Weather Report - Live At Montreux (1976)

Tracks:
01 - Elegant People (07:23)
02 - Scarlet Woman (08:09)
03 - Barbary Coast (09:29)
04 - Portrait of Tracy (05:02)
05 - Cannon Ball (06:23)
06 - Black Market (10:25)
07 - Drum and Percussion Duet (Rumba Mama) (06:21)
08 - Piano and Saxophone Duet (04:42)
09 - Dr. Honoris Causa/Directions (07:57)
10 - Badia (06:09)
11 - Gibraltar (12:15)


Line-up:
Joe Zawinul - Keyboards
Wayne Shorter - Saxophones
Jaco Pastorius - Bass
Alex Acuna - Drums
Manolo Badrena - Percussion

Jaco Pastorius - Donna Lee

Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius (1976)

It's impossible to hear Jaco Pastorious' debut album today as it sounded when it was first released in 1976. The opening track -- his transcription for fretless electric bass of the bebop standard "Donna Lee" -- was a manifesto of virtuosity; the next track, the funk-soul celebration "Come On, Come Over" was a poke in the eye to jazz snobs and a love letter to the R&B greats of the previous decade (two of whom, Sam & Dave, sing on that track); "Continuum" was a spacey, chorus-drenched look forward to the years he was about to spend playing with Weather Report. The program continues like that for three-quarters of an hour, each track heading off in a different direction -- each one a masterpiece that would have been a proud achievement for any musician. What made Jaco so exceptional was that he was responsible for all of them, and this was his debut album. Beyond his phenomenal bass technique and his surprisingly mature compositional chops (he was 24 when this album was released), there was the breathtaking audacity of his arrangements: "Okonkole Y Trompa" is scored for electric bass, French horn, and percussion, and "Speak Like a Child," which Pastorious composed in collaboration with pianist Herbie Hancock, features a string arrangement by Pastorious that merits serious attention in its own right. For a man with this sort of kaleidoscopic creativity to remain sane was perhaps too much to ask; his gradual descent into madness and eventual tragic death are now a familiar story, one which makes the bright promise of this glorious debut album all the more bittersweet. (This remastered reissue adds two tracks to the original program: alternate takes of "(Used to Be a) Cha Cha" and "6/4 Jam").

by Rick Anderson in All Music Guide

Styles:
Fusion
Post-Bop
Funk

Tracks:
01 - Donna Lee (02:27)
02 - Come on, Come Over (03:50)
03 - Continuum (04:31)
04 - Kuru/ Speak Like a Child (07:38)
05 - Portrait of Tracy (02:20)
06 - Opus Pocus (05:24)
07 - Okonloke Y Trompa (04:21)
08 - (Used to be a) Cha-Cha (08:52)
09 - Forgotten Love (02:12)

Line-up:
Jaco Pastorius - bass
Don Allas - percussion
Herbie Hancock - keyboards
Lenny White - drums
Narada Michael Waldon - drums (2)
Bobby Ecconomou - drums (4)
Othello Molineaux - steel drums
Leroy Williams - steel drums
Michael Brecker - tenor sax (2)
David Sanborn - alto sax (2)
Howard Johnson - baritone sax (2)
Peter Graves - trombone (2)
Sam and Dave - vocals (2)
Wayne Shorter - soprano sax (6)
Ron Tooley - trumpet (2)
Hubert Laws - flute (8)
Peter Ground - french horn (7)

Weather Report - Gibraltar

Weather Report - Weather Report (1982)

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.

by Richard S. Ginell in All Music Guide

Style:
Fusion

Tracks:
01 - Volcano for Hire (5:25)
02 - Current Affairs (5:54)
03 - N.Y.C. Pt. 1: 41st Parallel/Pt.2: The Dance/Pt.3: Crazy About Jazz (10:11)
04 - Dara Factor One (5:25)
05 - When It Was Now (4:45)
06 - Speechless (5:58)
07 - Dara Factor Two (4:27)

Line-up:
Joe Zawinul - synthesizer / keyboards
Wayne Shorter - soprano and tenor saxophones
Jaco Pastorius - bass
Peter Erskine - drums
Robert Thomas - percussion

Weather Report - River People (1978)

Line-up:
Joe Zawinul - keyboards
Wayne Shorter - soprano saxophone
Jaco Pastorius - bass
Peter Erskine - drums

Weather Report - Night Passage (1980)

All things being relative, this is Weather Report's straightahead album, where the elaborate production layers of the late-'70s gave way to sparer textures and more unadorned solo improvisation in the jazz tradition, electric instruments and all. The flaw of this album is the shortage of really memorable compositions; it is more of a vehicle for the virtuosic feats of what is considered by some to be the classic WR lineup -- Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Robert Thomas, Jr. and Peter Erskine. For Erskine, this is is first full studio album and he amply demonstrates his terrific sense of forward drive unique among the other superb drummers in WR annals. "Port of Entry" is a tour de force for Jaco, who knocks off several of those unbelievably slippery, pointed runs that have made him a posthumous legend. There is also a tremendously fun retro trip to Duke Ellington's "Rockin' in Rhythm," everybody swinging their heads and hands off.
by Richard S. Ginell in All Music Guide

Style:
Fusion

Tracks:
01 Night Passage
02 Dream Clock
03 Port of Entry
04 Forlorn
05 Rockin' in Rhythm
06 Fast City
07 Three Views of a Secret
08 Madagascar

Line-up:
Joe Zawinul - keyboards
Wayne Shorter - soprano and tenor saxophones
Jaco Pastorius - bass
Peter Erskine - drums
Robert Thomas - percussion