Heavy Weather

Weather Report | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: September 8, 1991
• Label: Columbia/Legacy
• Copyright: (P) 1977 Sony Music Entertainment Inc. WARNING: All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.
• Total Length: 37:49
• Genres:
• ASIN: B00136LW16
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,884 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seminal, November 15, 2003

By 

Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Heavy Weather (Audio CD)

Besides being perhaps the greatest ever jazz/rock supergroup, Weather Report actually managed to live up to their billings, without reservation.

They produced two astoundingly brilliant documents of their prowess, Black Market and Heavy Weather. Of the two--and this is more personal preference than anything clearly discernable--I believe Heavy Weather shines brightest.

Why?

Their ability to perfom at the highest levels of musical endeavor and innovation and still create a record that would appeal to the largest possible audience.

Surely "Birdland" and "Teen Town" are among the very highest accomplishments of what might be dubbed "accessible jazz." Combining simple, catchy melodies with progressive chord voicings and impossibly bubbly rhythms, they lend themselves both to extensive radio play and extended musical contemplation. Quite a feat.

The remainder of the disc, featuring a couple of Wayne Shorter's catchier compositions, "Harlequin" and "Palladium," also features "The Juggler," a magically mysterious offering from the pen of Zawinul, and "Havana," a stone rocker courtesy of Jaco Pastorius at the absolute height of his compositional prowess.

The absolute pinnacle of jazz/fusion, casually, effortlessly, blowing out of the water the entire jam band scene, Heavy Weather is not to be missed.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jaco!, April 23, 2005

By 

Jeffrey J.Park (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Heavy Weather (Audio CD)

This excellent 1977 release opens with the highly popular Birdland, a synthesizer-heavy piece that introduces the awesome talents of the greatest bassist in the world, Jaco Pastorius. As a bass player myself that was heavily influenced by Jaco, I was floored by his incredible technique on this recording, which includes a heady brew of harmonics, false harmonics, chords, and occasional bursts of lightning fast 64th note triplets. This is not to say that Jaco could not lay back - the moody and haunting Zawinul composition A Remark You Made features some very tasteful and restrained playing. The Wayne Shorter tune Harlequin and Zawinul's The Juggler are also very nice and similar in texture to A Remark You Made. The truly odd track is the the percussion driven piece Rumba Mama, which features a live performance by a duo comprised of excellent drummer Alex Acuna and percussionist Manola Badrena, who also "sing-shouts" in Spanish at the beginning of the piece. Although I really enjoy the entire disc, for me the highlights of Heavy Weather include Birdland, A Remark You Made, the Jaco tunes Teen Town and Havona, along with Wayne Shorter's superb Palladium. Although Joe Zawinul's use of synthesizers is heavy (a lot of Oberheim Polyphonic and ARP 2600) the sounds are natural and blend well with the jazzier and "straighter" aspects of the music. Then again, I am a huge prog rock fan so the synthesizers probably would not bother me much. If you like this recording, Black Market (1976) is also superb and in addition to Zawinul and Shorter, features a large and revolving rhythm section including: Narada Michael Walden (drums), Chester Thompson (drums), Jaco (bass), and Alphonse Mouzon (bass).

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well Crafted, March 19, 2002

By 

Feller who likes Old Yeller "bottomline5" (Webster, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heavy Weather (Audio CD)

This album is a 180 degree about face from Weather Report's earlier masterpiece, 'I sing the body electric'. The earlier relase features extensive improvisations and free jazz type techniques. Heavy Weather is most often rigidly arranged. The arrangements are good, and the tunes are catchy and infectious. There are some improvised solos here for sure, but in the context of largely pre-determined compositions. This is essentially a collection of extremely well-crafted pop tunes. One would be hard pressed to recognize this band as the same Weather Report that recorded 'I Sing the Body Electric'.

I enjoyed this album tremendously when I was first getting into jazz as a teenager. Having been an electric bass player at the time, I particularly appreciated Jaco Pastorius's considerable contributions. However, now that I have delved deeper into jazz, done a lot more listening and even some performing of jazz, I miss the continual interaction on this album that often happens between a combo of jazz musicians in a more liberated setting.

This is a great introduction to the Fusion genre and will probably be remembered as one of its defining moments.