eMusic Review
With its seventh album, Heavy Weather, this pioneering jazz-rock fusion juggernaut hit its stride, scoring a pop hit with the buoyant Joe Zawinul-penned "Birdland" and achieving a seamless balance of jazz chops, sophisticated arrangements and indelible melodies. Although keyboardist Zawinul, displaying his most kaleidoscopic palette of synthesizer sounds and electric piano textures yet, and the legendary saxophonist Wayne Shorter were still running the show, the band got a big boost from the electric bass virtuoso Jaco Pastorius, who'd joined Weather Report for the previous album, Black Market. He contributed two compositions — the funky, pre-disco throb of "Teen Town," where doubles on some incredibly crisp, propulsive drums, and the rising-and-falling energy of "Havona" — but his forceful, extremely flexible playing provided a low-end presence and pop polish that helped make the album a commercial smash.
In some ways, Weather Report approached pop here the same way Steely Dan tackled jazz on their classic Aja the same year — both albums were released in 1977. Both entities understood the styles they were embracing, but they refused to be cowed or compromised by them.
Here no single approach is privileged; the arrangements, improvisations and compositions are all equally important. With… read more »
