WEATHER REPORT

After the musical exploration that Miles Davis with his ''electric bands'' had achieved, the members that formed the ''electric bands'' decided to explore even further for themselves. One of these seperate groups was Weather Report which featured the alliance between Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter.

From the three classic Jazz Rock groups that triumphed in the 70's, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report and Return to Forever, Weather Report will always be the less recognised and loved by Prog fans. The obvious reason is because Weather Report never had a guitarist and instead the leading instrument was the sax and besides that, they actually never played Jazz Rock in the manner of Return to Forever and The Mahavishnu Orchestra which both headed mostly towards rock and highly technical material.

Weather Report instead of adventuring further the rock sensibilities that Bitches Brew and A Tribute to Jack Johnson had, they opted to explore further the jazz improvisation essence of those albums. The apex of this exploration was 1972's I Sing the Body Electric.

As for the debut, the band clearly showed which path they had chosen and the result is very much in the vein of In a Silent Way by Miles Davis. Overall a pretty tranquil album with sweet and delicate saxophone notes and jazzy organ/electric piano bits. However, just like In a Silent Way, the band adds some groove every now and then with Alphonse Mouzon and Miroslav being the responsible for this. What Weather Report added to In a Silent Way's style is further experimentation thus the appearance of ocassional dissonance and misleading parts which are really not my cup-of-tea, but I can see anyone who's more fond in free jazz or avant-garde to enjoy these bits.

As a conclusion I'll just say that it's very much like a good 'experimental' version of In a Silent Way. If you're a fan of Miles Davis' 69-71 output, this Weather Report album will surely satisfy you. However, if you're already into more experimental and adventurous stuff and you are keen about free jazz, then I would say get 'I Sing the Body Electric' first.

If you're a fan of more active music that features instantly memorable melodies and grooves, then Heavy Weather and Black Market would be the best fit, and by every means avoid 'I Sing the Body Electric' and probably this too.

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