MODERN JAZZ 

Weather Report

I think my foray into Jazz culminated in an interest in these guys alongside Keith Jarrett and Gary Burton and it had started with Dudley Moore as a youngster, a much underrated piano player IMHO and I always admired his drummer in the Dudley Moore Trio (Chris Karan?) worshipped Oscar Peterson and so on but Weather Report, Zawinul and Pastorius especially, were the peak of my interest and it waned after that for reasons best known to someone else . . . . . . it all just seemed so much virtuosity for virtuosity's sake and I had started listening to Charles Ives and Gavin Bryars and Portsmouth Sinfonia and the work of Brian Eno by then . . . . . . . 

On this day in music history: March 11, 1977 - “Heavy Weather”, the seventh studio album by Weather Report is released. Produced by Joe Zawinul, Jaco Pastorius and Wayne Shorter, it is recorded at Devonshire Sound Studios in North Hollywood, CA from November 1976 - January 1977. Originally formed in 1971 by former Cannonball Adderley keyboardist Joe Zawinul, former Miles Davis saxophonist Wayne Shorter and bassist Miroslav Vitouš, Weather Report become one of the leading forces in the sub genre of fusion jazz. With Zawinul and Shorter being the prime mainstays of the band, Weather Report’s line shifts constantly over the course of six studio (one live) albums. Having recruited bassist Jaco Pastorius midway through the recording of “Black Market” in 1976, he becomes a full time member after Alphonso Johnson departs from the band. Pastorius’ virtuoso electric fretless bass playing, along with his strong writing ability and natural charisma in live performances, take Weather Report to a new level of musicality and popularity. Filling out the new line up are Peruvian born drummer Alex Acuña (replacing Chester Thompson) and Puerto Rican born percussionist Manolo Badrena. The members gel instantly in the studio, and quickly record their seventh studio album in the late Fall of 1976/early Winter 1977. The albums opening track “Birdland”, penned by Zawinul and named after the iconic New York City jazz club, is an immediate standout. Now a jazz standard, the song is widely covered by numerous artists including versions by Maynard Ferguson, Quincy Jones, Buddy Rich and a vocal version by The Manhattan Transfer, with lyrics written by vocalese legend Jon Hendricks. Over time, “Birdland” also becomes a staple of high school and college marching band repertoires, cementing its status as one of the most popular jazz compositions of all time. “Teen Town”, written by Jaco, also becomes another jazz standard and is also widely covered. Receiving major critical acclaim upon its release, it becomes Weather Report’s most successful album, also receiving two Grammy nominations. First released on CD in 1984, “Weather” is remastered and reissued numerous times over the years. As a gold CD by Sony Legacy in 1994, followed by a newly remastered edition in 1997. Hi-rez SACD’s of the title are issued in Japan and the US in 1999 and 2002 respectively. It is also reissued as a 180 gram vinyl LP by Legacy in 2008, and as a limited double vinyl release by ORG in 2011. “Heavy Weather” spends one week at number one on the Billboard Jazz album chart, peaking at number thirty on the Top 200, number thirty three on the R&B album chart, is certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA, and is inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2011.