It was a stunning reintroduction to the group for me, although a little long for someone not a slavish fusion fan. You'll want to have your LFE channel properly balanced with the rest of your speaker system; mine was originally a bit too high level for Pastorius' rumbling bass lines. Drummer Peter Erskine rounds out the quartet for the video concert, which presents mostly tunes also heard on the three CDs.
There is evidently also an illustrated booklet with this set, but I can't comment on it since it wasn't provided with my review copies. Weather Report was founded in l970 by Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul. Both promising jazz stars gave up important positions with Miles Davis in Shorter's case, and Cannonball Adderley in Zawinul's.
The influence of rock and soul music was creating changes in the jazz world at that time, and mainstream jazz had fallen on hard times. Incorporating elements of what was the most exciting and saleable in music at the time - the likes of Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Sly Stone - held out prospects for better audiences for jazz groups. At first Weather Report stumbled a bit in their fusion efforts, but they soon - especially with Zawinul's unique composing chops - found exciting ways to include not only rock and soul elements but also world music into their work.
Advances in electronic musical instruments and in the technology of the recording studio also helped their cause. The 37 tracks on the three CDs present an engrossing overview of the inventive sounds of Weather Report as it changed its sidemen and style within the fusion genre. Two of the tracks had not been previously released at all.
In the progression of the compilation one can discern gradually more advanced harmonic development and more imaginative usage of electronics in the music. The rhythmic influence of both South America and Africa also becomes more prominent. In spite of the host of new not-before-heard tracks in the collection, my favorites remained In a Silent Way and Birdland, probably due to my long familiarity with them.
to a friend.
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