Customer Reviews

Brown Street

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What does it take to produce great improvised music?

I've often pondered that question as I've reviewed nearly a thousand discs on this Amazon site. Stars aligned? Fortuitously landing on exactly the right groove? Weirdly synchronious aesthetic?

I confess, I don't know.

But I think I've got enough savvy, enough musical acumen, to recognize it when it happens.

And believe me, it happens here. Majorly.

Listen. Everyone involved's totally nailed it on this exceptional disc: elegiacism (that is, accessible melancholy), that most important of jazz moves, veritable exudes from these grooves; refined yet raw explosiveness erupts out of this session with eldritch regularity; and reckless joi de vivre literally bursts out of the speakers.

Certainly, Weather Report was one of the most important groups to ever grace our airwaves. To conjure its spirit sans any postmodern irony or nostalgia is a move of major consequence. To do it with such absolute insousance, with such casual aplomb, almost defies comprehension. Yet that's what we're dealing with here.

That raises the question: Was Joe Zawinul the prime mover behind Weather Report? How could that be, with bass god Jaco Pastorius and tenor sax icon Wayne Shorter involved? Nevertheless Zawinul, here, somehow, manages to conjure and manifest the consummate jazz/accessible vibe, one that, no matter what the genre, nearly always achieves what Weather Report was designed to reveal.

Look. Zawinul fully on his game (as he is here) casually outdoes all the wannabe fusion outfits seeking to parlay Weather Report-ish sensibilities into the new millenium.

This glorious disc, a two-fer, deserves the highest possible marks. You'd be a fool to miss out on it.

I was looking forward to this release even though I am not a huge fan of big band. But then, we're talking about the WDR big band, one of the finest in the world. And besides, look at that rhythm section: Alex Acuna, Nathaniel Townsley, Victor Bailey and the Man himself, Josef Erich Zawinul on keys. It's practically Weather Report, sans Mr Shorter.

To top off this stellar roster of players, the arrangements were penned by none less than the inimitable Vince Mendoza. Does it get any better than that? Not with this collection of great tunes. It's amazing how natural these great compositions translate to the big band format; they fit hand in glove. This format allows the listener to clearly hear the relationship Zawinul's ideas have to Duke Ellington's 'shout' melodies Just listen to the beautiful intro to In a Silent Way or the natural big band sound of Night Passage. In a way, Zawinul was gunning for that sound back in the day on those early synths. Now you can hear those parts played by the real deal. Listen to the audience response when the full band enters on the opening track, Brown Street, or for that matter, on the drums and percussion break on the steaming closer, Carnivalito. There is genuine excitement being generated here. It sounds like a party. We are talking serious groove here.

I am delighted and surprised by the ease and depth of feel exhibited by this large ensemble on what were originally small group compositions. The level of soloing is very high, as one would expect from this crack group of european musicians. There are plenty of Zawinul moments, but a number of players have their moments to shine as well. All acquit themselves quite well under Zawinul's watchful ears.

This is a must have for Weather Report fans, but there is something here for lovers of jazz in general. It is a revelation to hear just how steeped in the jazz tradition these pieces are when heard in this more acoustic setting. Big Fun for all.

This big band rendition of the best of Zawinul, Shorter & Company is an essential "Weather update." As other reviewers have opined, those 70s synth sounds have not aged well despite the fact that JZ was the consummate synth player (akin to Garth Hudson with the Band). The horns arrangements are unified and add a fresh perspective to the WR standards. Would love to hear more peformances, but these two discs' worth are nothing short of amazing. Jazz is alive and well in the 21st Century.

If there had never been a synthesizer, would Weather Report had to have been a big band? There's not a dull second over the course of two discs, and they could have put out two more. Never a huge fan of the big band as a youth, I now know it's the best way to get the maximum color out of a composition and it's arrangement (have you all seen the Pat Metheny Group stuff with the big band on You Tube?).

Mr. Mendoza, can you write charts for more of these tunes? Sponsors, funders, underwriters: can you please offer up some grants for the completion of such a project? Somewhere toward the end of "Night Passage", the volume is rising, the groove is SO intense, and I'm pleading "Don't stop, please don't stop!"

If Mr. Zawinul and Mr. Shorter should ever meet on stage again, this is how they should do it. Whether they do or not, Lord have mercy, someone get this record a tour in the U.S., and fast!

Buy it now-it's THAT good.

Thank you Mr. Zawinul for sharing your music with us and I wish that someday there will be a new Weather Report with Mr. Shorter. Your music will live forever. El mundo necesita musica de Jazz como esta simplemente lo mejor! Long Live Weather Report!

Joe Zawinul and his core group meshes with the WDR big band to romp through his songs. I'm familiar with some of the Weather Report songs, but most of the songs were new to me. The overall mood, as you can probably tell from the samples, is peppy. The first song sets the mood, it's bouncy and swinging. This CD highlights that Joe Zawinul's keyboard may be able to play a lot of notes and make different sounds, but is no substitute for having a whole mess of horn players. A big band has more dynamics and power, and while fusion may be in jazz terms 180 degrees from big band music, in this case they have a lot in common. "In A Silent Way" focuses more on Zawinul in favor of using the band. "Fast City" is true to its name. In the fast songs, Victor Bailey plays dizzyingly fast bass lines. His tone cuts through the mix, so you can readily hear him whirling along. I think a song or two might have been better served by a slower, funkier bass line like the Jaco lines on "Black Market". There are 10 songs, and the total album length is 84 minutes, so it's barely a double CD, but the price is that of a single. This is one of the better jazz CD's of 2007 so far.

After hearing clips, and even downloading "A Remark You Made," I had been coveting this disc for some time. I loved Joe Zawinul's harmonic sense, brilliant writing, and singular improv. For me, however, this is one of those 2-disc releases that might have been better off as a single. The second of the two holds my interest MUCH more, perhaps because of the song selection. Joe's arrangements (I assume) do leave me with renewed hope for the big band format - nothing on here sounds stale, like some other big band material can, and ALL of the players are wonderful, particularly Alex Acuna & Victor Bailey.

If you're a Weather Report fan, you'll love this CD. All of the songs were done by Weather Report and written by Joe Zawinul, who is performing them with the WDR Big Band at his Birdland Club. It was a celebration of his 70th birthday. Man, these guys can really cook. The arrangements are well done by Vince Mendoza and the exception is "Procession", which is arranged by Joe. They don't take away from Joe's or Weather Report's sound at all, in this writer's opinion. You can still hear his keyboard mastery, along with special guests Victor Bailey, Alex Acuna and Nathaniel Townsley.

I recently saw an interview in which Joe raved about the first American bands that he heard: Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller. He said that their band's intonations were perfect. "Never made a mistake" he said. I wonder if Joe ever thought that one day his songs would be played by a band that fits that discription. The WDR Band is tight and treats his music beautifully. I recommend this CD highly and I'm glad that I own it as homage to a great musician and person.

Even if he had known that this would be his last recording,i don't think that Joe could have come up with a better tribute to the legacy of his music."In A Slient Way"is particularly beautiful, with a sensitive trumpet reading over the type of sophisticated but emotional arrangement what has always been a trademark for Zawinul. For me, this big band is making the concept of a big band fresh and vital again with all of the recent contemporary jazz recordings that they have done on the music of Pat Metheny, etc., and this record is yet another example of that. They are strong and tight and just doing Zawinul's music the way he might do it if HE played all the instruments himself - this is a really great record and a true chronical of the music of Joe Zawinul, I highly recommned it to any Weather Report / 70's "golden age" world - fusion fan.

If you like Big Band and Zawinul, then this one is for you. I happen to like Zawinul A LOT (been listening to him since his days with Miles, Cannonball, and Weather Report), but I am not much for Big Band. SO, this one is just not my "cup of tea" despite my fondness for Zawinul. Joe Z does best, in my opinion, in a small combo environment: Adderly, WR, Syndicate. The Big Band seemed like it was mostly studio pros who were good, not great, musicians (Zawinul usually played with the best), but collectively were just not "tight". Some of the band solos lasted waaaay too long - and Joe Z was too often buried in the background. I'd give this one a 1-star, except I recognize that it is my strong preference for Zawinul in his natural small-combo environmet that makes me disappointed with this recording. Zawinul was a virtuoso, a genius, an innovator and an original - I just prefer his music a-la-Zawinul, straight with no chaser, and this one is not.