Weather Report - Self Titled

WEATHER REPORT

Weather Report

Jazz Rock/Fusion

Miles Davis had pioneered jazz fusion and in his band at the time were Weather Report's own Joe Zawinul & Wayne Shorter who featured on such landmark albums as "In A Silent Way" & "Bitches Brew." Zawinul also contributed his own song on "In A Silent Way" seeing him share album credits with Miles himself.It's that specific sound that would feature again not more then two years later wit the relase of Weather Report's self titled.
Both albums had seen the use of electric instrumentation instead of the standard acoustic set up. which to some,this may of been deemed blasphemous with critics calling Miles' a sellout. But it also brought jazz to a whole new audience.Weather Report with other electric jazz bands such as Return To Forever & The Mahavishnu Ochestra (all of which featured members from Miles Davis' band) became the forefront of jazz fusion/jazz rock and are credited as the true pioneers of the genre.Unlike the previously mentioned bands Weather Report's début continued the experimental and psychedelic sounds from Bitches Brew.But rather keep the chaotic intensity of Bitches Brew's avant jazz sound.It shared the pace,flow and experimentation of "In A Silent Way" creating an exciting yet risky début.

As the band is a far smaller unit then Miles band this leaves alot for freedom for the five musicians to roam.Wayne Shorter's Soprano sax playing is a real highlight of the album.Over complex rythms and experimental sounds his tasteful playing adds more texture & makes this farout album more grounded,this is more notable on song "Tears."A good example of why Weather Report have always sounded so unique throughout their career was their ability to experiment & incorporate various music styles.Though prominently a jazz group,influences of rock & world music can be heard throughout this album and later in their career funk would also become a dominant sound for the band. Founding member & bassist Miroslav Vitous's has an impressive performance on track "Umbrellas" although technically a free jazz song,his chunky distorted bass similar to that of Jack Bruce's bass tone of the time and a solid groove provided by drummer Alphonse Mouzon shows their rock tendencies although this would never be fully explored.

I began listening to Weather Report after hearing their repatoir of musicians more specifically bass players such as Jaco Pastorius,Victor Bailey & Alphonso Johnson and although I was very impressed by the albums featuring them,this has become a favourite of mine.Fantastic musicianship,an excellent lineup & a historic album should persuade you to buy this.

Studio Album, released in 1971

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Milky Way (2:33)
2. Umbrellas (3:27)
3. Seventh Arrow (5:22)
4. Orange Lady (8:43)
5. Morning Lake (4:25)
6. Waterfall (6:20)
7. Tears (3:25)
8. Eurydice (5:45)

Total Time: 37:39

Line-up / Musicians

- Airto Moreira / percussion.
- Alphonze Mouzon / drums, voice
- Wayne Shorter / soprano & tenor saxophones
- Miroslav Vitous / acoustic & electric basses
- Joe Zawinul / acoustic & electric pianos

Additional musicians:
- Don Alias / percussion
- Barbara Burton / percussion

Miles Davis - In A Silent Way

IN A SILENT WAY

Miles Davis

Jazz Rock/Fusion

1969-70's is always hailed as the most important years in the 20th century.Political and cultural change had come about in the world drastically.Such as events as the veitnam war,the assassinations of Martin Luther King & J.F.K evoked riots and protests and were crucial in the change of society's perceptions.Movements began in vein in which people preached peace & love and to take a stand against "the system" (many of these were met by police brutality).Drugs such as Lsd were also extremely popular amongst the younger generation of musicians & their fans which would be a huge influenced on their music.Miles took influence by this sound and decided to bring change to his music leaving behind the typical acoustic jazz set up and being in electric instruments and a new type of band as well.Within his band nearly all of which went all to be hugely successful in jazz,fusion and world music.Amongst some were Joe Zawinul,who wrote most of second album track In a silent Way.He with Sax player Wayne Shorter would soon leave Miles' band to become the prominent members of Weather Report.Other jazz fusion pioneers such as John McLaughlin,Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock also feature.This in itself is what drew me to hear the album.It features possibly one of my favourite line-ups ever.Critics became furious with Miles' electric change and classed him as a sellout and obviously this resulted in alot negative reviews.But to their surprise Miles' not only progressed from the bebop daysbut introduced a whole new generation of music fans who would use this album to find their opening into the jazz world.

The album It's self only includes two tracks Shhh/Peaceful & In a Silent Way/It's About That Time.Both tracks really reflect the cultural psychedelic sounds of the decade but also gives you the feeling this is something different and special.Neither really include any solos of extreme intensity you could expect from bebop or a spontaneous leap into a chaos fuelled jam that you might expect from of rock music.But has the feel of ambience.Especially Miles' trumpet which still has enough pace and character not to render you unconscious.Ultimately each song still features the improvisation and main theme structures which are always prominent in jazz but has the sound of an music experiment which worked creating some new.I particularly love this album,as it introduced me to a whole new world of jazz and musicians alike.

Definitely an essential album for any music fan.

Studio Album, released in 1969

Songs / Tracks Listing

side one
1.Shhh/Peaceful (18:16)
"Shhh" - 6:14
"Peaceful" - 5:42
"Shhh" - 6:20

side two
2.In a Silent Way/It's About That Time (19:52)
"In a Silent Way" - 4:11
"It's About That Time" - 11:27
"In a Silent Way" - 4:14

Line-up / Musicians

-Miles Davis/trumpet
-Wayne Shorter/soprano saxophone
-John McLaughlin/electric guitar
-Herbie Hancock/electric piano
-Chick Corea/electric piano
-Joe Zawinul/organ
-Dave Holland/double bass
-Tony Williams/drums

Releases information

LP Columbia CS-9875 (1969)

Jaco Pastorius - Live In Italy

LIVE IN ITALY

Jaco Pastorius

Jazz Rock/Fusion

A brief review:

I don't seem to share everyone's high praise for this album,which is unfortunate because it is a great album,but perfect by no means.When you listen to a fusion album especially one lead by probably the greatest bass player in the world,It would be difficult not to judge this solely by Jaco's bass playing alone.Which I will purposely avoid on this occasion,but that isn't the problem I have with it.

My problem,though a fairly small one can be seen from the very beginning as soon as Bireli Lagrene enters with a guitar solo,where he trades back and forth from shred guitar to funk but then shockingly and distastefully IMO comes with pinch harmonics with an over the top distorted rendition of smoke on the water which then he fumbles into Weather Report's Teen Town.This kind of surprising change in style happens throughout the album on multiple occasions.He changes from clean funk guitar into hard rock.,the most notable time is during their cover of "I shot the Sherrif" he sounds like Eddie Hazel for one momment then Eddie Van Halen the next.Which when given the funky rhythm section holding down the groove,it seems like something of a novelty.My problem isn't the fact it's bad playing,because it's not.There's some very tasteful moments in his playing and it's always at a high standard.It's the fact it sounds completely unnecessary,which I know comes down to taste alone.But this is surely very important,especially in a trio.

But once I accepted the guitar playing was not to my taste and I realised this was going to be very different to other Weather Report or Pat Metheny,I began to see the light at the end of tunnel.The moment Jaco enters in teen town his playing his exceptional and makes the album a worthy listen.In fact I'd go as far by saying he saves the album (which as the album is titled under his name,it points out the obvious) I would say this album perhaps has my favourite live performances by him.It shows all sides,possibility's and effect that the electric bass can have most when placed in the heads of a great musician.Jaco is known for going off on tangents,but as he does so,he remarkably keeps the groove and virtuoso skill,still keeping the most difficult of basslines extremely tasteful no matter how high the register.And with such a funky drummer (who still remains unknown to me) you'll realise funk is the definitive genre of this performance.And even preformed convincingly by Bireli Lagrene.

For something which could realistically be seen as a bootleg,it's a great album and I don't believe anyone would turn down the chance to keep hearing Jaco.For me this album gets a 3 due merely down to a matter of taste,as I feel everything he did solo and with Weather Report is at a better standard.I would highly recommend the trio of doom with John McLaughlin,Jaco & Tony Williams though short lived (just one album)it was everything this album should of been and more.



Teen Town performed by Weather Report