One glaring omission regarding Wayne Shorter: Beginning in 1959, Wayne was a member of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers for FOUR years. During that period, Wayne was the Musical Director and composed several tunes for the band, which gained him significant international recognition.
I was actually commissioned to write , sing and record on an album that had the original Weather Report rhythm section, Alphonse Mouzon, Miroslav and Dom Um Romeo on it. I was 18! The project fell through but you better believe I was flying high for months preparing to record with the gods of music!
Andy, splendid review. I was fortunate to see Weather Report open up for Mahavishnu at Cornell University in late ’73 (Vitous was on bass). My second Mahavishnu show after seeing them a couple years earlier open for It’s a Beautiful Day at Carnegie Hall. Here is an interesting Jaco/Zawinul story. My best friend growing up, a jazz guitarist, was in the same class and would jam with Metheny, Jaco, Lyle Mays, Hiram Bullock, Steve Morse et al at Miami Univ music school. Tim was hanging out with Metheny in the dorm (their rooms were next to each other). This would have been in ’73 or early ’74, because Tim left to study with Gary Burton at Berklee. Late that night Jaco burst in, very stoned or drunk, having just seen Weather Report. Jaco told them he managed to track Zawinul down after the concert and told him he was the “best bassist in the world.” Zawinul replied, f**k off and get out of here.
Wow...what an environment, in Miami! Loads of top-notch musicians there! I saw (in Boston): Pat Metheny, Bob Moses and Jaco Pastorius... for ONE DOLLAR (in 1975). Superb! Every guitarist and their brother was there, including a hoard of Berklee students. I met & talked to Jaco; he seemed moody at first, concerned about his chops, but then, he lightened up, realizing out loud that his experience playing out a lot was valuable, and that he wasn't at a loss for learning, continuously. It was cool to witness his mood, lifted. BEST jazz power trio I've ever witnessed. I attended Berklee from 1972 to '74. In 1975, Pat was teaching students...ALL OLDER than HIM(!) Man, those were the days...
As ever Andy we completely agree on the assessment of those early albums. As you said in another video music is not subjective. People confuse that with taste. As an artist working in the dark a lot of the time whilst listening to music I had to have my regular fix of Weather Report. They were a fantastic band unlike any other. Despite the fact I played and was obsessed with fusion guitarists. They went somewhere all my favourite guitar based bands did not go. It is as though you lived through those years listening to their amazing musicianship & style develop. And you appear to have made your commentary all on the school run. Congratulations.
I didn’t know that Jaco joined Weather Report that early in 1973 They also had a bassist Alphonso Johnson before him. I thought he joined by the time they recorded Black Market and Heavy Weather albums. Jaco’s solo album didn’t debut until 1976
😂 But fortunately, no Weather Report drummers ever spontaneously combusted. But I saw WR many times and some of them got pretty close! As did everyone else in the band.
I saw Weather Report just after I turned 21. They played a small club, where there was a 2-drink minimum. We had a "head shop" on Broadway, not THE Broadway, it was just the name of the street, and we used to play Weather Report. We also played Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band. A lot of stoned people used to stop by. Most didn't buy anything, other than rolling papers. Andy, your video here has provided me with information I never knew. Thanks as always.
Thanks for this Andy! I'm inclined to agree with you that - from Mysterious Traveler through Black Market - Weather Report were at their very best (although I would also put Sweetnighter into that grouping as well - I mean..."Boogie Woogie Waltz"? C'mon!). Looking forward the "The Jaco Years", part 2.
Outstanding video, Andy. I grew up listening to these early records. One outstanding track was on the “I Sing The Body Electric.” It is the song “Directions’. Eric Gravatt’s playing on that track was absolutely incredible.
This is absolutely brilliant, mate, thank you! Hearing a story like this from a musician's perspective is priceless because you're just recounting music history here, rather than creating needless drama, which is something that documentary filmmaking tends to be riddled with. I always want to say, 'Just tell the fucking story!' Well, you've certainly done that beautifully and I love it. Cheers!
I feel the Weather report story deserves attention and I am pleased to come across this loverly short documentary.:-) From my end only one thing though, I knew Josef for many years and I trust his beloved family and fellow musicians would have much more to say here, but this conception that he was a "dictatorial" band leader and Wayne a silent genius that followed along is not correct. He and Wayne, sometimes over a cognac, would always decide together about "hiring and firing" but Josef was always the messenger. About the Weather Report years he used to say "people have opinions and say, it was about this or that, I say Weather Report was always about the groove!"
Thanks Andy for this comprehensive report of Weather Report. I bought Heavy Weather when it first came out and left me with a profound impression of what a modern ensemble could be in terms of composition and improvisation. It was a big sound, a fresh sound with every instrument delineated while being a part of the whole. A milestone recording!
Thank you very much Andy! Weather Report is my favourite band. I've been at two concerts in Napoli and in Pompeii, I live in Napoli Italy. Their sound is the sound of my life,
I bought the album because of the cover. Im a guitar player and was into Neil Young sort of music. So I put on ISTBE and it literally frightened me! They had a highly treble nylon string guitarist that tore me up...
The term "ahead of its time" really means: truly in the PRESENT MOMENT. But: I understand that feeling, and I've certainly used that expression, profusely. The FEELING is legitimate! So...I AGREE. 👌
A great video essay. Loved the use of Capoeira video when it came in there . Slight error when you said that Wayne Shorter decided to side with Wayne Shorter. I think you meant he sided with Joe Zawinul. I was and am a huge Weather Report head. I saw them many times throughout the 70’s and started around 1973 with the Dom Um Romão/Eric Gravatt/Miroslav Vituous and continued to see them live up to and including the final band with Jaco, after they re-added a percussionist, Robert Thomas Jr, along with Peter Erskine (for me, the best WRs always had a percussionist). While I loved almost every version live (did not really enjoy the 8:30 quartet band as much), that first much more improvisational jamming WR has a special place in my heart. And seeing and hearing them live, really was a kind of psychedelic experience for me. I did not ever use any other psychedelics other than cannabis, but either stoned or or stoned-cold sober, a WR concert was like a religious experience for me (even more than The Mahavishnu Orchestra concerts were. And they were!). There was something so magical about those shows. Like almost anything could happen.
As someone completely bombarded and occasionally confused by all the great musicians in the 70s, it's easy to miss the nuances of past music that you may have forgotten in the cornucopia available at the time. I remembered that I liked the Pastorius contributions to WP, but this helped put the whole creative process in context.
Great job, Andy! Thanks for "promoting" the early WR, which I absolutely love and prefer over the more easy-listening "Jaco/Erskine" period. And as a drummer, I believe Alphonse Mouzon and Eric Gravatt were superb.
Great, thanks. It puts the early years in perspective for me. I saw them in mid 1977 on the Heavy Weather tour at 16 years old. It was the Heavy Weather line up without Badrena. I’ve always seen them with a percussionist, so not sure why they didn’t have one that night. But it’s interesting that there was no percussionist again until Night Passage.
Nice one Andy, I know nothing about Weather Report (other than having at least heard 'of' them), and this was fascinating. I don't know if I'm ready to begin my journey into Jazz Fusion yet (I'm still a simple northern lad at heart) but regardless of genre I usually find any music documentary interesting and illuminating, and this was certainly both. Thank you! Hope you're on the mend now.
Cheers Andy. I had the privilege of seeing WR in London in 83'.By then Jaco had been replaced by Victor Bailey with Omar Hakim on drums. Incredible gig quite mind-blowing. As far as I know The Southbank Show recorded it for a documentary. Thank you.
Andy, fellow Andy here. No one has ever mentioned the heavy Black gospel influence in WR music. You mentioned " muddy ". I only saw WR once in 1977 in Florida. The mix was awful just pure mud! I couldn't hear anything. Thank God the concert had every member doing a solo performance. When Jaco came on my head exploded. I couldn't begin to fathom what he did. I went home after the show and picked up my Fender Jazz Bass and was just bewildered. About a year later I got a job in South Florida managing a music store and I ran into a guy I met in college. Turns out Jaco tutored him and he showed me lots of Jaco's tricks and licks. Alphonso Johnson was a much superior bassist concerning his role as a group player. Even Victor Bailey said " Jaco was a lick player ".
A fascinating tour d'horizon of the early Weather Report years. Looking forward to part 2. While I never saw WR live, I did make it to a couple of gigs of the Zawinul Syndicate in the early 2000s, which was also spectacular -- incredibly funky and eclectic.
I first feasted my ears on I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC, in 1971. The first two numbers I loved: UNKNOWN SOLDIER, and the medley with VERTICAL INVADER, T.H., and DR. HONORIS CAUSA. A bit later, (though the album was recorded earlier) from their first album WEATHER REPORT, I was intrigued by MILKY WAY: with "clouds" of sustained sound, and somewhere in the middle, Wayne utters one staccato note(!) It made sense to me...our galaxy, and the one note was probably the life of Earth, born and dying, instantly...that's how I interpreted it, fwiw. A couple years later, SWEETNIGHTER came out. I really loved BOOGIE WOOGIE WALTZ, which produced an interesting "funk waltz" feel. WOW. Of course, 1977 produced the classic HEAVY WEATHER, with Jaco Pastorius included into the band...BIRDLAND was the hit! But...the whole album was stellar. Weather Report was Superbly creative. My favorite artists of the last century included THIS band, Miles Davis, Jimmy Hendrix, and Frank Zappa. Well done, Andy!
I've always understood that it was Joe Zawinul & Wayne. Later, in the 80s and 90s, Miroslav played a lot at New England Conservatory, often with Tom McKinley, another superb jazz pianist. He was a brilliant bassist, no doubt, regardless of what he uttered.
Yes very cool! Saw them in 1971 at the Music Inn in Lenox Mass on the backside of Tanglewood! Vitous and Mouzon and Dom UmRomeo. Saw them again in 1977 with Jaco at SantaMonica Civic after the big hit Heavy Weather! Anyway such an important band! Thanks looking forward to part 2!
Very nice and interesting video I saw them three times. The first time late into the Body electric tour, with Vitous and Gravatt, playing a very muscular but free set pretty close to the Live in Tokyo sound. The second time I saw them was at the Philadelphia Academy of Music, the Classical music venue, on the Sweetnighter tour. Greg Errico was the drummer, but there were definitely two trap kits on stage, and either Romao or, another guy hopped on and they charged through really long versions of 125th Street Congress and Boogie Woogie Waltz, which kept dropping down to a whisper and then building to a roar on the main head. The documentary evidence on-line does not mention another drummer sitting in, but that is how I remember it. Some of my more Jazz-centric acquaintances hated it. Opening the show was Chuck Mangione with Alphonso Johnson on bass. The Al Johnson albums are also my favorites, although I rate Talespinnin' the best because of the bubbling interplay in the bass/drums. Although you think Mysterious Traveller is muddy, I think it has a nice open feel, while Black Market is a little congested and dense for me. The time I saw them with Pastorious was a bit of a letdown. A little too gimmicky and the attempt at capturing the slickness of the Heavy Weather sound came off a little chintzy, as opposed to the earliest band that improved on the sound of the records with a physicality.
About your last paragraph...I kinda understand. The first time I saw Jaco, he did a SUPERB solo a la Jimmy Hendrix, but it was cogent, and not overly muddy. But the second time, I too was a bit more disappointed. He just lacked the continuity he had, formerly. That was in the '80s, and I think he was starting to succumb to drugs & alcohol more. TRAGIC, how he died, too! 🙁
What a great overview of the early days of WR.Looking forward to chapter 2.I agree that ,,Tale spinning ´´is an underrated album and a link to what WR turned out to become.Electric jazz did struggle to be rated as ,,the real thing´´but Weather Report did change that conFusion
Excellent deep dive, Andy! I learned a lot from you about the superstar jazz band and I I knew nothing of their origins so thank you for that man great ! !look forward to the part two on them.
I had all of the weather reports vinyls . I lost all my vinyls tragic. Replace them with CDs Your video did fill in a lot of background info as to how I thought about the music . I would definitely like to hear more
i just have to say that I was already playing this type of music in the late 60´s and there were many others doing it. It grew initially out of funk and soul. Miles and and these other cats just picked up on what was going down in the streets at the time. They had the industry contacts. But believe me they did not invent this. Best Vibes!!!
Early RTF was more acoustic but not abstract and avant-garde. I think Chick said Circle was that way and RTF was formed in part to get away from that style. Herbie Hancock's pre "Headhunters" albums are likewise more experimental and abstract. The move to incorporate funk was deliberate. Ironically, Miles tried to do this with "On the Corner" but it took decades for people to reevaluate that album.
Great stuff Andy just great stuff! Unknown soldier was just viscerally brilliant and stunned me listening to it as a Young Man. Is it still one of my all-time favorite pieces an explorer such emotional pallets in depth.
Very nice, very informative! Looking forward to part 2. Sweetnighter got me hooked, still my favorite. As to the new format: I think it worked very well. A nice addition to your palette of styles.
If ever I had any personal problems or worries I’d slip on my headphones, turn off the lights and concentrate on the incredible music going on around my head listening to Black Market.
Kudos for noting Roger Powell's (T. Rundgren's Utopia) credit on "I Sing the Body Electric" Another connection according to John "Willie" Wilcox (Utopia drummer) is Jaco Pastorious in the early 80's possibly joining Utopia.
Oh yes, a life-defining experience. I was lucky to hear them live at least once. Then Zawinul performed live in my hometown just a couple of months before he passed away. The same with Miles Davis. If I ever wished to be born ten years earlier, the music of the 70s could be a reason. I was just a child then, probably conceived around the same time Weather Report was formed. I have to ask my mother (86) what music she listened to during pregnancy.
Excellent, Andy!! Aural, visual and informative. You have a few slips transposing Zawinul for Shorter and vice versa, but that can be fixed maybe, and it was understood. Sorry to point out a minor error. As said in Texas, “You done good here, son!”
I saw them in a large, low ceilinged bar in the Cleveland industrial flats, near the burning Cuyahoga river, in the early 1970s. I could barely see them, and they were so loud it made me sick... and I like good death metal. Saw them a few years later in a proper concert hall.
A band I've never explored for one reason or another. Thanks, that was interesting. Fwiw Embryo were doing Jazz Funk fusion in 1972. They probably should get some credit. Miles Davis gave them some.
I tend to play the middle period albums the most from "Sweetnighter" through "Heavy Weather" although there are later gems like "Night Passage" and decades later the compilation of live recordings. "Boogie Woogie Waltz" has the funkiest Rhodes playing I've ever heard. The split with Miroslav was bitter since he was an equal co-founder of the band. Hard to pick a favorite album. Perhaps "Black Market". One of the reasons Weather Report sounds unique is Zawinul said he wiped all presets from keyboards and programmed his own sounds.
Great, in-depth history! At 15, I bought Mysterious Traveler, which at the time, was a little too unstructured for me. I need to listen to Sweetnighter. Also, I've come to really appreciate Alphonso Johnson in WR.
Great video, my favourite band of all time along with Return To Forever! I love all the eras of WR. I have more of an affinity for the funky pre Jaco period with Alphonso Johnson. I get that many people go for the Jaco Pastorious era as he was so influential. Nonetheless, all of their albums are great.
The Jaco tribute album Multiquarium with Birelli Lagrene on bass is excellent! Peter Erskine says a few words between tracks. Lagrene’s playing is the nearest thing to Jaco I’ve heard! They were good friends.
Eye-ear-toe say it with me EYE-EAR-TOE😅 great stuff Andy. Mostly Miroslav is a composer not a funk bassist. He is a phenomenal upright jazz player! I saw him play solo, unreal! Chester came back from lunch. Alex Acuna was on the drumset and they told him Alex had his job now.
Yup. You GOT the memo! I saw Airto with Flora Purim, and that's how he explained pronouncing his name. A good lesson(!) And man...Airto Moreira, on a tambourine, played an amazing solo, squeezing all SORTS of sounds & rhythmic idiosyncracies, within ~a five-minute SOLO. < whew > 🙄
Nice Jazz Rockumentary, Andy! I love Weather Report. I agree that the debut was a bit weak. I think the version of Orange Lady on it is especially underwhelming. Then Live in Tokyo completely kicked the door down. I mostly love the rest of their 70's output.
cheers Andy... re Miroslav, don't forget 'Magical Shepherd', proper funky ass 70s album with Gadson on drums ... he isn't all ECM and abstract/avant garde. And his pre- and post-WR straight ahead playing with Corea Haynes and co... he does it all doesn't he, top level.
5:10 Andy - there is a problem: This wasn't confusing for me, as I have been listening and studying the music of Shorter and Zawinul (not just WR...) for 30+ years. But those who are just now discovering their music might be confused by your mixing up of Shorter for Zawinul. And, unfortunately, the exact same problem occurs at 24:00 where, once again, you mix up Zawinul and Shorter ("Wayne sided with Wayne Shorter ...) It might be worth the effort to do an edit because otherwise, this is an excellent document and probably the only video on the internet that treats this important subject in such detail....
One glaring omission regarding Wayne Shorter: Beginning in 1959, Wayne was a member of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers for FOUR years.
During that period, Wayne was the Musical Director and composed several tunes for the band, which gained him significant international recognition.
And he played along side Lee Morgen
THANKS for the info! I didn't realize that.
Don't forget his classic run of solo albums for Blue Note Records. Incredible compositions.
Wow, you’re so cool for knowing
that. What did you do in 1959?
@@ramos94610 We don't know what you're insinuating, but all serious jazz fans know those facts.
I was actually commissioned to write , sing and record on an album that had the original Weather Report rhythm section, Alphonse Mouzon, Miroslav and Dom Um Romeo on it. I was 18! The project fell through but you better believe I was flying high for months preparing to record with the gods of music!
Wow. That is pretty damn cool! Would love to have heard that album. Thanks for sharing that.
COOL! I'll bet you were...!😎
Cool story bro.
Andy, splendid review. I was fortunate to see Weather Report open up for Mahavishnu at Cornell University in late ’73 (Vitous was on bass). My second Mahavishnu show after seeing them a couple years earlier open for It’s a Beautiful Day at Carnegie Hall. Here is an interesting Jaco/Zawinul story. My best friend growing up, a jazz guitarist, was in the same class and would jam with Metheny, Jaco, Lyle Mays, Hiram Bullock, Steve Morse et al at Miami Univ music school. Tim was hanging out with Metheny in the dorm (their rooms were next to each other). This would have been in ’73 or early ’74, because Tim left to study with Gary Burton at Berklee. Late that night Jaco burst in, very stoned or drunk, having just seen Weather Report. Jaco told them he managed to track Zawinul down after the concert and told him he was the “best bassist in the world.” Zawinul replied, f**k off and get out of here.
Wow...what an environment, in Miami! Loads of top-notch musicians there! I saw (in Boston): Pat Metheny, Bob Moses and Jaco Pastorius... for ONE DOLLAR (in 1975). Superb! Every guitarist and their brother was there, including a hoard of Berklee students. I met & talked to Jaco; he seemed moody at first, concerned about his chops, but then, he lightened up, realizing out loud that his experience playing out a lot was valuable, and that he wasn't at a loss for learning, continuously. It was cool to witness his mood, lifted. BEST jazz power trio I've ever witnessed. I attended Berklee from 1972 to '74. In 1975, Pat was teaching students...ALL OLDER than HIM(!) Man, those were the days...
I have heard interviews with Joe telling that story about Jaco.
As ever Andy we completely agree on the assessment of those early albums.
As you said in another video music is not subjective. People confuse that with taste.
As an artist working in the dark a lot of the time whilst listening to music I had to have my regular fix of Weather Report.
They were a fantastic band unlike any other.
Despite the fact I played and was obsessed with fusion guitarists.
They went somewhere all my favourite guitar based bands did not go.
It is as though you lived through those years listening to their amazing musicianship & style develop.
And you appear to have made your commentary all on the school run. Congratulations.
I didn’t know that Jaco joined Weather Report that early in 1973 They also had a bassist Alphonso Johnson before him. I thought he joined by the time they recorded Black Market and Heavy Weather albums. Jaco’s solo album didn’t debut until 1976
This tale of drummers reminds me of Spinal Tap!
😂 But fortunately, no Weather Report drummers ever spontaneously combusted. But I saw WR many times and some of them got pretty close! As did everyone else in the band.
I saw Weather Report just after I turned 21. They played a small club, where there was a 2-drink minimum.
We had a "head shop" on Broadway, not THE Broadway, it was just the name of the street, and we used to play Weather Report. We also played Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band. A lot of stoned people used to stop by. Most didn't buy anything, other than rolling papers.
Andy, your video here has provided me with information I never knew. Thanks as always.
Thanks for this Andy! I'm inclined to agree with you that - from Mysterious Traveler through Black Market - Weather Report were at their very best (although I would also put Sweetnighter into that grouping as well - I mean..."Boogie Woogie Waltz"? C'mon!). Looking forward the "The Jaco Years", part 2.
Yeah, I LOVED the Boogie Woogie Waltz groove.... 👌
Boogie Woogie Waltz is pure magic . Does it get any better than that?
Outstanding video, Andy. I grew up listening to these early records. One outstanding track was on the “I Sing The Body Electric.” It is the song “Directions’. Eric Gravatt’s playing on that track was absolutely incredible.
hell yea ricardo!! i think thats their best record
This is absolutely brilliant, mate, thank you! Hearing a story like this from a musician's perspective is priceless because you're just recounting music history here, rather than creating needless drama, which is something that documentary filmmaking tends to be riddled with. I always want to say, 'Just tell the fucking story!' Well, you've certainly done that beautifully and I love it. Cheers!
I feel the Weather report story deserves attention and I am pleased to come across this loverly short documentary.:-)
From my end only one thing though, I knew Josef for many years and I trust his beloved family and fellow musicians would have much more to say here, but this conception that he was a "dictatorial" band leader and Wayne a silent genius that followed along is not correct. He and Wayne, sometimes over a cognac, would always decide together about "hiring and firing" but Josef was always the messenger. About the Weather Report years he used to say "people have opinions and say, it was about this or that, I say Weather Report was always about the groove!"
Astounding exploration! Can't wait for part 2!
Thanks Andy for this comprehensive report of Weather Report. I bought Heavy Weather when it first came out and left me with a profound impression of what a modern ensemble could be in terms of composition and improvisation. It was a big sound, a fresh sound with every instrument delineated while being a part of the whole. A milestone recording!
Miroslav!!!
Best Band Ever! Can´t wait for this one !
Yes. Most creative and explorative (and "atmospheric", hence the name) band, indeed!
Absolutely brilliant! A touchstone band for me and rarely discussed. Thankyou!
Oh yeah - I enjoyed that immensely
Thank you very much Andy! Weather Report is my favourite band. I've been at two concerts in Napoli and in Pompeii, I live in Napoli Italy. Their sound is the sound of my life,
Very interesting episode. I hadn’t envisioned Joe Zawinul’s early life being so influenced by the traumas of WW2.
Their album "I Sing The Body Electric" was ahead of time.
I bought the album because of the cover. Im a guitar player and was into Neil Young sort of music. So I put on ISTBE and it literally frightened me! They had a highly treble nylon string guitarist that tore me up...
The term "ahead of its time" really means: truly in the PRESENT MOMENT. But: I understand that feeling, and I've certainly used that expression, profusely. The FEELING is legitimate! So...I AGREE. 👌
looking forward to part 2 -- I saw WR several times from 1975-1983. Loved their music.
NEVER saw Hendrix or FZ live 😕, but I DID see MILES and WEATHER REPORT...a few times(!) 😎
Love WR... let's not forget Wayne Shorter's time with the Jazz Messengers post Horace Silver.
I am wondering if that was an oversight by Andy or if indeed it was intentional on his part ...
Wow!! I really love these documentaries..
A great video essay. Loved the use of Capoeira video when it came in there .
Slight error when you said that Wayne Shorter decided to side with Wayne Shorter. I think you meant he sided with Joe Zawinul.
I was and am a huge Weather Report head. I saw them many times throughout the 70’s and started around 1973 with the Dom Um Romão/Eric Gravatt/Miroslav Vituous and continued to see them live up to and including the final band with Jaco, after they re-added a percussionist, Robert Thomas Jr, along with Peter Erskine (for me, the best WRs always had a percussionist).
While I loved almost every version live (did not really enjoy the 8:30 quartet band as much), that first much more improvisational jamming WR has a special place in my heart. And seeing and hearing them live, really was a kind of psychedelic experience for me. I did not ever use any other psychedelics other than cannabis, but either stoned or or stoned-cold sober, a WR concert was like a religious experience for me (even more than The Mahavishnu Orchestra concerts were. And they were!). There was something so magical about those shows. Like almost anything could happen.
LOL, glad Wayne Shorter sided with himself(!) That would WORK...! 😁🤣😂😄
Listening in Canada to Canon Ball as I type this. Smoooooooth, baby!!
Thanks for the video!
As someone completely bombarded and occasionally confused by all the great musicians in the 70s, it's easy to miss the nuances of past music that you may have forgotten in the cornucopia available at the time. I remembered that I liked the Pastorius contributions to WP, but this helped put the whole creative process in context.
The most famous car scene in the history of Jazz Fusion music documentaries on TH-cam. Hi from Vienna!
Great job, Andy! Thanks for "promoting" the early WR, which I absolutely love and prefer over the more easy-listening "Jaco/Erskine" period. And as a drummer, I believe Alphonse Mouzon and Eric Gravatt were superb.
Great, thanks. It puts the early years in perspective for me. I saw them in mid 1977 on the Heavy Weather tour at 16 years old. It was the Heavy Weather line up without Badrena. I’ve always seen them with a percussionist, so not sure why they didn’t have one that night. But it’s interesting that there was no percussionist again until Night Passage.
Nice one Andy, I know nothing about Weather Report (other than having at least heard 'of' them), and this was fascinating. I don't know if I'm ready to begin my journey into Jazz Fusion yet (I'm still a simple northern lad at heart) but regardless of genre I usually find any music documentary interesting and illuminating, and this was certainly both. Thank you!
Hope you're on the mend now.
This was great, Andy.
Can’t wait for part 2
Bring on Part Two!! ☝️😎
Part 2 please, thanks
Cheers Andy.
I had the privilege of seeing WR in London in 83'.By then Jaco had been replaced by Victor Bailey with Omar Hakim on drums.
Incredible gig quite mind-blowing. As far as I know The Southbank Show recorded it for a documentary.
Thank you.
Excellent coverage. I hope to see a Part 2 coming soon.
I was living on the treasure coast of Florida when Weather Report was playing in Miami. The bassist was Jaco. I smiled the whole concert...
I’ve seen 4 lineups in WR since Chester and Alphonso. The awesome foursome is my favourite with Bobby Thomas jr on percussion!
Andy, fellow Andy here. No one has ever mentioned the heavy Black gospel influence in WR music. You mentioned " muddy ". I only saw WR once in 1977 in Florida. The mix was awful just pure mud! I couldn't hear anything. Thank God the concert had every member doing a solo performance. When Jaco came on my head exploded. I couldn't begin to fathom what he did. I went home after the show and picked up my Fender Jazz Bass and was just bewildered. About a year later I got a job in South Florida managing a music store and I ran into a guy I met in college. Turns out Jaco tutored him and he showed me lots of Jaco's tricks and licks. Alphonso Johnson was a much superior bassist concerning his role as a group player. Even Victor Bailey said " Jaco was a lick player ".
Thank you for putting this history together, Andy. So much that I never knew, not to mention all the early albums you've reference to be tracked down!
A fascinating tour d'horizon of the early Weather Report years. Looking forward to part 2. While I never saw WR live, I did make it to a couple of gigs of the Zawinul Syndicate in the early 2000s, which was also spectacular -- incredibly funky and eclectic.
The car lectures are awesome. Others would need a teleprompter for such elaborated explanations. You certainly know your stuff. Great 👍
I first feasted my ears on I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC, in 1971. The first two numbers I loved: UNKNOWN SOLDIER, and the medley with VERTICAL INVADER, T.H., and DR. HONORIS CAUSA. A bit later, (though the album was recorded earlier) from their first album WEATHER REPORT, I was intrigued by MILKY WAY: with "clouds" of sustained sound, and somewhere in the middle, Wayne utters one staccato note(!) It made sense to me...our galaxy, and the one note was probably the life of Earth, born and dying, instantly...that's how I interpreted it, fwiw. A couple years later, SWEETNIGHTER came out. I really loved BOOGIE WOOGIE WALTZ, which produced an interesting "funk waltz" feel. WOW. Of course, 1977 produced the classic HEAVY WEATHER, with Jaco Pastorius included into the band...BIRDLAND was the hit! But...the whole album was stellar. Weather Report was Superbly creative. My favorite artists of the last century included THIS band, Miles Davis, Jimmy Hendrix, and Frank Zappa. Well done, Andy!
...remiss NOT to mention John McLaughlin !! 'scuse my "motor-mouth" excess verbosity, please ....
Thorouroghly enjoyed this focus of The Weather Report Band. I'd also love to hear the part 2, and The Jaco Years, Please and Thank You. 🤣
This was fabulous. This was a band I avoided in my youth…. Because there was no guitarist!!! I know, what was I thinking? Off to play 8.30 now - Phil
Wow, thanks for reminding me: 8:30 - a TERRIFIC live performance.
This brought me back to the early years of jazz-fusion radio in NYC.
Brilliant. Yes, part 2, the Jaco Years indeed!
Miroslav Vitous claims that he and Shorter were the original founders of Weather Report . I heard that from his own mouth standing next to him.
I've always understood that it was Joe Zawinul & Wayne. Later, in the 80s and 90s, Miroslav played a lot at New England Conservatory, often with Tom McKinley, another superb jazz pianist. He was a brilliant bassist, no doubt, regardless of what he uttered.
Yes very cool! Saw them in 1971 at the Music Inn in Lenox Mass on the backside of Tanglewood! Vitous and Mouzon and Dom UmRomeo. Saw them again in 1977 with Jaco at SantaMonica Civic after the big hit Heavy Weather! Anyway such an important band! Thanks looking forward to part 2!
Very nice and interesting video
I saw them three times. The first time late into the Body electric tour, with Vitous and Gravatt, playing a very muscular but free set pretty close to the Live in Tokyo sound.
The second time I saw them was at the Philadelphia Academy of Music, the Classical music venue, on the Sweetnighter tour. Greg Errico was the drummer, but there were definitely two trap kits on stage, and either Romao or, another guy hopped on and they charged through really long versions of 125th Street Congress and Boogie Woogie Waltz, which kept dropping down to a whisper and then building to a roar on the main head. The documentary evidence on-line does not mention another drummer sitting in, but that is how I remember it. Some of my more Jazz-centric acquaintances hated it. Opening the show was Chuck Mangione with Alphonso Johnson on bass. The Al Johnson albums are also my favorites, although I rate Talespinnin' the best because of the bubbling interplay in the bass/drums. Although you think Mysterious Traveller is muddy, I think it has a nice open feel, while Black Market is a little congested and dense for me.
The time I saw them with Pastorious was a bit of a letdown. A little too gimmicky and the attempt at capturing the slickness of the Heavy Weather sound came off a little chintzy, as opposed to the earliest band that improved on the sound of the records with a physicality.
About your last paragraph...I kinda understand. The first time I saw Jaco, he did a SUPERB solo a la Jimmy Hendrix, but it was cogent, and not overly muddy. But the second time, I too was a bit more disappointed. He just lacked the continuity he had, formerly. That was in the '80s, and I think he was starting to succumb to drugs & alcohol more. TRAGIC, how he died, too! 🙁
Thanks for all you do.
What a great overview of the early days of WR.Looking forward to chapter 2.I agree that ,,Tale spinning ´´is an underrated album and a link to what WR turned out to become.Electric jazz did struggle to be rated as ,,the real thing´´but Weather Report did change that conFusion
Sweetnighter being a great masterpiece is about all I can agree with here.
EXCELLENT! Thanks, Andy.
Great video! Looking forward to Part 2.
Excellent deep dive, Andy! I learned a lot from you about the superstar jazz band and I I knew nothing of their origins so thank you for that man great ! !look forward to the part two on them.
I had all of the weather reports vinyls . I lost all my vinyls tragic. Replace them with CDs
Your video did fill in a lot of background info as to how I thought about the music . I would definitely like to hear more
i just have to say that I was already playing this type of music in the late 60´s and there were many others doing it. It grew initially out of funk and soul. Miles and and these other cats just picked up on what was going down in the streets at the time. They had the industry contacts. But believe me they did not invent this. Best Vibes!!!
Return to Forever made a similar shift from Light As a Feather to Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy.
Exactly!
I loved BOTH those albums. Now, Chick was a $cientologist...but MORE important, he was a PIANIST(!)
Early RTF was more acoustic but not abstract and avant-garde. I think Chick said Circle was that way and RTF was formed in part to get away from that style.
Herbie Hancock's pre "Headhunters" albums are likewise more experimental and abstract. The move to incorporate funk was deliberate.
Ironically, Miles tried to do this with "On the Corner" but it took decades for people to reevaluate that album.
Great stuff Andy just great stuff! Unknown soldier was just viscerally brilliant and stunned me listening to it as a Young Man. Is it still one of my all-time favorite pieces an explorer such emotional pallets in depth.
As it is for me. Even after listening to it so many times since it was first released, it still gives me 'la chair de poule' every time I hear it...
A documentarian, in addition to all of your other gifts and talents. Well done...please move forward with part 2.
Very nice, very informative! Looking forward to part 2. Sweetnighter got me hooked, still my favorite. As to the new format: I think it worked very well. A nice addition to your palette of styles.
My earliest record of Weather Report is Mysterious Traveller, I found this very interesting and I want to go back and find these earlier albums.
We really have to hammer down when the Chapman Stick appeared in WR concerts and albums. Lends support to my Alphonso-era-was-the-most-prog-era theory
Thanks for the great work, a pleasure to watch.
Fantastic. More.
Amazing video - Andy you are the best
If ever I had any personal problems or worries I’d slip on my headphones, turn off the lights and concentrate on the incredible music going on around my head listening to Black Market.
great start
Brother!!! YOU SRE THE BEST!!!! Deep appreciation
I saw Weather Report live and Alphonso played the Stick. Weather Report opened for Earth Wind and Fire
Kudos for noting Roger Powell's (T. Rundgren's Utopia) credit on "I Sing the Body Electric" Another connection according to John "Willie" Wilcox (Utopia drummer) is Jaco Pastorious in the early 80's possibly joining Utopia.
enjoyed this and want to hear more about Weather Report
Hi Andy, I was fortunate to see WR with JP at the Berkeley Community Theatre. What a show!
Thanks Andy !..I didn't know alot of this history..well done *
in my world “I Sing…” is by far their best, each to his own I suppose…
I heartily AGREE, but...their evolution was amazing, too. I value their first two albums...underrated(!)
Enjoyable & a trip down memory lane. Saw WR in 1975.. Chicago. Michael Urbaniak...opened.
I enjoyed this and I'd like to hear a little bit more about this incredible band
Thanks for this - very informative!
Oh yes, a life-defining experience. I was lucky to hear them live at least once. Then Zawinul performed live in my hometown just a couple of months before he passed away. The same with Miles Davis. If I ever wished to be born ten years earlier, the music of the 70s could be a reason. I was just a child then, probably conceived around the same time Weather Report was formed. I have to ask my mother (86) what music she listened to during pregnancy.
Excellent, Andy!! Aural, visual and informative. You have a few slips transposing Zawinul for Shorter and vice versa, but that can be fixed maybe, and it was understood. Sorry to point out a minor error. As said in Texas, “You done good here, son!”
Awesome video have a great day Andy ❤😊
Loved it Andy, part 2 please.
I saw them live for the first time at the National Theatre in San Jose, Costa Rica, w Romao, Gravatt and Vitous, 1972.
Classical pianist Friedrich Gulda was the opening act
I saw them in a large, low ceilinged bar in the Cleveland industrial flats, near the burning Cuyahoga river, in the early 1970s. I could barely see them, and they were so loud it made me sick... and I like good death metal. Saw them a few years later in a proper concert hall.
An important video. Glad you made it.
Nobody ever talks about Jungle Book from Mysterious Traveler.
My favorite track.
JT
Great video.
Thanks for the visit
Part 2 Please. 🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷
A band I've never explored for one reason or another. Thanks, that was interesting.
Fwiw Embryo were doing Jazz Funk fusion in 1972. They probably should get some credit. Miles Davis gave them some.
Keep up the Good Work!
I tend to play the middle period albums the most from "Sweetnighter" through "Heavy Weather" although there are later gems like "Night Passage" and decades later the compilation of live recordings.
"Boogie Woogie Waltz" has the funkiest Rhodes playing I've ever heard.
The split with Miroslav was bitter since he was an equal co-founder of the band.
Hard to pick a favorite album. Perhaps "Black Market".
One of the reasons Weather Report sounds unique is Zawinul said he wiped all presets from keyboards and programmed his own sounds.
Interesting comments at the conclusion 👍🏽
Very good …
Yes, more please on this topic.
Looking forward to the Jaco Years (weather) update.
Great, in-depth history! At 15, I bought Mysterious Traveler, which at the time, was a little too unstructured for me. I need to listen to Sweetnighter. Also, I've come to really appreciate Alphonso Johnson in WR.
Hi Andy Eric Gravatt was such an influence we all did the vertical ride cymbal for a while
Great video, my favourite band of all time along with Return To Forever! I love all the eras of WR. I have more of an affinity for the funky pre Jaco period with Alphonso Johnson. I get that many people go for the Jaco Pastorious era as he was so influential. Nonetheless, all of their albums are great.
The Jaco tribute album Multiquarium with Birelli Lagrene on bass is excellent!
Peter Erskine says a few words between tracks. Lagrene’s playing is the nearest thing to Jaco I’ve heard! They were good friends.
Eye-ear-toe say it with me EYE-EAR-TOE😅 great stuff Andy. Mostly Miroslav is a composer not a funk bassist. He is a phenomenal upright jazz player! I saw him play solo, unreal! Chester came back from lunch. Alex Acuna was on the drumset and they told him Alex had his job now.
Yup. You GOT the memo! I saw Airto with Flora Purim, and that's how he explained pronouncing his name. A good lesson(!) And man...Airto Moreira, on a tambourine, played an amazing solo, squeezing all SORTS of sounds & rhythmic idiosyncracies, within ~a five-minute SOLO. < whew > 🙄
Nice video edition
Nice Jazz Rockumentary, Andy! I love Weather Report. I agree that the debut was a bit weak. I think the version of Orange Lady on it is especially underwhelming. Then Live in Tokyo completely kicked the door down. I mostly love the rest of their 70's output.
cheers Andy... re Miroslav, don't forget 'Magical Shepherd', proper funky ass 70s album with Gadson on drums ... he isn't all ECM and abstract/avant garde. And his pre- and post-WR straight ahead playing with Corea Haynes and co... he does it all doesn't he, top level.
5:10 Andy - there is a problem: This wasn't confusing for me, as I have been listening and studying the music of Shorter and Zawinul (not just WR...) for 30+ years. But those who are just now discovering their music might be confused by your mixing up of Shorter for Zawinul. And, unfortunately, the exact same problem occurs at 24:00 where, once again, you mix up Zawinul and Shorter ("Wayne sided with Wayne Shorter ...) It might be worth the effort to do an edit because otherwise, this is an excellent document and probably the only video on the internet that treats this important subject in such detail....