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Avg: 4.5 (141 ratings)
- Date Released: January 1, 1977
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Rock
- Label: Columbia/Legacy
- Copyright: (P) 1977 Sony Music Entertainment Inc. WARNING: All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.
A seamless balance of jazz chops, sophisticated arrangements and indelible melodies
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We Say...
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 remarkable concision and focus, Weather Report created a dynamically varied collection rife with meticulously executed idea. Zawinul tapped into his early stint with Julian "Cannonball" Adderley to bring some soul jazz flavor his Charlie Parker homage "Birdland," while Shorter's rigorous "Palladium" recasts the moody post-bop of his Miles Davis days as a fiery, electric breakdown. The band's drummer Alex Acuña craft a spontaneous-sounding Afro-Latin summit on the brief but action-packed "Rumba Mama." It's an undeniably slick effort, and it's a long way from the more amorphous sound explorations Weather Report delivered on its 1971 debut, but they were gunning for something very different here and they found the bull's eye. Gone was the self-indulgent excess that had come to dominate so much '70s fusion in favor of music that placed a premium on precision and high-impact performances. -
They Say...
Weather Report's biggest-selling album is that ideal thing, a popular and artistic success -- and for the same reasons. For one thing, Joe Zawinul revealed an unexpectedly potent commercial streak for the first time since his Cannonball Adderley days, contributing what has become a perennial hit, "Birdland." Indeed, "Birdland" is a remarkable bit of record-making, a unified, ever-developing piece of music that evokes, without in any way imitating, a joyous evening on 52nd St. with a big band. The other factor is the full emergence of Jaco Pastorius as a co-leader; his dancing, staccato bass lifting itself out of the bass range as a third melodic voice, completely dominating his own ingenious "Teen Town" (where he also plays drums!). By now, Zawinul has become WR's de facto commander in the studio; his colorful synthesizers dictate the textures, his conceptions are carefully planned, with little of the freewheeling improvisation of only five years before. Wayne Shorter's saxophones are now reticent, if always eloquent, beams of light in Zawinul's general scheme while Alex Acuña shifts ably over to the drums and Manolo Badrena handles the percussion. Released just as the jazz-rock movement began to run out of steam, this landmark album proved that there was plenty of creative life left in the idiom.
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| 01. |  |
Birdland |
5:59 |
|
| 02. | |
A Remark You Made |
6:51 |
|
| 03. | |
Teen Town |
2:52 |
|
| 04. | |
Harlequin |
3:59 |
|
| 05. | |
Rumba Mama |
2:11 |
|
| 06. | |
Palladium |
4:46 |
|
| 07. | |
The Juggler |
5:03 |
|
| 08. | |
Havona |
6:01 |
|
08 Total Tracks, 37:42 Total Length
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Credits
- Bob Belden - Producer // Bob Belden - Reissue Producer // Jaco Pastorius - Bass // Jaco Pastorius - Mandolin // Jaco Pastorius - Composer // Jaco Pastorius - Drums // Jaco Pastorius - Vocals // Jaco Pastorius - Drums (Steel) // Jaco Pastorius - Producer // Jaco Pastorius - Mandocello // Wayne Shorter - Soprano // Wayne Shorter - Soprano // Wayne Shorter - Saxophone // Wayne Shorter - Saxophone // Wayne Shorter - Sax (Soprano) // Wayne Shorter - Sax (Soprano) // Wayne Shorter - Sax (Tenor) // Wayne Shorter - Sax (Tenor) // Wayne Shorter - Associate Producer // Wayne Shorter - Associate Producer // Wayne Shorter - Assistant Producer // Wayne Shorter - Assistant Producer // Weather Report - Main Performer // Keith Williams - Photography // Steven Berkowitz - Director // Steven Berkowitz - Reissue // Alex Acuña - Percussion // Alex Acuña - Conga // Alex Acuña - Drums // Alex Acuña - Tom-Tom // Alex Acuña - Handclapping // Joe Zawinul - Synthesizer // Joe Zawinul - Bass // Joe Zawinul - Guitar // Joe Zawinul - Piano // Joe Zawinul - Composer // Joe Zawinul - Drums // Joe Zawinul - Keyboards // Joe Zawinul - Mellophonium // Joe Zawinul - Tabla // Joe Zawinul - Vocals // Joe Zawinul - Melodica // Joe Zawinul - Orchestra // Joe Zawinul - Producer // Joe Zawinul - Fender Rhodes // Joe Zawinul - Oberheim // Joe Zawinul - Orchestration // Joe Zawinul - Arp 2600 // Manolo Badrena - Percussion // Manolo Badrena - Conga // Manolo Badrena - Tambourine // Manolo Badrena - Timbales // Manolo Badrena - Vocals // Kevin Gore - Director // Kevin Gore - Reissue // Jerry Hudgins - Engineer // Jerry Hudgins - Assistant Engineer // Ron Malo - Engineer // Mark Wilder - Digital Mastering // John Ephland - Liner Notes // Don Hunstein - Photography // Seth Rothstein - Director // Seth Rothstein - Project Director // Howard Fritzson - Art Direction // Howard Fritzson - Reissue Art Director // Nancy Donald - Design // Brian Risner - Engineer // Brian Risner - Assistant Engineer // Randall Martin - Design // Randall Martin - Reissue Design // Lou Beach - Illustrations // Keith Williamson - Photography // Rene Arsenault - Associate Producer // Rene Arsenault - Production Assistant // Patti Matheny - Artist Coordination // Nicholas Bennett - Packaging Manager
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