Weather Report - Progressive jazz/fusion ensemble
Weather Report was an influential jazz fusion band of the 1970s and 1980s. Along with Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Herbie Hancock's Headhunters,it is seen as a definite representation of jazz fusion in the 1970s. This outfit had an enduring staying power as they were active for over fifteen years.
The band was originally a spin-off from the group of musicians associated with Miles Davis in the late sixties and early seventies. The stable core of the group was the duo of pianist/leader Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, while the other musicians were rotated with almost every album.
Initially, the band's music featured extended improvisation, similar to Davis' Bitches Brew-period work, and instrumentation included both a traditional trap set drummer and a second percussionist (first Airto Moreira, later Dom Um Romão).
Reedman Wayne Shorter furthered on his pioneering soprano sax work and both Zawinul and original bassist Miroslav Vitouš experimented with rock guitarists' electronic effects, Zawinul on electric piano and organ, Vitouš on upright bass, often bowed, as a second horn-like voice.
Among the notable musicians passing through Weather Report’s ranks was the late bassist Jaco Pastorius, who joined in 1976. Pastorius was present in a formidable way on 1977’s “Heavy Weather, ” and “Mr. Gone,” from 1978. Drummer Peter Erskine came on board at this time, and the band really took off. The cut “Birdland,” from Heavy Weather catapulted the band into best selling status, and is still representative of the band in premier form.
The group was unusual and innovative in abandoning the soloist-accompaniment demarcation of straight-ahead jazz and instead featuring continuous improvisation by every member of the band. They were also pioneers with their forays into what is now called World Music.
The lineup would shift often over the years, with only Shorter and Zawinul remaining until 1985, when the band wrapped things up. In 1987, following Weather Report’s split, Zawinul briefly toured solo and with a band he called Weather Update. Next he formed the Zawinul Syndicate which, like Weather Report, recorded for Columbia Records.
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