WEATHER REPORT

Together with Return To Forever and Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report is one of the big fusion acts to emerge from the Miles Davis 69-70 line-up. Out of these supergroups, Weather Report strikes me as the band that was the most successful at continuing the mysterious atmospheres of Bitches Brew . Without guitar player in their line-up, their music tends to be less riff-based, with more attention to ambience and the rich harmonic jazz chords.

The album almost takes an ambient electronic start with Milky Way, very experimental and suggestive. Umbrellas introduces rocking basics such as prominent drums and heavy bass guitar. Wayne Shorter plays his saxophones similarly to how Davis plays the trumpet, with long sustained piercing blows. The structure of the music is very loose but still coherent and accessible. At least if you like to be mesmerized by the evocative power of free jazz. Seventy Arrow is a similarly energetic piece.

With Orange Lady, Morning Lake and Waterfall Weather Report return to more ambient and jazzy stylings, with a very slow an moody atmosphere, similar to Miles Davis' In A Silent Way. Tears is more upbeat again, almost funky, with wordless hazy vocals. Also Eurydice continues to swing, be it in quite an anarchistic fashion.

This is not your action-packed Mahavishnu or Return To Forever album, but it is a stunning and rich album full of magically flowing music. Wonderful music!