''Weather Report'' is the tenth studio album by the American

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 vocali ...

released in January 1982. The band's first album is also self-titled, causing confusion among consumers and retailers upon its release. It is the final album featuring bass guitarist

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

and drummer

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 drum ...

in the rhythm section, bringing to an end what many fans considered the best lineup in the band's history.

Background

The album features an increasingly heavy use of synthesized orchestration from Josef Zawinul, who had been becoming even more dominant within the band's sound. Zawinul was by now frequently doubling the basslines on Quadra synthesizer, something which annoyed and alienated Pastorius, who also had reservations about Zawinul's electronic big band sound (and who was himself increasingly working on a side career with a mostly acoustic band). The vast majority of the album was composed by Zawinul, with the exception of one Wayne Shorter piece and one collectively composed item assembled from a group jam. The center piece of the album is the three part "N.Y.C." The three movement suite starts with ''41st Parallel'', a bouncing groove showing off Erskine's unique touch on the drums. The second movement, ''The Dance'', is a more traditional swing feel, but with Zawinul's synthesizer orchestration heavily laid on top. The final movement, ''Crazy About Jazz'', is a cordial ending.

Track listing

#"Volcano for Hire" (Zawinul) – 5:25 #"Current Affairs" (Zawinul) – 5:54 #"N.Y.C. (41st Parallel/The Dance/Crazy About Jazz)" (Zawinul) – 10:11 #"Dara Factor One" (Zawinul) – 5:25 #"When It Was Now" (Shorter) – 4:45 #"Speechless" (Zawinul) – 5:58 #"Dara Factor Two" (Zawinul, Shorter, Pastorius, Erskine, Thomas Jr.) – 4:27

Personnel

Josef Zawinul Josef Erich Zawinul ( '; 7 July 1932 – 11 September 2007) was an Austrian jazz and jazz fusion keyboardist and composer. First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with Miles Davis and to bec ...

– electric keyboards, piano, synthesized horn/strings/brass/woodwind, clay drum, drum computer, percussion, voice, front cover concept *

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 Davi ...

– tenor and soprano saxophones *

– bass guitar, percussion, vocals *

– drums, drum computer, claves *

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 ...

– percussion ;Technical *

Neil Dorfsman Neil Dorfsman (born May 31, 1952) is an American sound engineer and record producer, best known for his work with Dire Straits, Bruce Hornsby, Mark Knopfler, Paul McCartney and Sting. He won Grammy Awards for Best Producer for Bruce Hornsby's ''S ...

and Mitch Gibson - engineer * Joseph Futterer and Richie Powell - art direction * Don Dixon - cover artwork

References

External links

Weather Report Annotated Discography: Weather Report (1982)
{{Authority control 1982 albums Columbia Records albums ARC Records albums Weather Report albums