NIGHT PASSAGE

I'm not convinced Weather Report can by any stretch be called "prog" but I've always enjoyed what music of theirs I've heard, which has been mostly from the Jaco Pastorious era. The difference between them and say Mahavishnu was that Weather Report were a jazz band that used electronic instruments (Zawinul's keyboards) to extend their sound; Mahavishnu meanwhile really did draw on other muscial genres especially rock. The reviewer "T.Reptile" clearly has wider experience than me of them (earliest release I heard was Black Market") so I'll start with this later release as no-one else has.

This was I believe the last studio album with Pastorious in place and its all very slick, professional stuff, and genuinely enjoyable - its an album I dig out from time to time, stick in the CD player and thoroughly enjoy it; but, it pales after a while - it's a little too forumulaic, a little too much like their other albums of this era. Some tracks are live; "Rockin in Rhythm" is a Duke Ellington number played at speed; "Madagascar" is long and frankly a bit drawn out. Indeed as I look down the track listing, I'm struggling to distinguish one track from another - they're all good, solid Weather Report material - just not them at their best.