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Weather Report was an influential jazz fusion band of the 1970s and early 1980s, combining jazz and latin jazz with art music, ethnic music, r&b, funk, and rock elements (in heavily varying proportions during the years), often demonstrating high levels of compositional and improvisational skills. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... is the 162nd day of the year (163rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... AUGUST 25 1981 US Marine Sean Vance is Born on the 25th of August {ear nav|1981}} Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956–present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic  - President George W. Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Jazz fusion (or jazz-rock fusion or fusion) is a musical genre that merges elements of jazz with other styles of music, particularly pop, rock, folk, reggae, funk, metal, country, R&B, hip hop, electronic music and world music. ... Jazz-funk is a sub-genre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat, electrified sounds. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... Columbia Records is the oldest brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888, and was the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. ... John Francis Anthony Jaco Pastorius III (December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged for his virtuosity of the fretless bass,[1][2] as well as his command of varied musical styles. ... Josef Erich Zawinul (July 7, 1932 – September 11, 2007) was a jazz keyboardist and composer. ... Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz composer and saxophonist. ... Miroslav Vitous (surname originally VitouÅ¡, born 6 December 1947) is a Czech jazz bassist who was born in Prague. ... Airto Moreira (born August 5, 1941) is a Brazilian Jazz percussionist and musician. ... Alphonse Mouzon Alphonse Mouzon is the Chairman/CEO of Tenacious Records. ... Dom Um Romão (3 August 1925 - 27 July 2005) was a Brazilian jazz drummer. ... Greg Errico, born September 1, 1948 in San Francisco, California) is an Italian-American musician/producer, best known for being the drummer for the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly & the Family Stone. ... Alphonso Johnson (born 1951 in Philadelphia, PA) is a jazz bassist who has been influential since the early 1970s. ... Leon (Ndugu) Chancler (July 1, 1952 - ) is a drummer, percussionist, studio musician, composer and producer. ... Chester Thompson, born in Baltimore, Maryland, made his name as a session drummer, going on to play in Frank Zappas touring band and with Weather Report. ... Michael Walden (born April 23, 1952, in Kalamazoo, Michigan USA) is an American producer, drummer, singer, and songwriter. ... Alejandro Acuña aka Alex Acuña (born December 12, 1944) is a Peruvian drummer and percussionist. ... Don Alias is a jazz percussionist. ... Manolo Badrena (born March 1952 in Puerto Rico) is a first-call percussionist most noted for his work with Weather Report from 1976-1977. ... Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer. ... Omar Hakim (born February 12,1959 New York City) is a noted drummer in jazz, jazz fusion and pop music. ... Victor Bailey is an American electric bass player, born in Philadelphia on March 27, 1960. ... Mino Cinelu is a French musician, born in Saint-Cloud near Paris, in 1957. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Jazz fusion (or jazz-rock fusion or fusion) is a musical genre that merges elements of jazz with other styles of music, particularly pop, rock, folk, reggae, funk, metal, country, R&B, hip hop, electronic music and world music. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... Latin jazz is the general term given to music that combines rhythms from African and Latin American countries with jazz harmonies from the United States. ... This article is about the broad genre of classical music in the Western musical tradition. ... Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. ... Rhythm and blues (or R & B) is a musical marketing term introduced in the United States in the late 1940s by Billboard magazine. ... For other uses, including related musical genres, see Funk (disambiguation). ... This article is about the genre. ...

Being one of the groups most frequently associated with both fusion and jazz-rock may be seen as ironic, as Zawinul once said in a Down Beat interview he "did not understand what fusion meant" and Pat Metheny once revealed he and Jaco Pastorius sometimes used to talk about how much they disliked that musical style called "jazz-rock". A fusion genre is a music genre which combines two or more other genres. ... Jazz fusion (sometimes referred to simply as fusion) is a musical genre that loosely encompasses the merging of jazz with other styles, particularly rock, funk, R&B, and world music. ... Categories: Musician stubs | 1932 births | Austrian musicians | Jazz musicians | Jazz pianists ... Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to jazz. ... Patrick Bruce Metheny (born August 12, 1954 in Lees Summit, Missouri) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. ... John Francis Anthony Jaco Pastorius III (December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged for his virtuosity of the fretless bass,[1][2] as well as his command of varied musical styles. ...

The beginning

Founders pianist Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter first met and became friends in 1959 as they had both played in Maynard Ferguson's Big Band. Weather Report is, despite this, often seen as a spin-off from the group of musicians associated with Miles Davis in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Shorter and Zawinul duo became a stable core of the group, while other musicians were rotated with almost every new album release. Both Zawinul and Shorter had made their mark among the best composers in jazz, Zawinul in Cannonball Adderley's group and Shorter in Miles Davis's group. Zawinul later joined Shorter with Miles Davis's first recordings of fusion music, In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew. A pianist is a person who plays the piano. ... Josef Erich Zawinul (July 7, 1932 – September 11, 2007) was a jazz keyboardist and composer. ... A saxophonist is a musician who plays the saxophone. ... Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz composer and saxophonist. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Walter Maynard Ferguson (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpet player and bandleader. ... A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late 1940s, although there are many big-bands around nowadays. ... Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American jazz musician, widely considered to be one of the most influential of the 20th century. ... Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz composer and saxophonist. ... Josef Erich Zawinul (July 7, 1932 – September 11, 2007) was a jazz keyboardist and composer. ... Julian Edwin Cannonball Adderley (September 15, 1928 – August 8, 1975), originally from Tampa, Florida, was a jazz alto saxophonist of the small combo era of the 1950s and 1960s. ... In a Silent Way is a 1969 album by jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. ... Bitches Brew is an album recorded by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis in 1969. ...

Initially, the band's music featured extended improvisation, similar to Davis's Bitches Brew-period work, and instrumentation included both a traditional trap set drummer and a second percussionist (first Airto Moreira, later Dom Um Romão). Though the album credits only Airto on percussion, Brian Glasser, in his Zawinul biography In a Silent Way, describes the participation of two other percussionists prior to Airto's involvement: Don Alias, a well-known session player who subsequently toured and recorded with Jaco Pastorius; and Barbara Burton, a New York symphonic and freelance percussionist recruited by Shorter. According to Glasser, Alias "walked out before the record was completed after an argument with Zawinul about what he should be playing". Burton told Glasser that she and Alias did the whole album, and it wasn't until the last session "when all the tracks had been laid [down] at Columbia Studios" that Airto became involved. Apparently Zawinul thought something was missing, or he was in some way unsatisfied, because Burton overheard Joe asking Airto if there was anything he could add. Airto said, "Man, that album is finished. There's nothing I can add." Nevertheless, Zawinul persisted and Airto recorded for the album. [IASW, p.133-135] Airto Moreira (born August 5, 1941) is a Brazilian Jazz percussionist and musician. ... Dom Um Romão (3 August 1925 - 27 July 2005) was a Brazilian jazz drummer. ... Don Alias is a jazz percussionist. ... John Francis Anthony Jaco Pastorius III (December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged for his virtuosity of the fretless bass,[1][2] as well as his command of varied musical styles. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

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.

Reedman Wayne Shorter further pioneered the role of the soprano sax (taking the torch from Sidney Bechet's and John Coltrane's earlier efforts) and both Zawinul and original bassist Miroslav Vitouš experimented with rock guitarists' electronic effects, Zawinul on piano and synthesizers, Vitouš on upright bass, often bowed, as a second horn-like voice. Sidney Bechet Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was a jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. ... Coltrane redirects here. ... Miroslav Vitous (surname originally VitouÅ¡, born 6 December 1947) is a Czech jazz bassist who was born in Prague. ...

Early recordings

Weather Report's self titled debut album Weather Report won Down Beat's Album of the Year in 1971. Although the album features a softer sound than in later years (acoustic bass and no synthesizers were used), it is still considered a classic of early fusion. The opening song "Milky Way" uses a technique by which the piano strings are sounded not by the hammers from the keyboard itself but from Shorter's soprano saxophone playing the notes and the strings sympathetically being vibrated. Originally Released in May of 1971, Weather Report was the first album by the group of the same name. ... Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to jazz. ...

Their second effort the following year, I Sing the Body Electric, featured their first use of electronics beyond an electric keyboard (a synthesizer and sound effects were utilized). Part of the 2nd album was recorded live in Japan which was taken from a Japanese-only release at the time. The entire Live in Tokyo double album would later be released as an import and made available in the US. The second album released by Weather Report. ... !Rap3 ...

Becoming "Funkier"

Starting with 1973's Sweetnighter, Zawinul decided to abandon the (primarily) acoustic group improvisation format and the band started to take a new direction. Weather Report became more funk/groove oriented while adding more structure to both song and improvisational sections. This change would prove to be not the best fit for Vitouš' talents as his relative lack of interest in playing more repetitive, funky vamps would become an issue (parts of Sweetnighter employ an electric bass studio sideman). Eventually this led to his departure and replacement by a fretless electric bass player Shorter knew who was playing with Chuck Mangione's group, Alphonso Johnson. The last song on the album, Shorter's "Non Stop Home", would arguably foreshadow the band's hallmark sound that would appear more in evidence on their next album. Sweetnighter is Weather Reports fourth album, released in 1973. ... Alphonso Johnson (born 1951 in Philadelphia, PA) is a jazz bassist who has been influential since the early 1970s. ...

Instability with the drum chair

For its first 8 years of existence the group had difficulty finding a permanent drummer, moving through an approximate average of one drummer per year Alphonse Mouzon, Eric Gravatt, Greg Errico, Ishmael Wilburn, Skip Hadden, Darryl Brown, Leon 'Ndugu' Chancler, Chester Thompson, Narada Michael Walden and Alex Acuña until Jaco Pastorius helped recruit Peter Erskine in 1978. Erskine and Omar Hakim later on were the only Weather Report drummers that played with the band more than 2 years. Alphonse Mouzon Alphonse Mouzon is the Chairman/CEO of Tenacious Records. ... Greg Errico, born September 1, 1948 in San Francisco, California) is an Italian-American musician/producer, best known for being the drummer for the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly & the Family Stone. ... Leon (Ndugu) Chancler (July 1, 1952 - ) is a drummer, percussionist, studio musician, composer and producer. ... Chester Thompson, born in Baltimore, Maryland, made his name as a session drummer, going on to play in Frank Zappas touring band and with Weather Report. ... Michael Walden (born April 23, 1952, in Kalamazoo, Michigan USA) is an American producer, drummer, singer, and songwriter. ... Alejandro Acuña aka Alex Acuña (born December 12, 1944) is a Peruvian drummer and percussionist. ... Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer. ... Omar Hakim (born February 12,1959 New York City) is a noted drummer in jazz, jazz fusion and pop music. ...

Middle Period

Weather Report's breakout album that established its hallmark sound would be Mysterious Traveller from 1974. For the first time an electric bass (performed by Philadelphian Alphonso Johnson) would be used on nearly every song. In addition, general compositional technique would be greatly heightened and Zawinul would exploit improvements in synthesizer technology on the recording. Some of the extra musical effects beyond just the musical synthesizer playing include crowd cheering (taken from an actual Rose Bowl game), space alien sounds, and child-like cries (Zawinul's own son recorded in their home). Mysterious Traveller would begin Weather Report's unprecedented string of four consecutive Down Beat "Album of the Year" awards. Mysterious Traveller is the fourth release of Weather Report. ... Alphonso Johnson (born 1951 in Philadelphia, PA) is a jazz bassist who has been influential since the early 1970s. ...

Tale Spinnin', recorded in 1975, made even further strides in utilizing technological improvements in synthesizers. The album also showcased more of Wayne Shorter's soloing to the extent that he probably solos more on that album than any other Weather Report record. Shorter would also record the seminal and well received latin-jazz classic of the 1970s, Native Dancer, under his own name that same year with the Brazilian vocalist Milton Nascimento. The Weather Report effort won the Down Beat best album award again and the Shorter/Nascimento effort was runner up. Tale Spinnin is Weather Reports fifth album. ... Native Dancer is the fifteenth album solely released by Wayne Shorter. ... Milton Nascimento (born 26 October 1942) is a singer-songwriter who is considered one of the icons of Brazilian Music. ...

The "Jaco" Years

By 1976's Black Market, the group's music evolved further from the open-ended funk jams into more melody-oriented, concise forms. They also had achieved a greater mass-market appeal by this time. Most notably, this album introduced virtuoso bassist Jaco Pastorius into the group, who plays on two of the album's songs. Alphonso Johnson (who plays on the other 5 songs) decided to leave Weather Report to play with the Billy Cobham/George Duke Band (a group that featured a young John Scofield on guitar). Black Market was perhaps the most rock oriented studio effort by Weather Report, in part due to former Frank Zappa sideman Chester Thompson playing drums on most of the songs (he later would be recruited into the touring band of Genesis). Black Market again won Down Beat's album of the year. Black Market is an instrumental jazz fusion album released by Weather Report in 1976. ... Deon Rexroat of Anberlin. ... John Francis Anthony Jaco Pastorius III (December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged for his virtuosity of the fretless bass,[1][2] as well as his command of varied musical styles. ... Billy Cobham performing on Réunion in October 2006. ... George Duke (born 12 January 1946 in San Rafael, California) is a piano and synthesizer pioneer, making a name for himself with the album Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio. ... John Scofield (born December 26, 1951 in Dayton, Ohio)[1] is an American jazz guitarist and composer, who played and eventually collaborated with Miles Davis, Billy Cobham, Medeski Martin & Wood, and other important artists. ... Frank Vincent Zappa[1] (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, musician, and film director. ... Chester Thompson, born in Baltimore, Maryland, made his name as a session drummer, going on to play in Frank Zappas touring band and with Weather Report. ... Genesis is an English rock band formed in 1967. ...

It was the addition of Jaco Pastorius that helped push the group to the height of their popularity. Their biggest individual hit, jazz standard "Birdland", from the Heavy Weather album in 1977, would even make the pop charts that year. The group also appeared on television on one of Don Kirshner's Rock Concerts. Heavy Weather would prove to be the band's most successful album in terms of sales, while still retaining wide critical acclaim. Pastorius would also establish a new standard in fretless electric bass playing and add two compositions of his own into the song mix. Heavy Weather would dominate the disc award scene and coup the last Down Beat "Album of the Year" award for the group. Jazz standard refers to a tune that is widely known, performed, and recorded among jazz musicians. ... Birdland is an instrumental composition by keyboardist Joe Zawinul which debuted on the Weather Report album Heavy Weather in 1977. ... Heavy Weather is Weather Reports seventh album, released in 1977 through Columbia Records. ... Don Kirshners Rock Concert was a television music variety show that ran during the 1970s and early 1980s, created and produced by Don Kirshner and syndicated to television stations. ...

Jaco Pastorius appeared on four more Weather Report albums, including Mr. Gone in 1978, 8:30 in 1979, Night Passage in 1980, and their second self-titled album, (recorded in 1981 and) released in 1982. Pastorius departed the group in late 1981 due to touring requirements that he had to fulfil with his own Word of Mouth Big Band. By the time he left Weather Report, Jaco had begun displaying symptoms of manic depression which would leave him with serious problems later in life. John Francis Anthony Jaco Pastorius III (December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged for his virtuosity of the fretless bass,[1][2] as well as his command of varied musical styles. ... Mr. ... 8:30 is a live (with occasional studio overdub) album by the jazz fusion group Weather Report. ... Night Passage is Weather Reports ninth album, released in 1980. ... Weather Report is the tenth album from Weather Report. ... Word of Mouth was the second album by Jaco Pastorius, released in 1981 while the bassist was a member of Weather Report, and also the name of a big band group that Pastorius assembled and with whom he toured from 1980 to 1984. ... Manic depression, with its two principal sub-types, bipolar disorder and major depression, was first clinically described near the end of the 19th century by psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin, who published his account of the disease in his Textbook of Psychiatry. ...

Owing to Pastorius' professional involvement with Joni Mitchell throughout the latter half of the 1970s, Mitchell hired both the Heavy Weather and 8:30 line-ups en masse, without Zawinul in each case, to play respectively on her studio albums Don Juan's Reckless Daughter and Mingus. Joni Mitchell, CC (born Roberta Joan Anderson on November 7, 1943) is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and painter. ... Don Juans Reckless Daughter is a 1977 double album by Joni Mitchell. ... Mingus is the 1979 album by Joni Mitchell, a collaboration with jazz musician Charles Mingus recorded in the months before his passing. ...

Downbeat's "One Star" rating

Many of the group's earlier albums had received the highest possible (5-star) record rating in Down Beat's record reviews. However, in 1978 the group recorded the controversial and experimental Mr. Gone, which received only a 1-star review from Down Beat magazine. The group arranged for a rebuttal interview with the magazine to defend their efforts. Zawinul and Pastorius were defiant in their responses to the interviewer, Shorter more philosophical, and Erskine the most reticent of the four. Some say this particular Downbeat review was the most controversial in the magazine's history. Mr. ...

They would make a comeback and follow up with their last album of the 1970s. 1979's 8:30 is considered to be one of their best, combining both live and studio recordings on a double LP release. The group won the 1979 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance for 8:30. Despite the Mr. Gone controversy, the band's follow-up 8:30 tour was probably their most well attended. Zawinul has been quoted as saying there were more stage hands hired for that tour than at any other time in the band's history. The group toured intentionally as a quartet now, temporarily abandoning the percussionist chair. 8:30 is a live (with occasional studio overdub) album by the jazz fusion group Weather Report. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance was awarded from 1980 to 1991. ...

1980s

The band kept releasing new albums once a year with various line-ups until 1986. A high quality video (Live in Japan — VHS and Laser Disc only) featuring Omar Hakim on drums, Victor Bailey on bass, and Mineu Cinelo on percussion was also released around 1984. This video was never officially released on DVD and is not currently available. Omar Hakim (born February 12,1959 New York City) is a noted drummer in jazz, jazz fusion and pop music. ...

Weather Report did not manage to match the critical or commercial success they enjoyed during the 1970s during this decade. It was also becoming harder to market jazz fusion as traditional jazz was making a comeback at the time. Shorter and Zawinul mutually decided to disband in 1986 after recording their last album, This is This! Both would play jazz fusion with their own groups for a time before moving on to new styles of music. This is This! is the fifteenth and final studio album by Weather Report. ...

Releases since the band's breakup

A "post band" Weather Report double CD, Live and Unreleased was made available in 2002, featuring vintage live recordings during the late 1970s/early 1980s with various personnel. In September 2006 Columbia/Legacy released a Weather Report boxed set, Forecast: Tomorrow. It includes 3 CDs of mostly pre-released material (from 1970-1985, excluding This is This!) and a DVD of the entire September 28, 1978 performance in Offenbach, Germany (with Erskine and Pastorius) not previously available. Live and Unreleased is a compilation of live recordings of Weather Report. ...

A DVD video of the 1976 Montreux Jazz Festival performance (featuring the Heavy Weather lineup of Pastorius, Acuna, and Badrena) has become available as well. There also may be a chance that Columbia/Legacy may re-release the 1984 Live in Japan concert on DVD at some point in the future.

Alumni

Other former members of Weather Report include bassists Alphonso Johnson and Victor Bailey, drummer and percussionist Alex Acuña, percussionists Manolo Badrena and Robert Thomas Jr., and drummers Peter Erskine and Omar Hakim. Alphonso Johnson (born 1951 in Philadelphia, PA) is a jazz bassist who has been influential since the early 1970s. ... Victor Bailey is an American electric bass player, born in Philadelphia on March 27, 1960. ... Alejandro Acuña aka Alex Acuña (born December 12, 1944) is a Peruvian drummer and percussionist. ... Manolo Badrena (born March 1952 in Puerto Rico) is a first-call percussionist most noted for his work with Weather Report from 1976-1977. ... Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer. ... Omar Hakim (born February 12,1959 New York City) is a noted drummer in jazz, jazz fusion and pop music. ...

Brief analysis of the leaders

Josef Zawinul

It was first with Miles Davis, then with Weather Report that keyboardist Josef Zawinul became almost synonymous with the jazz fusion era, contributing a number of genre-defining compositions. One such composition (although not typical) is the band's signature tune "Birdland" from the band's top seller Heavy Weather. Jazz fusion (or jazz-rock fusion or fusion) is a musical genre that merges elements of jazz with other styles of music, particularly pop, rock, folk, reggae, funk, metal, country, R&B, hip hop, electronic music and world music. ... Heavy Weather is Weather Reports seventh album, released in 1977 through Columbia Records. ...

Zawinul's playing style is often dominated by quirky melodic improvisations — simultaneously bebop, ethnic and pop-sounding — combined with sparse but rhythmic big-band chords or bass lines. In Weather Report, he often employed a vocoder as well as pre-recorded sounds played (i.e., filtered and transposed) through a synthesizer, creating a very distinctive, often beautiful, synthesis of jazz harmonics and "noise" ("using all the sounds the world generates"). Many consider Zawinul the "best" synthesizer player "in jazz", frequently employing over 10 keyboards with live settings of his bands. A vocoder (name derived from voice encoder, formerly also called voder) is a speech analyzer and synthesizer. ...

Mr. Zawinul passed away on September 11, 2007 after a battle with Merkel cell cancer, thus ending any hope of a reunion performance for the group. Merkel cell cancer, also called Merkel cell carcinoma, trabecular cancer, Apudoma of skin, or Small cell neuroepithelial tumor of the skin, is a rare and highly aggressive cancer where malignant cancer cells develop on or just beneath the skin and in hair follicles. ...

Wayne Shorter

Wayne Shorter's role was not as prominent as it was with Miles Davis during the 1960s and this led to some criticism of the group. However, he is regarded as one of the all time greats on both the tenor and soprano saxophone as well as a composer. At the urging of Davis before he left his band, Shorter began using the soprano saxophone and played it exclusively in Weather Report's debut recording. On later records, he played both soprano and tenor saxophone - sometimes on the same piece. Shorter is known for playing in a quite economical and "listening" style in many WR recordings, often adding subtle harmonic, melodic and/or rhythmic complexity by responding to other member's improvisations. Still, in some situations (with or without WR), he can also be frenetic like, for instance, John Coltrane or Michael Brecker. Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American jazz musician, widely considered to be one of the most influential of the 20th century. ... Coltrane redirects here. ... Michael Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13th, 2007) was a popular US jazz saxophonist and composer. ...

Discography

• Weather Report (1971)
• I Sing the Body Electric (1972)
• Live in Tokyo (1972)
• Sweetnighter (1973)
• Mysterious Traveller (1974)
• Tale Spinnin' (1975)
• Black Market (1976)
• Heavy Weather (1977)
• Mr. Gone (1978)
• 8:30 (1979)
• Night Passage (1980)
• Weather Report (1982)
• Procession (1983)
• Domino Theory (1984)
• Sportin' Life (1985)
• This is This! (1986)
• Live and Unreleased (2002)
• Forecast: Tomorrow (2006)

Originally Released in May of 1971, Weather Report was the first album by the group of the same name. ... The second album released by Weather Report. ... !Rap3 ... Sweetnighter is Weather Reports fourth album, released in 1973. ... Mysterious Traveller is the fourth release of Weather Report. ... Tale Spinnin is Weather Reports fifth album. ... Black Market is an instrumental jazz fusion album released by Weather Report in 1976. ... Heavy Weather is Weather Reports seventh album, released in 1977 through Columbia Records. ... Mr. ... 8:30 is a live (with occasional studio overdub) album by the jazz fusion group Weather Report. ... Night Passage is Weather Reports ninth album, released in 1980. ... Weather Report is the tenth album from Weather Report. ... Procession is the eleventh album from Weather Report. ... Domino Theory is the twelfth studio album by Weather Report. ... Sportin Life is the fourteenth album by Weather Report, released in 1985. ... This is This! is the fifteenth and final studio album by Weather Report. ... Live and Unreleased is a compilation of live recordings of Weather Report. ...

External links

• Weather Report: The Annotated Discography
• Weather Report: Tourography
• Weather Report on Progboard: Weather Report albums reviews and ratings
• Weather Report (in French)
• The Essential Jaco: Weather Report
• Wayne Shorter's letter written for Joe Zawinul's funeral
• Obituary of Joe Zawinul