MR. GONE

Mr. Gone by Weather Report continues with the friendlier Jazz Fusion style that began with Black Market; so long are the free jazz roots and experimentation from their early albums, Joe Zawinul is repleted with the latest toys and Jaco is shining with his fretless. This incarnation of Weather Report, with Jaco Pastorius on board, is a catchier affair.

Unquestionably, Mr. Gone is nowhere near the perfection and beauty achieved in Heavy Weather neither near to the sophistication of Black Market, yet Mr. Gone still manages to offer some new and memorable material, although as an album overall it is average.

The tunes River People, And Then, Young and Fine, The Pursuit of the Woman.... and Pinnocchio could have easily been in the already mentioned albums. They all have some catchy hooks with a very friendly sound, and they are all very well arranged, specially the, unfortunately, short And Then with the presence of the majestic vocals of Maurice White, yeah the lead singer of Earth, Wind & Fire.

The tracks I haven't mentioned are three, Punk Jazz, The Elders and the title track, each written by a different core member of this incarnation of the band: Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul, respectively. These three tunes are the weakest part of the album, they don't have much to do with the friendly style the rest of the album offers, and overall they are rather forgettable.

Mr. Gone, like I previously stated, is a decent Jazz Fusion record that will surely satisfy any fan of not-very- demanding jazz rock/fusion; it has 5 pretty good tracks that will surely be enjoyed by fans of Heavy Weather, and also probably of Black Market.

3 stars: pleasing jazz fusion with originality, though not much complexity nor innovation.

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