Skip the first minute to get to the music...
Skip the first minute to get to the music...
Weather report? What else, it's going to snow again on Tuesday. Oh wait, the jazz group! Come on, I can't believe it took two pages for anyone to say something like this.
I tried "Heavy Weather" back in the 90's, just didn't do much for me. Nice playing on it, but I like my jazz and fusion a little more edgy and aggressive. In recent years I've heard a bit more of their music, but I'm afraid it's just not for me.
Love Weather Report, my favorite being Black Market. Erskine's book (recently out for Kindle now too) called No Beethoven has some great insight into the band. 8:30 is another good one.
"I want to be someone, who someone would want to be." Marillion
Ditto.Originally Posted by nosebone
I prefer the Vitous years, something like an extension of In A Silent Way, before they veered off into Impressive Chops territory. After that there was still plenty to enjoy, but it wasn't as appealing to me. That said, I've been enjoying Night Passage and Weather Report (1982) quite a bit lately.
Interesting. Such as?
Sweetnighter is my favorite WR album. Love it!!! People do complain about how "formless" it is, but that's part of what I love. They channeled the free energy of avant-garde artists like Pharaoh Sanders into a funk realm. There's really nothing else like it.
To me, WR peaked with this album and Mysterious Traveler, and they started to become a little less interesting with each album after that, even though I do love all their albums up through the 1982 self-titled one.
'Mysterious Traveller' is my 2nd favourite after 'Black Market'. 'Jungle Book' and 'Scarlet Woman' were my favourites on there.
'Mr Gone' has a wobbly reputation but I never had a problem with most of it.
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I happen to prefer by gfazr the MiroslaV Vitous era (the first three albums + Tokyo), beccause it's rather more focused than the "anything goes" era with Pastorius... BM & HW were all over the map, and I don't appreciate much those kind of albums..; Inded with the debut, Body and Nighter, you can still feel the BB aura
Indeed, just like I prefer Hancock's Mwandishi era to the Head Hunters
Though I say that some of the band's intensitry somewhat disappreared under the Alphonso Johnson era (MT and TS), because they tended to find a groove and stay in it and solo away...
Well, it certainly wasn't my stuff when a teenager either... I'd say that WR was the last Botches Brew spin-off band I got into.... though oddly enough Mwandishi is probably harder to "get'...
In either case, I'd say that the "pure jazz" thing was more apparent in Market and HW with songs like Birdland
Knowing your tastes, Renate, I'm not surprised that you did so... But if I was you, I'd give the Miroslav Vitous WR era (the first three album, and Tokyo) another try, 'cause you might just get it nowadays
To give you an idea, from the Bitches Brew's 4 spin-off groups, I'd say that in increasing levels of difficulty, you'd find:
Return To Forever's first two albums (the Airto/Farrell:Purim era) >> fairly accessible, IMHO,
then Mahavishnu Orch's firstb three (the Hammer/Cobbham era),
then Weather Report's first three (the Miroslax Xitious era)
a,d last (but not least) the Mwandishi group (with Maupin's amazing bass clarinet that gave so much depth to both Bitches and Crossings and Sextant)... Gleeson's electronic trickery is awesome as well...
Last edited by Trane; 02-18-2014 at 12:38 PM.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Then I suggest that you give an earfull of the debut, Body Electric and Sweetnighter... Edgier than that, you find much...
Mr Gone suffers from Wayne Shorter's quasabsence and Zawie' complete abuse/overuse of seconf half of 70's synths, which didn't reach the intensity of the their predecessors (synths)... but you couild already taste Zawie's direction in BM and HW, which is another reason why I'm no fan of those "classic albums"
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
The songs I heard? Can't remember, it must have been some clips posted here and on Youtube. I'm buying too much music as it is of late, it's OK if I don't get into Weather Report. Good musicians playing high quality music, just not for my personal taste. Will I check out some more of their music? Sure, couldn't hurt.
One of the things I love about later period WR is the "Big Band on Synths" thing....I know it's not to everyone's taste, but a large part of what Zawinul was doing, from Heavy Weather on, was trying to capture the energy of a big band. Db Waltz, and their version of Rockin' in Rhythm...and a bunch of stuff from the last few albums, very unique in that regard.
Ouch. I resemble that remark!
Mr. Gone and Night Passage are favorites. Of pre-Jaco records, I mostly like Tale Spinnin' and Mysterious Traveller.
Mr. Gone has a bad PR for some indistinct reasons, while Heavy Weather is over-praised - but musically seems much weaker, than Mr.Gone.
Mr Gone basically has little to no Shorter on it (he was ... Gone). It was predominantly a Zawinul record, and as such doesn't have the entirety of the Weather Report sound to it. It is very early synth electronic. Some of the songs are decent to good, but they should have been redone with the whole group contributing - they would have been better still.
Heavy Weather was more experimental compositionally to my ears, with a lot more ambience and space to the production. It's got some of WR's best known and best loved songs on it, including a couple of classic Jaco tunes.
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A gentleman is defined as someone who knows how to play the accordion, and doesn't.
This thread is as good a place as any to ask this, so maybe someone will remember. Back in the mid-late '80s there was a show on VH1 called "New Visions" (see the recent Anthony Phillips thread). I used to watch it fairly regularly once I discovered that it was on, and one of the things that they seemed to play almost every week was a Weather Report video. My recollection was that it consisted at least partially of some kind of outer space scenes, not your typical music video fare of lip-synching at worst or live performance at best. Does anyone have any better recollection of this?
edit: I'm thinking it was Procession, though I can't find mention of there ever being a music video of it.
2nd edit: I think I may have found it:
http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-ev...l-mw0001076612
Someone really needs to release The Evolutionary Spiral and Japan Domino Theory on DVD.
Last edited by Dave (in MA); 02-18-2014 at 03:58 PM.
For fans...
http://www.weatherreportdiscography.org/
Cool stuff there, for WR fans.
'Birdland' and 'A Remark You Made' are great. The track I never warmed up to was that one with all the percussion and shouting...bit of a filler I always felt, and it was live so it sticks out even more.
You guys should check out Live In Cologne 1983 to hear the last incarnation of this band smokin' hot, including Procession, Db waltz, and a bunch of other later stuff...they are on fire on this recording!
What I meant was (on Post 31) 'please recommend some edgy and aggressive fusion.' I'm just interested in hearing some.
Other readers also welcome to contribute suggestions.
BTW I agree with Trane that the first three Weather Report albums are nicely edgy.
Try the first version of the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
No Shorter on Mr.Gone?I've been listening to different version of Mr.Gone then) The Elders, Shorter's brilliant minimalistic composition, Young and Fine, one of Shorter's great tunes..as well as Shorter's contribution to Jaco's song, Punk Jazz, and Joe's Pinocchio, are inimitable, IMO.
Heavy Weather is way more traditional thing, then MrG, compositionally more plain and straight jazz album. But it has much better PR - on the contrary, Mr. Gone recieved the worst reviews of all WR's albums. Downbeat's review was a total bash, absolutely unfair and unprofessional, sorta settling of scores)
Shorter only brought one new tune to the table (and another from Nefertiti), but he plays sax on every track so I don't know where this "little to no Shorter" is coming from unless he was thinking of the last album.
Glad somebody mentioned Jungle book. First time I heard it I thought what the ....??!! But it's a beauty. Just turn up the volume a little.
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