Was it really that long ago that the last REALLY creative and original music in jazz came around? Here we’ve got in one cozy boxed set the first 6 albums that the fusion group Weather Report put together. Essentially an offshoot of Miles Davis Bitches Brew session, WR was lead by Joe Zawinul/key and Wayne Shorter/ss-ts and set forth to mix the improvisation of jazz with the electronics and rhythms of rock, creating what later came to be called “fusion” or “jazz-rock.”
The two Davis alumni had a continually rotating rhythm section, with percussionists, drummers and bassists coming in and out like a revolving door at Macy’s Department Store. The first band with Miraslav Vitous/b, Alphonse Mouzon/dr, Airto Moeira/perc still sounds amazingly fresh and alive on the debut album with “Milky Way” still sounding far out and freaky, while“Orange Lady” and “Eurydice” are as exciting as fresh as ever. This classic team had a slight change with the followup I Sing The Body Electric which had Eric Gravatt/dr and Dom Um Romao starting the rotating rhythm section tradition. This album was a half studio, half concert release, which had the entire concert with unedited versions of the songs included on the double album Live In Tokyo. This wild and white knuckler ride is possibly the most freewheeling WR ever got, as long jams, fiery solos and intense percussion creates sparks like the curves at the Daytona 500.
The 1971 Sweetnighter originally raised a few eyebrows, as it appeared to be one long funky and highly percussive groove session. The infectious and long “Boogie Woogie Waltz” marked the beginning of a new side of Zawinul, as he starts relying more and more on his synthesizers and electric pianos, creating textures of sound that would build and build into giant hurricanes of power through the years. These 4 albums by the core original group came to a halt by the next release, Mysterious Traveller, which had Alphonso Johnson/b, Ishmael Wilburm-Skip Hadden/dr as the newest members of the team. Chocolate German caked layers of sounds on “Nubian Sundance” and the funky title track were contrasted with moody and spacey themes like “Scarlet Woman” and the African sounding “Jungle Book.” For many people, this album marked the true beginning of “fusion” with all of its strengths and weaknesses. The 1975 Tale Spinnin’ had either Chester Thompson or Leon “Ndugu” Chancler behind the traps and includes some excitingly exotic pieces like “Badia” and the free flowing “Lusitanos.” By this time, Shorter was leaning heavily on the soprano sax, as evidenced by his work on “Man in the Green Shirt” and “Freezing Fire.”
After this session, Jaco Pastorious would bring his world changing bass playing to the band and create a whole new sound for not only the quintet, but for jazz altogether. It’s these releases here, however, that started the ball rolling and deserve to be appreciated on their own for what they brought to the musical table. Absolutely essential music here.
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