Weather Report
Mysterious Traveller
 Columbia/Legacy
507657 2
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- Nubian Dance
- American Tango
- Cucumber Slumber
- Mysterious Traveller
- Blackthorn Rose
- Scarlet Woman
- Jungle Book
Wayne Shorter Soprano & Tenor and Josef Zawinul Piano, Electric
Piano & Synth. play on all of the tracks.
Alphonso Johnson – Electric Bass plays on all tracks except 5 &
7
Ishmael Wilburn – Drums plays on all tracks except 5,6 & 7
Dom Um Ramao – Percussion plays on tracks except 5,6 &7
Wayne Shorter and Josef Zawinul were the main driving
forces behind Weather Report, one of the most successful jazz/rock groups
ever with a lifespan of 15 years.
This fifteen years coincided with the rapid development
of electronic instruments and it was their emergence that brought about
the replacing of String Bass player Miroslav Vitious with Bass Guitarist
Alphonso Johnson.
Weather report were the jazz superstars of their time;
in wondering why this should be, I have come to the conclusion that
they had enough of a rock beat to carry along the ‘thinking rockers’
and add them to the audience for jazz which has always been very limited.
The music on this CD recorded in 1974 was certainly
very different from anything that had gone on in jazz before. Apart
from Scarlet Woman, the concept of soloists supported by a rhythm section
has disappeared and even in that piece the distinction is not clear.
Jawinul and Shorter were the ideas men and their exploration
of everything possible in electronic instruments and in the new recording
techniques enabled Weather Report to have a different sound than anything
that had gone previously. In my personal opinion, I am not sure that
it all worked. Whilst you have to respect the pioneering work and pure
genius of the composers, arrangers and musicians concerned, a lot of
the tracks on this album seem to me to have left the jazz arena completely.
Maybe a new order was created, but for me much of it was overcomplicated
and unpleasant on the ear.
Don Mather
CD Reviews
