Weather Report

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Template:Infobox band

Weather Report was an influential jazz fusion band of the 1970s and 1980s. Along with Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra and some of Herbie Hancock's line-ups, it is seen as a definite representator of jazz fusion in 1970s.

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The beginning

The band was originally a spin-off from the group of musicians associated with Miles Davis in the late sixties and early seventies. The stable core of the group was the duo of pianist Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, while the other musicians were rotated with almost every album.

Initially, the band's music featured extended improvisation, similar to Davis' Bitches Brew-period work, and instrumentation included both a traditional trap set drummer and a second percussionist (first Airto Moreira, later Dom Um Romão). The group was unusual and innovative in abandoning the soloist-accompaniment demarcation of straight-ahead jazz and instead featuring continuous improvisation by every member of the band.

Reedman Wayne Shorter furthered on his pioneering soprano sax work and both Zawinul and original bassist Miroslav Vitouš experimented with rock guitarists' electronic effects, Zawinul on electric piano and organ, Vitouš on upright bass, often bowed, as a second horn-like voice.

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Becoming "funkier"

Starting with Sweetnighter, Weather Report's recordings became increasingly funk- and groove-oriented, while retaining the high improvisational content of the first few albums. Vitouš's lack of interest in playing repetitive, funky vamps led to his replacement by Alphonso Johnson. For its first few years of existence the group had difficulty finding a permanent drummer, moving through Alphonse Mouzon, Eric Gravatt, Greg Errico, Leon 'Ndugu' Chancler, and Chester Thompson.

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The "Jaco" Years

By 1976's Black Market, the group's music evolved from the open-ended funk jams of Sweetnighter and Mysterious Traveller into more melody-oriented, concise forms. They also achieved greater mass-market appeal. Most notably, this album introduced virtuoso bassist Jaco Pastorius into the group. It was with Pastorius that the group had its most popular success, resulting in their classic jazz standard "Birdland", from the Heavy Weather album in 1977. Pastorius departed the group in late 1981.

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Downbeat's "One Star" rating

In 1978 the group recorded the controversial and experimental Mr. Gone, which received a 1 star review from Down Beat magazine. The band kept on releasing new albums with various line-ups until 1986, but they did not manage to repeat the critical success of Heavy Weather.

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Alumni

Some of the other members who played in Weather Report at some point include bassists Alphonso Johnson and Victor Bailey, drummer and percussionist Alex Acuña, percussionists Manolo Badrena and Robert Thomas Jr., and drummers Peter Erskine and Omar Hakim.

It is within Weather Report that keyboardist Josef Zawinul would become synonymous with the fusion era, contributing a number genre defining compositions. One song is the band's signature tunes "Birdland" from the band's top seller Heavy Weather.

Although still a giant in the Jazz world, Wayne Shorter's role within the band was not as prevalent as it was in the 1960's within his tenure Miles Davis, but is still recognised as one of the all time greats on the Tenor Saxophone and with the insistance of Miles, he had recommended that Wayne try his hand on the Soprano Saxophone, which he used almost exclusively as a member of Weather Report.

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Discography

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Personnel

Weather Report Band Members
(1970-1971)
(1971-1973)
(1974)
(1974)
(1975)
(1976)
(1976)
(1977)
(1978)
(1979)
(1980-1982)
(1983-1984)
(1984-1985)
(1985-1986)
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External links

..cs:Weather Report da:Weather Report de:Weather Report fi:Weather Report fr:Weather Report it:Weather Report ja:ウェザー・リポート nl:Weather Report pl:Weather Report ru:Weather Report sv:Weather Report

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