself thinking, man some sweet guitar riffs would be great right here! I will have to dive a little deeper into their catalog.
Mysterious Traveler, Sweetnighter, Black Market my top three. I bought Mysterious Traveler, shortly after it was released and could not have been more than 13 years old and my dad was influential in my love of jazz. I love that era the most with Alphonso.... Jaco was great and all that but Alphonso's playing was the epitome of what great bass playing is.
Oh how could I forget Tail Spinning??
Me too!!! Wow!!! Alphonso Johnson has always been my favorite
Black Market! Yes!
I'm so glad I found your channel on TH-cam the other day. Slowly working my way through all your vids! I love Weather Report so I especially enjoyed this one. Believe it or not my introduction to them came through John Peel - not someone you would normally associate with jazz-fusion or whatever, but back in the mid-70s he had a Saturday afternoon programme on R1 and one week he opened it (if I remember correctly) with Man In The Green Shirt from Tale Spinnin' - I bought the album quite soon after and played it non-stop that summer. The cover on my copy didn't have any details of who all these guys were - I though Joe Zawinul looked like my cousin's husband! I noticed you seemed to be reading the lineup from the back of the cover of your copy - is that right? I got Mysterious Traveller presented to me as a Christmas present later that year and then in '76 Black Market came out and that got played continuously also - my favourite WR track is Gibraltar. There's a great version of it on the The Legendary Live Tapes. I've got all their official recordings I think but not really investigated any of the bootleg stuff available. Thanks for a great video.
Your welcome Mark...I have a video just on Black Market here too, and a video on Zawinul...
There's a spaciousness and Zen subtlety in Tail Spinning that was quite the opposite of the other fusion groups at the time. EG Badia
It's great that people are still getting into Weather Report. I think Heavy Weather is the greatest WR album but the track, Birdland, is a bit OTT. The other compositions are amongst the strongest they did. They were indeed superstars by the mid 70s. Joe Zawinul was named best electric keyboardist 28 times by Downbeat Mag. readrers.
Joe Zawinal was a pro boxer for awhile. He told a reporter "I take all of that combat energy and I put it in my fingers".
Zawinul quote: "We always solo, we never solo."
Jungle Book from Mysterious Traveler shall live forever.
Excellent call on Night Passage.
JT
Read the book by Chris Bianchi - “Elegant People” fabulously referenced, fascinating meeting of musicians. The most enduring exciting development was the keyboard and synthesiser rigs Joe Zawinul put together…a demanding titan he was a tough task master. So many fabulous band members. Mysterious Traveler, Black Market, Sweetnighter, Night Passage faves. Don’t throw out Heavy Weather because of commercial success…lots of gems on that album. Jaco was just one of many great bassists. WR played plenty of funk. Boogie Woogie Waltz and River People can get anyone out of their chairs and moving.
Superb introduction to WR
I hope you will make a special video on the Allan Holdsworth solo albums and also Billy Cobham
Yes I will be and in fact I'm slated to do a Billy C ranking video over at Sea of Tranquility so watch this space
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer on the Flight time live album Billy makes a big burp at the beginning
Only on the vinyl original edition not on the CD
Super funny to listen to
I love early weather report.love black market.theyre a top 5 band for me
This is this isn't bad..I enjoy all of it
Its pretty awful IMO...
I'm enjoing seeing a consistent pattern between our perspectives where i find myself vehemently agreeing with you during a build up on most things. And i get lost in it, forgetting that there will inevitably be this sharp notch cut out of the flow thats coming up, that shouldnt but does surprise me. Like I'm in this pep rally where the cylinders are firing perfectly. "Fuck yeah, I sing the Body Electric is an underrated incredible album! Yep, Milky Way is great but the rest is tough. Hell yeah, Tale Spinnin gets looked over. Damn right Black Market could be their best album. Couldn't agree more Mr. Gone is their wors... wait... huh???". Ha
I'm kind of surprised you feel that way about Mr. Gone, especially after hearing your thoughts on Tin Drum and generally championing the ideas of being progressive/creative/innovative. Mr. Gone is WR's "Tin Drum" well crafted aet piece. And their absolute best album. I wonder if you're focusing too much on it not being such "band" album or grooving/jamming like their other in a particular linear way that their albums usually do. Mr. Gone is incredibly progressive, incredibly innovative and incredibly ahead of its time ..and honestly, I'm not sure time has even caught up to it to relate back to. Yet it still accomplishes this with gorgeous melodies and harmony which sometimes seem "out of key" for even progressive jazz. There's video game music in there, there's deceptively basic sounding MIDI jazz that could be a demo button on a childrens keyboard, there's jazz that should have been in the cantina scene of Star Wars, ha.. They accomplished on this album what others haven't been able to in movies, when teying to portray music of the distant future. That is both alien but also contains a thread to the past in a bizarre way. They are spitting in the faces of those who think they know what jazz is and how it should sound, even on the fringe. And not overtly doing so in a rude manner.
I will say in possible defwnse against the album, that when i got into WR at age 17 in 1990, Body Electric was the first album of theirs I got. It wasnt hard to quickly get into and love, containing numerous elements that spoke to my surging teenage boy testosterone. Ha. The next album i got was Mr. Gone. I actually remember where i was, driving in my car past this church at a stoplight at the intersection of Fielder and Pioneer Parkway in Arlington, Tx 1990, when i popped the cassette in and began listening. "What the fuck is this shit?" I thought. Scanned forward through the next couple songs and started laughing at how ridiculous it was compared to other WR I'd heard. "Damn, is he playing a version of the Leave It To Beaver theme there?? (Mr. Gone) This is stupid." I took the cassette back to the store and exchanged it for somethong else.
Ffwd a few years and i got the albim again just to complete my collection of their albums. Sat for a couple years more. The whole time though i was haunted by the memory of those stupid sounds and melodies of Mr. Gone. In mybown musical compositions, i found myself doing similar thing influenced by it. Perhaps a similar concept of you turning into your parents?.. ha. Anyway, gave it a proper listen and it was just game over. That was my favorite and the depthnofbit just hit me right and has continued to be a wealth of inspirational nuggets of composition, sound architechture, mood, energy, etc etc etc.
I think it's having the coversation that is worthwhile, not the end result. I thought the opening track is good but it's a zawinul solo piece, not Weather Report. But the rest just meanders. There are some beautiful tunes on there. especially from Shorter.
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer I'm thinking about the definition of meandering which is something close to "wandering aimlessly", probably. And that simply doesn't technically apply to the songs on Mr. Gone. If we're talking about a relative meandering, then i would classify jamming/soloing as leaning more toward meandering. If thats the case, then the surrounding albums Night Passage and Heavy Weather fall into that realm, where Mr. Gone does not. Quite the opposite, it's more focused and cohesive considering the different drummers used. Also, not sure what you mean by it being Zawinul solo. The band is playing on all tracks. Assuming that were the case though, there are countless examples of band members doing solo tracks on a the band album. As well as certain songwriters in the band doing more or less writing on different albums for various reasons. Other members being burned out, on drugs, drinking heavily, family issues etc. Would have to be extremely pronounced to disparagingly call it a solo album by the more present member. There may have been factors that led to Zawinul carrying the lions share, but this still soundsblike Weather Report. A bitnof an aesthetic diversion, but what classic band hasnt done that? Not necessarily trying to start shit here, just taking what you've replied in and it doesn't compute.
@@chordpop6259 Jazz improvistaion should go somewhere. It often doesn't on Mr Gone.. and by solo track, I mean that Zawinul has greated most of that by overdubbing
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer @AndyEdwardsDrummer i think that if you'd only said you didnt care for the music it would be a dead issue. The only reason i continue is that the characteristics you're listing seem to be in conflict or don't make sense with what is actually happening on the album, so i feel i must say something to flatten the wrinkle.
First of all, overdubs. Is that really an issue in itself? Aren't there many examples of fusion bands doing overdubs? I'll be damned if Medieval Overture, for one, wasn't overdubbed, ha. I think that as sequencers and electronic etc became increasingly incorporated, as well as the number of tape tracks increasing, even fusion groups made use of it.
In regard to Zawinul carrying a lion's share on the first track or throughout the album, again, who cares? Aren't there many examples of individual members contributing a solo track on a band's album? From something as simple as a solo acoustic guitar piece, to them doing a song as a multiinstrumentalist. But the first track here doesn't seem so dramatically like that at all. There are apparent additional keyboard layers, but very quickly you have the other musicians coming in and playing throughout. Honestly, Feathered Hat technically sounds more like a regular WR tune than the others.
Stuff happens to people in bands and at different points one or another member might step forward as the one whonis most present. Drugs, alcohol abuse, family issue, burnout, etc. I think it would have to be very unusually pronounced for people to start saying that it's no longer the band but so and so's solo project. Zawinul may have been that guy at this time, but its not that dramatic.
Improvisation. What improvisation? Ha. Of course there is some, but i believe the nature of the aesthetic they created on this album doesn't call for it as it does on their other more "establish a funky groove and stretch out soloing" albums. The couple times a more regular improvisation occurs, it becomes apparent that only a dash will do. Because the songs are more compact and almost presented as related musical vignettes, the (what i would call) improvised flourishes they do work perfectly in this structure. I re-listened to the album trying to hear things you were describing. Overall, not hearing a lack of focus or direction or any literal meandering. When i focus on the flourishes, if i strain a bit i kind of can hear what you might be referring to. But they match up with the different material, serving to help push it forward in a way that their more standard improvising would not. Its a bit glitchy (to put it in modern terms) and more random, but by design. I believe Zawinul (and even Shorter in places) was pushing himself to play a bit differently, outside of his (already unusual) usual patterns.
Maybe I'm reading between the lines incorrectly, but i seems like you're communicating between them. Where you simply dont care for the music but are listing characteristics to describe it that technically arent there. From watching your video and reading your commentary, it seems to point to that there is stuff/certain habits that you like that WR does and they chose not to do it very much on this album. What i think that is, is more traditional grooving and improvising.
When i put myself in their shoes around this time, i can totally see how this album came about. The massive sucess of Heavy Weather the higher level they were put on, the touring, the expectations, etc. As a composer, ive been there several times. You feel burned out in a certain avenue and people want a thing ..and you find yourself gravitating to the opposite of that. You want amazing solos? Take barely any and a bunch of glitchy flourishes that sound like an early AI playing notes in learning mode. You want a bad ass groove where we stretch out? Sorry. Ha, i love it.
I'm 50, and just young enough that I'm from the portion of Gen X that doesn't mind soloing, but doesn't love it even more. The generational tipping point where soloing began to be seen as something that should be tempered or scrutinized, lest it be wanky. I played drums in a prog band in the mid 90s. The other guys in the band were 5 years older than me. In their case, just old enough to live on the other side of the line where soling is purely innocent, agiven and should be provided for to occur in every song. It got pretty cheeseball, to my taste. They were all like "Ok, solo section goes here" as a thoughtless habit. Very cringey to the degree they assumed should be agiven. I was young but this gave me insight into the mentality of musicians generally on the other side of the generational line. I don't accept any old solo for any odd length of time. It has to work and fit conceptually, otherwise its trash. Soloing is selfish by nature and should be viewed as guilty until proven innocent. It has its place. I love that Zawinul had the mind to challenge this notion of soloing as agiven, especially on Mr. Gone.
Lastly, it seems the idea of "What is jazz" is being alluded to here. The "is it just improvisation or can it be mainly composition too" notion. Duke Ellington vs Louis Armstrong territory. Perhaps this is not what is being suggested, feel free to correct me. If you take a children's Casio keyboard and press the button that says Jazz, where the preset beat/bass line/chords starting playing and make a recording of that, what do you call it? Because it does sound like "jazz", right? The company programmed the pattern to trigger people's identification of the style. I believe this is what WR (with perhaps Zawinul as the most present member) was exploring, conceptually here.
my favorite tunes are havona and elegant people
I don't think anyone mentioned this, did you guys know about the 4cd live set titled The Legendary Live Tapes 1978-1981 ?
I don't think it was released until 2015, was a series of raw and unaltered soundboard bootlegs basically collecting dust for decades, co-produced by Erskine. There are several other bootlegs released after 2015 I haven't heard.
And they did a 'Live and Unreleased' album too. I heard it when it came out, and I thought it was better than 8.30. Alex Acuna was playing incredible on it. Haven't heard that for a long time
Thanks for this Andy. That is a great summary. I would agree with most of what you say although I really like the first side of Weather Report 1982.
D flat waltz has to be one of my favourite WR tracks.
If you've not seen it watch the South Bank show documentary that Melvyn Bragg did.
I remember watching that doc when it came out! And yes, I listened it WR 82 again for this reveiw and it was a lot better than I remembered. Also This Is This sounds a lot better than it seemed at the time.
What happened to Ishmael Wilburn? Great drumming on Nubian Sundance
Always liked Swamp Cabbage off Domino. Not the flamboyant band of the 70s but it’s different. A dance track but with impeccably organised playing. And Db Waltz is amazing.
I was lucky in my part of the world to get the 1972 Live in Tokyo back in the day as my introduction to this band. It was a Japan import double LP and I think it took until the CD age to be released worldwide. Biased by that, I Sing the Body Electric is very high on my list, only topped by Black Market. Number three would be the debut followed by Tale Spinnin' (I was astonished to hear that this is not considered a top WR album). After the first six albums, they go down half a step for the next three album. After that, they trail away with albums still listenable but no longer very interesting.
Just like with Mahavishnu Orchestra, their peak was just so high that it is amazing that they could maintain the high quality for even more than one or two albums.
PS - I agree with Procession being the best of the 80s albums - and compared to other fusion at that time they are still better than any...but when talking about such a band, it is really a whole tier down from the first 6 albums.
I agree with all of that although I have a soft spot for Procession, Domino Theory and Sportin Life. In the 80s these were quality fusion albums compared to what else was on offer. Tale Spinnin is indeed their forgotten masterpiece, and for me is their greatest recordings.
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer Off topic - I saw Mtume mentioned in one video but cannot find the reference anymore...unless you already know, he made some terrific albums prior to his disco phase, Kawaida in 1970 (with Herbie Hancock + Don Cherry), Alkebu-Lan from 1972 (Ndugu, Gary Bartz, a double album recorded live but actually a kind of concept album, very political and very angry), 1977's Rebirth Cycle (many musicians from Agharta here). These albums may be hard to find but if you do, grab them.
great
Sometimes Seetnighter is my favorite album on Earth.
Welp Andy... I watched this vid with growing enthusiasm about "discovering" a new-to-me jazz fusion band. I pulled up Heavy Weather on the ol' streamer, hit play, and was totally... unimpressed. "To Each, Their Own" is the motto I try to live by and I'm not knocking WR, it's just not for me. At least Heavy Weather isn't. Since it's so easy to pull up other WR releases on my streamer, I may try out some other albums. Hopefully, one of those might reach out and grab me. I shall see.
Heavy Weather certainly wins the grand prize for cover art.
Traditional Japanese music (shakuhachi) and Sweetnighter have much in common. I call it "one note perfect". Meditative groove.
In my world, that 1981/82 album was among their best, after Night passage. Not their worst :D
interesting choices !!!! good n ok choices hard to pick really that good recording from the beginning 2 the end of w.r. ( Brown st - sight seeing)8:30 (tale spinning) whole record (black market) whole record 👍 ( 1.2.3.w.r) excellent. heavy weather 👍(one of ther best) 👍 hard choices of W.R .they sound as good 2day as they did back then 👍zawinul syndicate .takes it to another level may b. more better than his previous bands hard 2 believe ZAWINUL was a genius and the players that played with HIM thank 👍u👍W.R.👍
Chester Thompson - Zappa - Genesis There's that Prog think again.
I saw the 74 (Mirslav Vituous on bass) WR at the Whiskey au Go Go. I had Sweetnighter completely worn out the grooves. I spelled Mirslav wrong. They did what all great bands do...they tore the roof offa the sucka. I play "Will" regularly. Dark meditation music.
@Maxine McKenzie 23 - It's on replay since 1973 from vinyl to i-pod.
True Story: I cleaned Tim Hauser's (founder, Manhattan Transfer) Los Angeles apartment for two years. Nice bloke. I played him a homemade (tabletop cassette recording) guitar bit and he said "that's got grease!" and I thanked him and he split and I cleaned his apartment.
Both Sportin' Life and especially Domino Theory are better than Procession. And Night Passage is the best Erskine/Pastorius album. And the best album of all is I sing the Body Electric-unreal studio compositions and the best edit of a live concert ever on side two.
Listened to Black Market and Heavy Weather again and have to agree,
Black Market is their best. Enjoyed Mr. Gone but wouldn't put it near the top.
As I recall, Downbeat Magazine gave it a 1 star review. Joe Zawinul and Jaco
were not pleased.
I have never liked Mr Gone that much
I won a radio contest and the prize was a ticket to Joe Zawinal's last L.A. performance. He died later that year. I showed up at the club and I had no money for drinks and little imagination. I couldn't sit in that bar/club, it was full of stinky beautiful people. I went outside and listened through the firedoor. Joe frikken Zawinal, maybe I spella his name wrong.
Apparently Howard Moon would agree.
Great discussion. Saw the band many times between 1972 and 1982. The records are great. But the band live in performance was transcendent. Very, very special. Favorites? Tough call. But the two I listen to most frequently are and 'Live in Tokyo' and '8:30'. Live was best with WR. And post-WR as it turns out. Take 'Brown Street' for example...th-cam.com/video/mP4NvVRqAC4/w-d-xo.html
Black Market is brilliant. ... My brother turned me on to WR with Tailspinning and I Sing but, after Heavy Weather, he wasn't as interested in the group. ... I became less interested after Mr. Gone. ... 8:30 could've used a better remastering.
But to me the greatest fusion group wasn't electronic it was a real fusion.. The fusion of ideas and influences plus Ralph wrote often challenging changes for improvisation and that band was Oregon,
"Who's on drums..." - yup. Abbott and Costello oh nevermind. This is funnier than you think.
Shorter
Brilliant!!! Great overview i would put.them in the same order ! ,im made up you like possession it could be my favourite ,can't get.into.Domino theory or this is this as much I used to cycle to Reaction Records.in New.Brighton in the 80s coz they had a second-hand jazz and fusion section I'd pay two of three quid for inner mounting flame or Romantic.Warrior or headnunters , they had Everything ,Stanly Clarke ,the Crusaders, and great fusion compilations like "Fuse one"! I bought the whole shop over ten years also got to buy the jazz section in my local.record.library when they changed to C.D, loving your amazing channel man, and in digging out all my fusion albums again! cheers ,Max,.Wirral 😎
There was a shop in Woverhampton like that...all I can remember is the albums I didn't but that I should have!