Tail Spinnin

Weather Report | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 28, 1994)
• Original Release Date: 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000029K2
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #398,320 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the classics, September 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Tail Spinnin (Audio CD)

There was a time when each new Weather Report album was eagerly anticipated as a major event by jazz and jazz/rock listeners. Each new album would reveal new facets of creativity, surprising and superb compositions, and would extend the boundaries of electric music in new, creative ways. At some point, that ended, and Weather Report's new albums began to seem routine, interchangeable, ho hum, like almost everyone else's. "Talespinnin'" was squarely in that period when Weather Report was exciting, creative, and each new album was a major event of the year. It is warmer in mood than "Sweetnighter", more focused than "Mysterious Traveller". Each composition is interesting. Zawinul and Shorter play excellent solos. There are third world sounds and elements which were exotic in their day, and which still sound fresh. "Talespinnin'" also features some flat out jazz blowing, which became less prevalent on later Weather Report albums. This album represents a great band at its peak. For my money, Alphonso Johnson was the perfect bassist for the band. His soulful sound, and slightly akilter lines, added both warmth and intriguing variety to the sound. This album should not be overlooked.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Underated Masterpiece, December 14, 2005

By 

Brian Whistler (Forestville, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tail Spinnin (Audio CD)

When I first bought the vinyl I back in 1975 I was hoping for the same great energy as Mysterious Traveler and was initially disappointed. It took almost a year before I revisited this album Perhaps I had matured enough to appreciate it by then, but it became one of my favorite CDs, and it still ranks up there with my absolute favorite Weather Report recordings.

This was a transitional period for the band. Miroslav was out and Alfonso Johnson's funkier bass was now driving the bottom, enabling the band to move in a whole other direction. It's a great blend of wild jamming and tight compositions. Starting right out of the gate, The Man with the Green shirt is one of the great Zawinul compositions. It is Joy itself, an unselfconscious ecstatic celebration of Life. There are no fillers here. Luisitanos, a quintessential Shorter composition exhibits all the classic Shorter touches, angular and emotional yet cooly logical in its phrasing. It features Joe in a (then) rare acoustic piano solo, simultaneously at his most relaxed and most burning. 'Between the Thighs' is a loose, rambling space-funk romp, yet is it also full of complex tutti passages and rhythmic depth .It's got a lot of thorny ensemble writing, yet it unfurls as naturally as a peacock spreads its feathers. It's as though the whole band is hooked up here, interacting and relating as one. It takes the listener on a journey to the swamplands of the Mississippi Delta, the high desert in north africa, and winds up in a party somewhere in the tropics on Mars. I have taken that trip a thousand times, yet every time they play that dreamy part with the tubular bells it takes my breath away. I think Stravinsky (as well as Ellington) would've gotten a kick out of this music.

Badia is an incredibly prescient view into areas musicians would be exploring some thirty years hence, but this was 1975(!), and these gentlemen were already masters of world jazz, a genre yet to be named and in many ways never surpassed. 'Freezing Fire' is another burning Shorter composition, and in it's afterglow, the album winds down with the reflective and intriguing, ''Five Short Stories', another great Zawinul composition.

Because of the joy and affirmation it communicates, I play this CD on special occasions, when I am feeling like I need a boost, or when I feel most alive, and embarassing as it might be to admit it, sometimes I'll put on candles, turn off the lights and dance to it! For this is a CD that embodies the Dance of Life.

(NOTE: Please note that the cover depicted here is of the inferior Columbia reissue. However, on close inspection I see that the CD offered here is the sonically superior Sony reissue. That's the only edition you want! The Sony version is a quantum leap ahead of the original Columbia release in terms of sound quality. It is truly a revelation for those of us who thought we knew this recording and had to live with its glaring sonic limitations. This remastered Sony Legacy edition is a pleasure to listen to.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Band emerges with a modern fusion sound, Wayne blows!, March 7, 2002

By 

Kevin Edmonds (Harpers Ferry, WV United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tail Spinnin (Audio CD)

After recording "Mysterious Traveller", Wayne Shorter and Josef Zawinul move from NYC and make LA their new home base. Apparently the move made a profound effect on the keyboard technology available to Josef Zawinul. If one listens to "Tale Spinnin' today the synthesized sounds don't sound dated at all. It's really hard to believe this album was recorded in 1975, over 25 years ago. Consequently, this is the first fusion album Weather Report made that really SOUNDS like modern jazz-rock fusion as we know it today.

The keyboard palettes, though, are not the entire reason for this. Alphonso Johnson plays with more of a funk influence than he did on "Mysterious Traveler" and three of the tunes on "Tale Spinnin'" are approaching "jam session" status (cuts 1,3,and 5). So the sound is dramatically different from any of WR's earlier efforts. The difference is almost mind-boggling when you compare this CD to "Sweetnighter" which was recorded only 2 years earlier (acoustic to electric bass makes a difference too!).

The CD's other hallmark is this is perhaps the only Weather Report album where Wayne Shorter plays as much as he really deserved to. He takes lengthy solos on 4 of the 6 pieces (2 each on Soprano and Tenor) and his playing is among his very best. In fact, it could be argued 1975 was the high point in Wayne's career with the success of this album coupled with his "Native Dancer" release that same year with Bazilian vocalist Milton Nascimento. Down Beat readers from the seventies may remember that the two recordings came in #1 and #2 in the Readers Poll for Best Album of the Year in 1975, what an accomplishment!

With regard to compositional quality, the standard dipped just slightly from their prior year effort. All are at least very good and two pieces especially stand out (the chilling "Lusitanos", what a masterpiece!-and the exotic Middle Eastern cultural flavor sampled in "Badia"). Zawinul's choice of synthesized sounds and effects on both of these tunes was especially good.

The only real criticism I have of "Tale Spinnin'" is Leon Chancer's obsession of over-utilizing cymbal and hi-hat techniques (keep the sticks low, Leon!). Thankfully, Alyrio Lima's fine auxillary percussion work somewhat makes up for that liability.

All in all, a very successful follow up to Mysterious Traveler that has a very different character to it. Only a handful of bands made two albums this good back to back, but Weather Report was the only band in this writer's opinion that made FOUR 5-star albums in a row. Two more masterpieces were yet to follow.