''Night Passage'' is the ninth studio album by Weather Report, released in 1980. The tracks were recorded on July 12 and 13, 1980 at The Complex studios in Los Angeles (before a crowd of 250 people who can be heard on a couple of tracks), except for "Madagascar", recorded live at the

Festival Hall, Osaka is a concert hall located in Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan. It is run by the Asahi Building Co., Ltd., a Japanese real estate company controlling properties of the Asahi Shimbun Company, and is housed in the Festival Tower, a skyscraper. The opening ce ...

, Japan on June 29 of the same year. The album introduces a new member to the band, namely percussionist

Robert Thomas Jr. Robert Thomas Jr. is an American jazz percussionist and hand drummer. He is known as an innovator in Be-bop and hand drumming, and has been nominated for two Grammy awards. He is also a visual artist, working as a painter. Life and career Rober ...

''Night Passage'' dials back the elaborate production of some of Weather Report's earlier releases (most notably 1978's '' Mr. Gone''). What is lost in overdubs is made up in solo improvisation in the classic jazz tradition.

Trivia

The 7th track on the album "Three Views of a Secret" would be re-recorded for Jaco Pastorius' second solo studio album entitled '' Word of Mouth'' (1981).

Critical reception

Richard S. Ginell of Allmusic gave a four out of five stars review saying "All things being relative, this is Weather Report's straight-ahead album, where the elaborate production layers of the late-'70s gave way to sparer textures and more unadorned solo improvisation in the jazz tradition, electric instruments and all." Don Heckman of High Fidelity called Night Passage "one of the finest albums Weather Report has ever made". Night Passage was

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-nominated in the category of

Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance was an award given to a song or album for excellence in the jazz fusion genre, a combination of rock and jazz. It was given at the Grammy Awards, which began in 1958 under the name Gramophone Awar ...

. However, the album did not win the award in this category.

Track listing

Personnel

Weather Report * Josef Zawinul – keyboards and synthesizers * Wayne Shorter – saxophones * Jaco Pastorius – fretless bass * Peter Erskine – drums *

– percussion Production * Brian Risner – engineer * George Massenburg – engineer * Jerry Hudgins – engineer * Joseph Futterer – art direction * Richie Powell – art direction * Nicholas DeVore III – cover photography * Pete Turner – cover photography

References

External links

Weather Report Annotated Discography: ''Night Passage'' (1980)

Weather Report - ''Night Passage'' (1980) album releases & credits
at Discogs
Weather Report - ''Night Passage'' (1980) album to be listened
on Spotify
Weather Report - ''Night Passage'' (1980) album to be listened
on YouTube {{Authority control Weather Report albums 1980 albums Columbia Records albums ARC Records albums