''Mr. Gone'' is the eighth studio album by

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

band

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian virtuoso keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer and voca ...

released in 1978 by ARC/

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. The album rose to No. 1 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Jazz Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

chart.

Overview

As the group was still looking for a drummer following the departure of

Alex Acuña Alejandro Neciosup Acuña (born December 12, 1944), known professionally as Alex Acuña, is a Peruvian-American drummer and percussionist. Background Born in Pativilca, Peru, Acuña played in local bands such as La Orquesta de los Hermanos Nec ...

, outside drummers Tony Williams and

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the '' Modern ...

appear along with

Peter Erskine Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the dru ...

, who would become Acuña's replacement. Singers

Deniece Williams Deniece Williams (born June Deniece Chandler; June 3, 1951) is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great soul voices" by the BBC. She is best known for the songs " Free", " Silly", "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" and two ''Bil ...

and Maurice White also appear on the track "And Then." The Pastorius-penned "Punk Jazz" was later the title of a posthumous compilation of

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1976 to 1981. ...

's music. The record became a center of controversy when '' DownBeat'' magazine gave it a one-star review. Zawinul went on to deliver a furious response to this review during a later interview.

Critical reception

''Mr. Gone'' came in at No. 1 on '' High Fidelitys 1978 Critics' Choice poll in the category of Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Music critic

Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

'' 1978

Pazz and Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...

poll.

Track listing

#"The Pursuit of the Woman with the Feathered Hat" (Zawinul) 5:03 #"River People" (Pastorius) 4:50 #"Young and Fine" (Zawinul) 6:55 #"The Elders" (Shorter, arranged by Zawinul) 4:21 #"Mr. Gone" (Zawinul) 5:26 #"Punk Jazz" (Pastorius) 5:09 #"Pinocchio" (Shorter) 2:26 #"And Then" (music - Zawinul, lyrics - Sam Guest) 3:22

Personnel

The recording and technical personnel were as follows: ;Weather Report * Joe Zawinul - modified Rhodes 88 electric piano, acoustic

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, two

ARP 2600 The ARP 2600 is a semi-modular analog subtractive audio synthesizer produced by ARP Instruments, Inc. History Developed by a design team headed by ARP namesake Allen R. Pearlman and engineer Dennis Colin, the ARP 2600 was introduced in 1971 ...

synthesizers,

Oberheim Oberheim is an American synthesizer manufacturer founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim. History and products Tom Oberheim founded the company in 1969, originally as a designer and contract manufacturer of electronic effects devices for Maestro (most ...

Polyphonic synthesizer, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 synthesizer,

Mu-Tron ''Musitronics'', often shortened to Mu-tron, was a manufacturer of electronic musical effects active in the 1970s. Founded by Mike Beigel and Aaron Newman, the company's products provided filtering and processing effects and were derived from s ...

Bi-Phase and Mu-Tron Volume Wah effects,

kalimba Mbira ( ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and p ...

, thumbeki drums, sleigh bells,

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usua ...

, high hat, vocals (tracks 1 and 5) *

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Dav ...

- tenor, alto, and soprano saxophones, vocals (track 1) *

- bass, drums (tracks 1 and 2), timpani (track 2), vocals (tracks 1, 2, and 6) *

- drums (tracks 1 and 7), hi hat (track 3), vocals (track 1) ;Additional musicians * Tony Williams - drums (tracks 5 and 6) *

- drums (tracks 3 and 8) * Manolo Badrena - vocal solo (track 1) *

Jon Lucien Lucien Leopold Harrigan (January 8, 1942 – August 18, 2007), known professionally as Jon Lucien, was a singer from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. His parents were Eric "Rico" Lucien Harrigan and Eloise Turnbull Harrigan of Tortolan famil ...

- vocals (track 1) *

- vocals (track 8) * Maurice White - vocals (track 8) ;Technical * Alex Kazanegras - engineer * Dave Mancini - second engineer * Nancy Donald - cover design * Lou Beach - cover illustration

Chart positions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mister Gone (album) 1978 albums Columbia Records albums ARC Records albums Weather Report albums