Jazz Articles about Weather Report

Weather Report: The Legendary Live Tapes 1978-1981

by John Kelman
November 22, 2015

While live documents from Weather Report's 16-year run continue to be unearthed, and while live albums have previously documented the group's 1978 tour, there's been precious little from its final tours of 1980/81, when the group returned more decidedly to its jazz roots with one of the best albums in its discography, 1980's Night Passage. Only keyboardist Joe Zawinul's “Fast City" and saxophonist Wayne Shorter's “Port of Entry," for example, made it onto 2002's Live and Unreleased (Columbia). Thanks, however, ...

Fusion

by Todd S. Jenkins
October 7, 2015

This article was originally published in 2003. Since the early 1970s, fusion music has served as an appreciable back door for people seeking an entry into the complexities of jazz. The term “fusion" refers to the blending together of jazz, rock, world music, classical, or other influences into a concrete whole. Most often it's applied to a form of music also known as “jazz-rock," which first gained wide popularity with Miles Davis' electric-jazz experiments in the late 60s. ...

Storia della Fusion

by Mario Calvitti
September 22, 2015

Storia della Fusion Vincenzo Martorella 281 Pagine Arcana La nuova edizione del saggio sulla fusion di Vincenzo Martorella, pubblicato originariamente da Castelvecchi nel 1998, è molto di più di una semplice ristampa (che già sarebbe stato motivo sufficiente a consigliarne l'acquisto). L'autore ha operato infatti non tanto una revisione del testo originale, lasciato sostanzialmente immutato, ma una corposa espansione ragionata, che aggiorna il discorso sulla fusion alla luce degli anni trascorsi dalla sua prima ...

Weather Report: Live in Germany 1971

by John Kelman
August 7, 2010

Weather Report Live in Germany 1971 MVD/Gonzo Distribution 2010 While technology has made audio and video recording a much easier thing in the 21st century, there's still the problem of where to broadcast it. Sure, there's the internet, and YouTube, for example, has become a treasure trove of archival live footage from bands that might otherwise have been forgotten. But it's chaos, with no real order or theme to the footage--just an overwhelming amount that, ...

Weather Report: Live at Montreux 1976

by John Kelman
April 24, 2007

Weather ReportLive at Montreux 1976 Eagle Eye Media 2007 When '70s fusion group Weather Report played the Montreux Festival in 1976, it was on the cusp of the wider popularity it would receive the following year with the release of its best-selling album Heavy Weather (Legacy, 1977). From then on the group would adopt a grander, larger-than-life rock aesthetic in performance that included a massive sound system, sophisticated light show, smoke on the stage...all the ...

Weather Report: Forecast: Tomorrow

by Marc Medwin
November 13, 2006

There is no question that Weather Report, the brainchild of Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter formed hot on the heels of Bitches Brew, deserves this long-overdue box set. The group's first few albums defied and established classifications whose reverberations are felt to this day. But first, a two-headed complaint: Why are we only given two unreleased tracks out of 37 total? And why only a three-disc set? Zawinul and Shorter were involved in the selection of these ...

Weather Report: Forecast: Tomorrow

by Ronald S. Russ
October 13, 2006

Weather Report Forecast: Tomorrow Columbia/Legacy 2006

If you followed jazz during the 1970s you were well aware of Weather Report. They consistently won the Down Beat readers' poll for jazz group of the year and helped forge a link between jazz, rock, and what would be later termed world music.

Formed in 1970 by saxophonist Wayne Shorter, keyboardist Joe Zawinul and bassist Miroslav Vitous, the band lasted for over 15 years with an ever-changing ...