WEATHER REPORT

"Weather Report" is the eponymously titled debut full-length studio album by US jazz-rock/fusion act Weather Report. The album was released through Columbia Records in May 1971. Weather Report was formed in 1970 by the three former Miles Davis band members Joe Zawinul (acoustic and electric piano/keyboards), Wayne Shorter (soprano and tenor saxophone), and Miroslav Vitou? (bass). The two former were integral in the recordings of the two Miles Davis albums "In a Silent Way (1969)" and "Bitches Brew (1970)", which are often considered among the seminal jazz-rock/fusion albums from the late 60s/early 70s, before there was anything called jazz-rock/fusion.

Stylistically this debut album from Weather Report is quite unique in their discography, because of its atmospheric and at times almost ethereal nature, and what feels like a free form composition style. Of course improvisation is always a huge part of a jazz related album, but Weather Report would generally play more structured and easily (well...relatively) digestible jazz-rock/fusion on subsequent releases. So the material on this album often feels like improvisations over a vaguely structured backdrop. Not much feels like it´s planned, and the musicians are allowed room and time to improvise. It´s not always rewarding, and sometimes there´s a feeling that not much is happening, and that some tracks lack a direction of an end game. The ambient and directionless nature of a track like "Orange Lady" is an example of that. At 8:43 minutes it´s a relatively long and very slow building track, which does feature some interesting ideas, but it´s ultimately uneventful and too long.

"Weather Report" is a well produced release, featuring an organic and detailed sound production, which suits the material well, but upon conclusion it feels a little directionless and noodly. It sounds pleasant enough, but too much of the time it could just as well be pleasant sounding elevator muzak and not music played by incredibly gifted musicians. A little more structure and a musical plan for the tracks, other than just improvising over ambient jazzy backdrops could have made this a more rewarding listening experience. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.