Weather Report revisited
Weather Report sounds better than ever! I mean dig out your vinyl or even dust off any cd releases and check (re-check) what this band was doing in the 1970s and 80s. There is also a marvelous website at http://www.binkie.net/wrdisc/index.html that gives a wonderful amount of background and notes on each of the releases. All this because I decided to play “Black Market” the other day and found it wonderfully fresh. I haven’t listened to it in years. Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter, the nucleus of the group and the constants through a myriad of change in drums and bass players, found a profound way of communicating across cultural, philosophical and aesthetic borders. Another amazement is the unique voice they created- and maintained – even when the entire rest of the band had changed. Check out the wonderful notes for Tale Spinnin’ that tell a lot about the recording process and the changes in personnel.