Weather Report - 8:30

Styles: Jazz Fusion
Year: 1979
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:35
Size: 166,5 MB
Art: Front

(9:47)  1. Black Market
(6:04)  2. Teen Town
(8:01)  3. A Remark You Made
(4:45)  4. Slang
(2:52)  5. In A Silent Way
(6:58)  6. Birdland
(3:33)  7. Thanks For The Memory
(9:28)  8. Badia/Boogie Woogie Waltz
(2:36)  9. 8:30
(8:34) 10. Brown Street
(3:16) 11. The Orphan
(5:35) 12. Sightseeing

Weather Report is generally regarded as the greatest jazz fusion band of all time, with the biggest jazz hit ("Birdland") from the best jazz fusion album (1977's Heavy Weather). But the group's studio mastery sometimes overshadows the fact that it was also a live juggernaut so don't overlook the outstanding live and studio album from 1979, 8:30. This was a rare quartet version of Weather Report, with co-leaders in keyboardist Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter. The bassist was the inimitable Jaco Pastorius, the drummer a young Peter Erskine. Pastorius is otherworldly on early gems like "Black Market," the breakneck "Teen Town," and his solo showcase, "Slang" (in which he quotes Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone from the Sun"). Shorter is most involved on the CD's slower pieces like "A Remark You Made," "In a Silent Way," and his own solo piece, "Thanks for the Memory"; Zawinul and Erskine shine on the swinging version of "Birdland" and roller coaster ride of the "Badia/Boogie Woogie Waltz" medley. 

Four studio tracks (composing what was side four of the original album version) close 8:30 with a flourish and some surprises. Pastorius duets on drums with Zawinul on the brief title track, then plays double drums with Erskine (as Erich Zawinul plays percussion) on the playful "Brown Street." Zawinul then throws a curve with "The Orphan," dueting with Shorter as ten members of the West Los Angeles Christian Academy Children's Choir chant harmonies. The saxophonist gets in the last word, though, with his burning composition "Sightseeing" on which he plays unison lines with Zawinul over Pastorius' rare walking bassline and Erskine's most aggressive drumming. A future jazz standard ending one of this band's standard-setting CDs. ~ Bill Meredith https://www.allmusic.com/album/830-mw0000198916

Personnel: Joe Zawinul – keyboards, bass synthesizer, vocoder, percussion; Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone; Jaco Pastorius – fretless bass guitar, percussion, drums on "8:30" & "Brown Street"; Peter Erskine – drums; Erich Zawinul – percussion on "Brown Street"; The West Los Angeles Christian Academy Children's Choir – vocals on "The Orphan"

8:30

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Weather Report - Black Market

Styles: Jazz Fusion
Year: 1976
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:34
Size: 88,9 MB
Art: Front

(6:32)  1. Black Market
(4:41)  2. Cannon Ball
(7:53)  3. Gibraltar
(5:08)  4. Elegant People
(3:27)  5. Three Clowns
(3:14)  6. Barbary Coast
(6:37)  7. Herandnu

The shifts in Weather Report's personnel come fast and furious now, with Narada Michael Walden and Chester Thompson as the drummers, Alex Acuna and Don Alias at the percussion table, and Alphonso Johnson giving way to the mighty, martyred Jaco Pastorius. It is interesting to hear Pastorius expanding the bass role only incrementally over what the more funk-oriented Johnson was doing at this early point that is, until "Barbary Coast," where suddenly Jaco leaps athletically forward into the spotlight. 

Joe Zawinul or just Zawinul, as he preferred to be billed contributed all of side one's compositions, mostly Third World-flavored workouts except for "Cannon Ball," a touching tribute to his ex-boss Cannonball Adderley (who had died the year before). Shorter, Pastorius, and Johnson split the remainder of the tracks, with Shorter now set in a long-limbed compositional mode for electric bands that would serve him into the 1990s. While it goes without saying that most Weather Report albums are transition albums, this diverse record is even more transient than most, paving the way for WR's most popular period while retaining the old sense of adventure. ~ Richard S.Ginell http://www.allmusic.com/album/black-market-mw0000192680

Personnel: Joe Zawinul (vocals, guitar, melodica, piano, grand piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Oberheim synthesizer, tabla); Jaco Pastorius (vocals, mandocello, electric bass, drums, steel drum); Wayne Shorter (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, lyricon); Alejandro Neciosup Acuña (drums, congas, tom tom, percussion); Chester Thompson , Narada Michael Walden (drums); Manolo Badrena (congas, tambourine, timbales, percussion); Don Alias (percussion).

Black Market

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Weather Report - Weather Report

Styles: Jazz Fusion
Year: 1982
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:14
Size: 97,2 MB
Art: Front

( 5:26)  1. Volcano For Hire
( 5:55)  2. Current Affairs
(10:11)  3. N.Y.C.: 41st Parallel / The Dance / Crazy About Jazz
( 5:27)  4. Dara Factor One
( 4:47)  5. When It Was Now
( 5:58)  6. Speechless
( 4:27)  7. Dara Factor Two

For some crafty reason, Weather Report gave its 11th Columbia album the same eponymous title as its first, which no doubt led to massive retail confusion. It is the last WR album for Peter Erskine, Jaco Pastorius, and Robert Thomas, Jr.; Thomas left the band soon afterwards. And with Pastorius receding a bit into the background, the creative balance tilts heavily toward Joe Zawinul, who contributes all but one of the seven compositions. "Volcano for Hire" and "Dara Factors One and Two" are the requisite Zawinul groove-athons, and his deepening awareness of the rapidly improving synthesizer's harmonic and timbral possibilities color such tracks as "Current Affairs" and the three-part "N.Y.C." suite. Though the creativity level seems to be on medium-tank here, the band could still startle the ear with surprising new sounds, a supremely pithy Wayne Shorter statement, or fresh Third World spices. Their ability to swing is never in doubt. ~ Richard S.Ginell http://www.allmusic.com/album/weather-report-1982-mw0000192682

Personnel:  Josef Zawinul – Electric keyboards, piano, Wayne Shorter – Tenor and soprano saxophones,  Jaco Pastorius – Bass guitar, percussion, voice,  Peter Erskine – Drums, drum computer, claves,  Robert Thomas Jr. – Percussion

Weather Report

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