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

Wayne Shorter - Super Nova (1969)

This CD reissue brings back an important transitional album for tenor-saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Doubling on soprano (which he had recently begun playing), Shorter interprets five of his originals (including "Water Babies" which had been recorded previously by Miles Davis) and Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Dindi." He definitely used a forward-looking group of sidemen for his "backup band" includes guitarists John McLaughlin and Sonny Sharrock, Walter Booker (normally a bassist) on classical guitar for "Dindi," bassist Miroslav Vitous, both Jack DeJohnette and Chick Corea (!) on drums and percussionist Airto; Maria Booker takes a vocal on the touching version of "Dindi." The influence of Miles Davis' early fusion period is felt throughout the music but there is nothing derivative about the often-surprising results. As with Wayne Shorter's best albums, this set rewards repeated listenings.

by Sctott Yanow in All Music Guide

Styles:
Post-Bop
Fusion

Tracks:
01 - Supernova (04:45)
02 - Sweet Pea (04:35)
03 - Dindi (09:45)
04 - Water Babies (04:50)
05 - Capricorn (07:45)
06 - More Than Human (06:10)

Line-up:
Wayne Shorter — soprano saxophone
John McLaughlin — acoustic and electric guitar (1, 2, 4 & 5)
Sonny Sharrock — electric guitar
Miroslav Vitous — bass
Jack DeJohnette — drums, thumb piano
Chick Corea — drums, vibes
Airto Moreira — percussion
Walter Booker — acoustic guitar (3)
Maria Booker — vocals (3)

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)

Lee Morgan - Search for the New Land (1964)

This set (the CD reissue is a duplicate of the original LP) is one of the finest Lee Morgan records. The great trumpeter contributes five challenging compositions ("Search for the New Land," "The Joker," "Mr. Kenyatta," "Melancholee," and "Morgan the Pirate") that deserve to be revived. Morgan, tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, guitarist Grant Green, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Billy Higgins are all in particularly creative form on the fresh material, and they stretch the boundaries of hard bop (the modern mainstream jazz of the period). The result is a consistently stimulating set that rewards repeated listenings.

by Scott Yanow in All Music Guide

Styles:
Hard-Bop

Tracks:
01 - Search for the New Land (15:45)
02 - The Joker (05:04)
03 - Mr. Kenyatta (08:43)
04 - Melancholee (06:14)
05 - Morgan the Pirate (06:31)

Line-up:
Lee Morgan – trumpet
Grant Green – guitar
Herbie Hancock – piano
Billy Higgins – drums
Wayne Shorter – tenor sax
Reggie Workman – bass

Wayne Shorter - Adam's Apple (1966)

With the possible exception of its song, "Footprints," which would become a jazz standard, Adam's Apple received quite a bit less attention upon its release than some of the preceding albums in Wayne Shorter's catalog. That is a shame because it really does rank with the best of his output from this incredibly fertile period. From the first moments when Shorter's sax soars out in the eponymous opening track, with its warmth and roundness and power, it is hard not to like this album. It might not be turning as sharp of a corner stylistically as some of his earlier works, like Speak No Evil, but its impact is only dulled by the fact that Shorter has already arrived at the peak of his powers. Taken in isolation, this is one of the great works of mid-'60s jazz, but when Shorter has already achieved a unique performance style, compositional excellence, and a perfectly balanced relationship with his sidemen, it is hard to be impressed by the fact that he manages to continue to do these things album after album. But Shorter does shine here, while allowing strong players like Herbie Hancock to also have their place in the sun. Especially hypnotic are two very different songs, the ballad "Teru" and Shorter's tribute to John Coltrane, "Chief Crazy Horse," both of which also allow Hancock a chance to show what he could do.

by Stacia Proefrock in All Music Guide

Styles:
Post-Bop
Hard-Bop
Modal

Tracks:
01 - Adam's Apple (6:52)
02 - 502 Blues (Drinkin' And Drivin') (6:36)
03 - El Gaucho (6:32)
04 - Footprints (7:31)
05 - Teru (6:15)
06 - Chief Crazy Horse (7:39)
07 - The Collector (6:55)

Line-up:
Wayne Shorter - tenor saxophone
Herbie Hancock - piano
Reggie Workman - bass
Joe Chambers - drums

Weather Report - Gibraltar

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - A Night in Tunisia (1960)

The lengthy title track on this CD easily overshadows the rest of the program for it is one of the most exciting versions ever recorded of Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia." Trumpeter Lee Morgan (then only in his early 20s), tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Bobby Timmons and bassist Jymie Merritt formed one of the strongest of the many versions of Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers and are actually in fine form during the remainder of the satisfying (if anticlimactic) set.

by Scott Yanow in All Music Guide

Style:
Hard-Bop

Tracks:
01 - A Night in Tunisia (11:11)
02 - Sincerely Diana (6:47)
03 - So Tired (6:36)
04 - Yama (6:20)
05 - Kozo's Waltz (6:45)
06 - When Your Lover Has Gone (6:43)
07 - Sincerely Diana" (alternative take) (6:51)

Line-up:
Art Blakey — drums
Lee Morgan — trumpet
Wayne Shorter — tenor saxophone
Bobby Timmons — piano
Jymie Merritt — bass

Wayne Shorter - Speak no Evil (1965)

On his third date for Blue Note within a year, Wayne Shorter changed the bands that played on both Night Dreamer and Juju and came up with not only another winner, but also managed to give critics and jazz fans a different look at him as a saxophonist. Because of his previous associations with McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, and Reggie Workman on those recordings, Shorter had been unfairly branded with the "just-another-Coltrane-disciple" tag, despite his highly original and unusual compositions. Here, with only Jones remaining and his bandmates from the Miles Davis Quintet, Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter on board (with Freddie Hubbard filling out the horn section), Shorter at last came into his own and caused a major reappraisal of his earlier work. The odd harmonic frameworks used to erect "Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum," with its balladic structure augmented with a bluesy regimen of hard bop and open-toned modalism, create the illusion of a much larger band managing all that timbral space. Likewise on the title track, with its post-bop-oriented melodic line strewn across a wide chromatic palette of minors and Hancock's piano pushing through a contrapuntal set of semi-quavers, the avant-garde meets the hard bop of the '50s head on and everybody wins. The loping lyric of the horns and Hancock's vamping in the middle section during Shorter's solo reveals a broad sense of humor in the saxophonist's linguistics and a deep, more regimented sense of time and thematic coloration. The set ends with the beautiful "Wild Flower," a lilting ballad with angular accents by Hancock who takes the lyric and inverts it, finding a chromatic counterpoint that segues into the front line instead of playing in opposition. The swing is gentle but pronounced and full of Shorter's singular lyricism as a saxophonist as well as a composer. [The CD reissue adds a fine alternate take of "Dance Cadaverous."]

by Thom Jurek in All Music Guide

Styles:
Hard-Bop

Tracks:
01 - Witch Hunt (8:07)
02 - Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum (5:50)
03 - Dance Cadaverous (6:45)
04 - Speak No Evil (8:23)
05 - Infant Eyes (6:51)
06 - Wild Flower (6.00)
07 - Dance Cadaverous (alternate take) (6:35)

Line-up:
Wayne Shorter — tenor saxophone
Freddie Hubbard — trumpet
Herbie Hancock — piano
Ron Carter — bass
Elvin Jones — drums

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

Miles Davis - Nefertiti (1967)

Nefertiti, the fourth album by Miles Davis' second classic quintet, continues the forward motion of Sorcerer, as the group settles into a low-key, exploratory groove, offering music with recognizable themes -- but themes that were deliberately dissonant, slightly unsettling even as they burrowed their way into the consciousness. In a sense, this is mood music, since, like on much of Sorcerer, the individual parts mesh in unpredictable ways, creating evocative, floating soundscapes. This music anticipates the free-fall, impressionistic work of In a Silent Way, yet it remains rooted in hard bop, particularly when the tempo is a bit sprightly, as on "Hand Jive." Yet even when the instrumentalists and soloists are placed in the foreground -- such as Miles' extended opening solo on "Madness" or Hancock's long solo toward the end of the piece -- this never feels like showcases for virtuosity, the way some showboating hard bop can, though each player shines. What's impressive, like on all of this quintet's sessions, is the interplay, how the musicians follow an unpredictable path as a unit, turning in music that is always searching, always provocative, and never boring. Perhaps Nefertiti's charms are a little more subtle than those of its predecessors, but that makes it intriguing. Besides, this album so clearly points the way to fusion, while remaining acoustic, that it may force listeners on either side of the fence into another direction.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine in All Music Guide

Styles:
Hard-Bop
Post-Bop
Modern Creative
Modal

Tracks:
01 - Nefertiti (7:52)
02 - Fall (6:39)
03 - Hand Jive (8:54)
04 - Madness (7:31)
05 - Riot (3:05)
06 - Pinocchio (5:08)
07 - Hand Jive [First Alternate Take] (6:45)
08 - Hand Jive [Second Alternate Take] (8:17)
09 - Madness (6:40)
10 - Pinocchio (5:05)

Line-up:
Miles Davis - trumpet
Wayne Shorter - tenor saxophone
Herbie Hancock - piano
Ron Carter - double bass
Tony Williams - 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

Boogie Woogie Waltz (1975)

Line-up:
Joe Zawinul - piano / keyboards
Wayne Shorter - soprano saxophone
Alphonso Johnson - electric bass
Chester Thomson - drums
Alex Acuña - percussion

Miles Davis Quintet - Live in Milan (1964)

Tracks:
01 - Autumn Leaves
02 - My Funny Valentine
03 - All Blue
04 - All of You
05 - Joshua - into - The Theme

Line-up:
Miles Davis - trumpet
Wayne Shorter - tenor sax
Herbie Hancock - piano
Ron Carter - bass
Tony Williams - drums

Freddie Hubbard - Ready for Freddie (1961)

Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard really came into his own during this Blue Note session. He is matched with quite an all-star group (tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Art Davis, and drummer Elvin Jones in addition to Bernard McKinney on euphonium), introduces two of his finest compositions ("Birdlike" and "Crisis"), and is quite lyrical on his ballad feature, "Weaver of Dreams." Hubbard's sidemen all play up to par and this memorable session is highly recommended; it's one of the trumpeter's most rewarding Blue Note albums.

by Scott Yanow at All Music Guide

Style:
Hard Bop

Tracks:
01 Arietis
02 A Weaver of Dreams
03 Marie Antoinette
04 Birdlike
05 Crisis

Line-up:
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet / horn
McCoy Tyner - piano
Art Davis - bass
Elvin Jones - drums
Bernard McKinney - Euphonium / horn
Wayne Shorter - tenor saxophone

Miles Davis - In a Silent Way (1969)

Listening to Miles Davis' originally released version of In a Silent Way in light of the complete sessions released by Sony in 2001 (Columbia Legacy 65362) reveals just how strategic and dramatic a studio construction it was. If one listens to Joe Zawinul's original version of "In a Silent Way," it comes across as almost a folk song with a very pronounced melody. The version Miles Davis and Teo Macero assembled from the recording session in July of 1968 is anything but. There is no melody, not even a melodic frame. There are only vamps and solos, grooves layered on top of other grooves spiraling toward space but ending in silence. But even these don't begin until almost ten minutes into the piece. It's Miles and McLaughlin, sparely breathing and wending their way through a series of seemingly disconnected phrases until the groove monster kicks in. The solos are extended, digging deep into the heart of the ethereal groove, which was dark, smoky, and ashen. McLaughlin and Hancock are particularly brilliant, but Corea's solo on the Fender Rhodes is one of his most articulate and spiraling on the instrument ever. The A-side of the album, "Shhh/Peaceful," is even more so. With Tony Williams shimmering away on the cymbals in double time, Miles comes out slippery and slowly, playing over the top of the vamp, playing ostinato and moving off into more mysterious territory a moment at a time. With Zawinul's organ in the background offering the occasional swell of darkness and dimension, Miles could continue indefinitely. But McLaughlin is hovering, easing in, moving up against the organ and the trills by Hancock and Corea; Wayne Shorter hesitantly winds in and out of the mix on his soprano, filling space until it's his turn to solo. But John McLaughlin, playing solos and fills throughout (the piece is like one long dreamy solo for the guitarist), is what gives it its open quality, like a piece of music with no borders as he turns in and through the commingling keyboards as Holland paces everything along. When the first round of solos ends, Zawinul and McLaughlin and Williams usher it back in with painterly decoration and illumination from Corea and Hancock. Miles picks up on another riff created by Corea and slips in to bring back the ostinato "theme" of the work. He plays glissando right near the very end, which is the only place where the band swells and the tune moves above a whisper before Zawinul's organ fades it into silence. This disc holds up, and perhaps is even stronger because of the issue of the complete sessions. It is, along with Jack Johnson and Bitches Brew, a signature Miles Davis session from the electric era.

by Thom Jurek at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Fusion
Jazz-Rock
Avant-Garde Jazz

Tracks:
01 Shhh/Peaceful
02 In A Silent Way

Line-up:
Miles Davis – trumpet
Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone
John McLaughlin – electric guitar
Chick Corea – electric piano
Herbie Hancock – electric piano
Joe Zawinul – organ
Dave Holland – double bass
Tony Williams – drums

Weather Report - Mysterious Traveller (1974)

Weather Report's fourth recording finds Wayne Shorter (on soprano and tenor) taking a lesser role as Joe Zawinul begins to really dominate the group's sound. Most selections also include bassist Alphonso Johnson and drummer Ishmael Wilburn although the personnel shifts from track to track. "Nubian Sundance" adds several vocalists while "Blackthorn Rose" is a Shorter-Zawinul duet. Overall the music is pretty stimulating and sometimes adventurous; high-quality fusion from 1974.

by Scott Yanow at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Fusion

Tracks:
01 Nubian Sundance
02 American Tango
03 Cucumber Slumber
04 Mysterious Traveller
05 Blackthorn Rose
06 Scarlet Woman
07 Jungle Book

Line-up:
Joe Zawinul - acoustic and electric piano / synthesizer / guitar / kalimba / organ / tamboura / clay drum / tack piano / melodica
Wayne Shorter - soprano and tenor saxophone / tack piano
Alphonso Johnson - bass
Ishmael Wilburn - drums
Skip Hadden - drums (tracks 1 and 4 only)
Dom Um Romão - percussion / drums

Guests:
Miroslav Vitous - bass (track 2)
Ray Barretto - percussion (track 3)
Meruga - percussion (track 1)
Steve Little - timpani (track 6)
Don Ashworth - ocarinas and woodwinds (track 7)
Isacoff - tabla / finger cymbals (track 7)
Edna Wright - vocalists (track 1)
Marti McCall - vocalists (track 1)
Jessica Smith - vocalists (track 1)
James Gilstrad - vocalists (track 1)
Billie Barnum - vocalists (track 1)

Weather Report - Sweetnighter (1973)

Right from the start, a vastly different Weather Report emerges here, one that reflects co-leader Joe Zawinul's developing obsession with the groove. It is the groove that rules this mesmerizing album, leading off with the irresistible 3/4 marathon deceptively tagged as the "Boogie Woogie Waltz" and proceeding through a variety of Latin-grounded hip-shakers. It is a record of discovery for Zawinul, who augments his Rhodes electric piano with a funky wah-wah pedal, unveils the ARP synthesizer as a melodic instrument and sound-effects device, and often coasts along on one chord. The once fiery Wayne Shorter has been tamed, for he now contributes mostly sustained ethereal tunes on soprano sax, his tone sometimes doubled for a pleasing octave effect. The wane of freewheeling ensemble interplay is more than offset by the big increase in rhythmic push; bassist Miroslav Vitous, drummer Eric Gravatt, and percussionist Dom Um Romao are now cogs in one of jazz's great swinging machines.

by Richard S. Ginell at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Fusion

Tracks:
01 Boogie Woogie Waltz
02 Manolete
03 Adios
04 125th Street Congress
05 Will
06 Non-Stop Home

Line-up:
Joe Zawinul - acoustic and electric piano / synthesizer
Wayne Shorter - soprano and tenor saxophone
Miroslav Vitous - acoustic and electric bass
Eric Gravátt - drums (tracks 2, 4 and 6)
Dom Um Romão - percussion

With:
Muruga Booker - percussion
Andrew White - electric bass (tracks 1, 4 and 6), English horn (tracks 3 and 5)
Herschel Dwellingham - drums (tracks 1, 2, 3 and 6)

Weather Report - I Sing The Body Electric (1972)

Like the weather itself, this band would assume a new shape with virtually every release -- and this album, half recorded in the studio and half live in Tokyo, set the pattern of change. Exit Airto Moreira and Alphonse Mouzon; enter percussionist Dom Um Romao, drummer Eric Gravatt, and a slew of cameo guests like guitarist Ralph Towner, flutist Hubert Laws, and others. The studio tracks are more biting, more ethnically diverse in influence, and more laden with electronic effects and grandiose structural complexities than before. The live material (heard in full on the import Live in Tokyo) is even fiercer and showcases for the first time some of the tremendous drive WR was capable of, though it doesn't give you much of an idea of its stream of consciousness nature.

by Richard S. Ginell at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Fusion

Tracks:
01 Unknown Soldier
02 The Moors
03 Crystal
04 Second Sunday in August
05 Medley: T.H./Dr. Honoris Causa
06 Surucucú
07 Directions

Line-up:
Joe Zawinul - acoustic and electric keyboard
Wayne Shorter - reeds
Miroslav Vitous - bass
Eric Gravátt - drums
Dom Um Romão - percussion

Guests:
Andrew White - english horn
Hubert Laws, Jr. - flute
Wilmer Wise - d and piccolo trumpet
Yolanda Bavan - singer
Joshie Armstrong - singer
Chapman Roberts - singer
Ralph Towner - 12 strings guitar

Weather Report - Weather Report (1971)

Here we have the free-floating, abstract beginnings of Weather Report, which would define the state of the electronic jazz/rock art from its first note almost to its last. Their first album is a direct extension of the Miles Davis In a Silent Way/Bitches Brew period, more fluid in sound and more volatile in interplay. Joe Zawinul ruminates in a delicate, liquid manner on Rhodes electric piano; at this early stage, he used a ring modulator to create weird synthesizer-like effects. Wayne Shorter's soprano sax shines like a beacon amidst the swirling ensemble work of co-founding bassist Miroslav Vitous, percussionist Airto Moreira, and drummer Alphonse Mouzon. Zawinul's most memorable theme is "Orange Lady" (previously recorded, though uncredited, by Davis on Big Fun), while Shorter scores on "Tears" and "Eurydice." One of the most impressive debuts of all time by a jazz group.

by Richard S. Ginell at All Music Guide.

Styles:
Fusion

Tracks:
01 Milky Way
02 Umbrellas
03 Seventh Arrow
04 Orange Lady
05 Morning Lake
06 Waterfall
07 Tears
08 Eurydice

Line-up:
Joe Zawinul - electric piano / keyboards
Wayne Shorter - soprano saxophone
Miroslav Vitous - bass / electric bass
Alphonse Mouzon - drums
Airto Moreira - percussion