Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Weather Report
Label: Columbia Records
Released: 1977
Length: 37:39
Rating: 5/5
With “Heavy Weather,” jazz fusion legends Weather Report hit one of their creative peaks and scored the biggest commercial triumph of their entire career. After the masterpiece that was “Black Market” (1976), everyone more or less expected them to keep building on their creative chemistry, but the album’s huge sales were a real shock for the band and their followers alike. Who would have thought, just a few years earlier, that these masters of marathon improvisations and inventive instrumental techniques would suddenly rocket to the top of the world’s music charts with a radio hit, the bouncy instrumental “Birdland”?
It sounds even more unbelievable when you realize this happened just as jazz fusion’s popularity was already fading, with disco and punk dictating the musical and social trends of the day. Their former musical collaborators and friends had already lost their creative drive by then and had thrown themselves into other projects or new musical directions. Miles Davis, by then fed up with fusion, took a multi-year break and was nowhere to be seen until the early ’80s. Corea’s Return To Forever had served their purpose and splintered into several separate projects. The same happened with McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra, which had been happily buried for a year already after John decided to sail off into acoustic and ethnic waters with Shakti. If you leave out the strong British jazz fusion scene with bands like Brand X, Colosseum II, Soft Machine and Nucleus, plus the Germans Passport, Weather Report were the only jazz fusion pioneers who hadn’t thrown in the towel, and they actually raised their popularity.
On “Heavy Weather,” the sudden shift is obvious right away: away from longer, highly experimental forms packed with complex improvisations, toward somewhat shorter, less complex instrumental pieces with increasingly refined arrangements and rhythms. Especially in the rhythmic sections, where they often drift into funk territory, you can feel their risky but wildly successful blend of melodic, radio-friendly motifs with serious playing and enviably high compositional chops.
Most of the eight instrumentals came out of the unbeatable duo that made up the band’s two bosses, keyboardist Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Both had always been the creators of the lion’s share of their best work. On “Heavy Weather,” though, they suddenly gained a strong, equal songwriting partner. That partner was the fantastic bassist Jaco Pastorius, who many music lovers, and not only in the jazz world, consider the best bassist of all time. “Heavy Weather” was the first album on which Jaco took part from start to finish as a full member, since his instrumental and compositional role on “Black Market” had been much smaller.
His monumental fretless bass skills remain a chapter of their own to this day. They make it plain as day why Weather Report never once fell for the temptation to invite some electric guitarist into their ranks. Jaco ran scales on his bass like it was a joke, pulled dual improvisations out of thin air, and all the while kept up an unusual level of melodicism. It’s also worth stressing that he perfectly understood and followed the development of advanced musical trends and techniques, and wove it all into his unique, innovative bass playing.
Zawinul’s layered experiments with electronics and playful rhythms on what were, for the time, cutting-edge synthesizers and electric piano, together with Shorter’s energetic saxophone parts, which had always brought in the most traditional jazz elements, form the central sound of this album. Beyond the legendary trio, don’t overlook the rhythmic contributions of the excellent drummer Alex Acuña, who stayed in the lineup from the “Black Market” era, and the new percussionist, Puerto Rican Manolo Badrena. Both energetically added colorful rhythmic ornaments to the compositions. These drew heavily on traditional ethnic elements typical of Latin American music, which Zawinul, a great globetrotter, had always adored.
More than on any of their other albums, “Heavy Weather” has an almost dramatic feel to the way they poured numerous new ingredients, especially from pop and rock, into their unique brand of jazz fusion. The nature of the individual pieces became rhythmically less complex and therefore accessible even to listeners who aren’t devoted jazz fusion fans. Their trademark, highly complex improvisations were simplified, which is far from saying the album lacks exceptional cohesion and intelligence in building dramatic arrangements, witty rhythmic ornaments and, above all, top-notch atmosphere. The funk and world music rhythms that already played an important part on “Black Market” were joined by some of the finesse typical of pop music. And that already gives you half the answer to where this album’s sudden, massive success came from.
With the opening notes, Weather Report invite us into a “bird land” of exceptionally playful vibes that border on a dance carnival. We’re talking, of course, about Zawinul’s big hit “Birdland,” the best-known piece of their entire career and a very rare feat in the history of instrumental music: an instrumental that climbed to the top of the charts. This evergreen jazz standard opens with Jaco’s unforgettable artificial harmonics, created through special vibrations on the strings of his bass. Then comes a cheeky, almost danceable rhythm as the other instruments gradually join in. While Zawinul builds the central arrangement on the keyboards, Shorter weaves in his witty passages on the saxophone. The rhythmic interplay and melodicism get an extra boost from the lively percussion, Jaco’s backing vocal harmonies in the background, and handclaps. The instrumental and vocal improvisations in between tie the layered bass and keyboard passages together in a fun, dynamic way. The roots of the composition actually reach back to before Jaco arrived, when the central arrangement was built exclusively on keyboards. Its name comes from the famous jazz club Birdland in New York. The club was named after the legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker, to whom, according to Zawinul, the piece is also dedicated.
With the rhythmically calm, almost meditative “A Remark You Made,” the mood suddenly flips into completely different waters and reaches a state that stirs up intense nostalgia. It’s one of the few moments on the album where the focus is more on building layered, almost orchestral arrangements than on rhythmic wit. That’s mostly down to maestro Zawinul, the central architect of this piece. You can tell from the fragile opening passages on the electric piano, which, together with Shorter’s tenor sax parts, bring in an atmosphere of exceptional subtlety and romance. Joe was always a big romantic. His sensitive feel for building melancholic, symphonic arrangements in jazz fusion was unmatched. Throughout, you can hear the lovely melodic jangle of Pastorius’ harmonics on the bass and some small improvisational touches.
Of all the compositions on “Heavy Weather,” “Teen Town” says the most about Jaco’s instrumental and compositional genius. This little gem of his is built from a series of unusual chords and bass improvisations while Shorter’s sax passages stroll along in the background. Zawinul builds the central melody on the keyboards while Badrena on congas in the background helps Pastorius cook up a rhythmic treat of unusual dimensions. It’s precisely these hypnotic, inventive rhythms that earned it the title of yet another evergreen jazz standard.
Shorter’s “Harlequin” is an utterly tasty mix of layered arrangements and lively improvisations. Uncle Wayne shines here in particular with his witty sax solos. Zawinul’s nimble ornaments on the piano and synthesizer are not to be overlooked either, not to mention Pastorius’ climbs up the neck of the bass. Despite the energetic rhythmic bursts, especially the drum fills in the closing section, an exceptionally serene mood prevails.
The album’s only weaker moment is the enigmatic “Rumba Mama,” which, because of its peculiar nature, doesn’t fit in all that well with the rest. It’s a short live bit, a solo performance by the two percussionists, Acuñe and Badrena. What bugs me isn’t their excellent playing in energetic Caribbean rhythms, but Badrena’s completely unnecessary shouting and the audience ovations. Luckily it’s only a brief stretch and doesn’t spoil the album’s vibe at all.
Things get serious again in a flash with Shorter’s “Palladium,” one of the rhythmically liveliest creations in the band’s history, with plenty of distinctive improvisations and solo spots. Shorter’s juicy sax passages are accompanied by outstanding rhythmic interplay. Here Pastorius, with his unique bass techniques, teamed up with mighty drum fills and a rainbow of percussion, manages to conjure up a one-of-a-kind Caribbean atmosphere. Zawinul’s piano and synthesizer artistry, popping up at rhythmically key moments, adds its bit to the picture of an exotic seashore at sunset.
On the excellent “The Juggler,” Joe once again demonstrates his versatility and his reputation as one of the sharpest keyboard wizards in modern music history. After an opening, Oriental-tinged arrangement on synthesizers, he slowly builds up an ethereal mood. The individual rhythmic patterns create the feeling that someone is constantly juggling the various instruments. Pastorius’ bass improvisations are once again pure fantasy, while Shorter’s saxophone brings in the lion’s share of the romance within the piece.
The closing “Havona” is, first and foremost, a treat for all devotees of the bass guitar grandmaster. This time Jaco didn’t just put on another one of his singular bass performances, he also managed to write one of the best pieces on the album. It’s a rhythmically intense composition with a whole string of dramatic transitions and witty improvisations. After dramatic, almost epic opening passages on the keyboards, razor-sharp bass lines kick in, joined by dynamic drum fills. All the instrumentalists show off incredible improvisations and solo spots here, but once again Jaco’s bass antics deserve special mention. His speed in picking chords, his intense scale climbs and his shifts into dual improvisations simply take your breath away. You couldn’t imagine a better way to close the album.
“Heavy Weather” remains one of the best and most important albums in the history of jazz fusion. It marks the pivotal turning point in jazz history when, by weaving in some influences from the pop music of the day, the legendary band took jazz fusion to the next stage of its evolution. At a time when the other jazz fusion pioneers were helplessly throwing up their hands, it managed to renew interest in the genre among a wider audience. With it, Weather Report reached their peak as composers and created one of the most dazzling jewels in jazz (fusion) history, as well as a worthy successor to the masterpiece “Black Market.” The legendary trio of Zawinul, Shorter and Pastorius pulled off the impossible: they became some of the few jazz (read: serious) musicians who could rival rock and pop stars of the time in mass popularity. That also set the framework for their classic lineup, which was key to Weather Report outlasting every other jazz fusion pioneer.
Lineup
Joe Zawinul — 2 ARP 2600, Rhodes electric piano, Yamaha grand piano, Oberheim polyphonic synthesizer, vocals, melodica, guitar, tabla
Wayne Shorter — soprano and tenor saxophone
Jaco Pastorius — electric bass, mandocello, vocals, steel drums
Alex Acuña — drums, congas, tom-toms, handclaps
Manolo Badrena — tambourine, congas, vocals, cymbal, percussion
Production
Joe Zawinul, Jaco Pastorius and Weather Report
Track List
1. Birdland
2. A Remark You Made
3. Teen Town
4. Harlequin
5. Rumba Mamá
6. PalladÃum
7. The Juggler
8. Havona
