UMUR "This Is This" is the 14th full-length studio album by US Jazz rock/fusion act Weather Report. The album was released through Columbia Records in June 1986. It´s the successor to "Sportin´ Life" from 1985 and was more or less released to fulfill the band´s contract with Columbia Records. Growing tensions and a feeling that the band had run its course meant that Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter ended Weather Report after the release of "This Is This".

Although Omar Hakum only performs on "Consequently" and Peter Erskine performs the drums on all other tracks, the remaining part of the core quintet lineup who recorded the two direct predecessors is intact: Joe Zawinul (keyboards/synths), Wayne Shorter (soprano & tenor saxophones), Victor Bailey (bass), and Mino Cinelu (percussion, vocals). Carlos Santana makes a guest guitar appearence on the opening title track and on "Man With the Copper Fingers", and his unmistakable playing style makes those songs stand out quite a bit. It´s not often Weather Report have included guitar on their music.

Stylistically the material on "This Is This" are relatively diverse and the listener is treated to ethnic world music styled fusion, ambient jazz rock/fusion ("I'll Never Forget You"), and a furiously fast played fusion track in "Update". If you´re familiar with the last couple of albums, you won´t be surprised by what "This Is This" has to offer. The musical performances are on a high level on all posts, and the album also features a well sounding production job, so while it´s certainly not the band´s most interesting release, it´s not a bad quality release either. On the other hand the choice to disband was probably the right one, as "This Is This" and the last couple of releases before that, only offer very little new and for the most part the music is lacking the edge of the band´s 70s heyday. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Domino Theory" is the 12th full-length studio album by US jazz/fusion act Weather Report. The album was released through Columbia Records in February 1984. It´s the successor to "Procession" from 1983 and features the same quintet lineup who recorded the predecessor.

"Procession" was the first Weather Report to more prominently feature vocals and lyrics, although the band had made brief experiments with vocals on earlier releases too. The trend to include vocals continues on "Domino Theory", which opens with the stunning "Can It Be Done" (sung by Carl Anderson), but Weather Report have not abandoned their jazz/fusion instrumental work, which is as impressive as ever on the 11:10 minutes long "Db Waltz", which follows. That track also features brief moments with vocals, but no lyrics. We´re treated to funky and jazzy rhythms and bass work, Wayne Shorter´s exciting saxophone playing, and Joe Zawinul´s always intriguing and creative use of keyboards/synths.

While some of the material are quite brilliant, there are other times when I don´t think Weather Report quite hits the mark. "The Peasant" is for example unnecessarily long and becomes a little tedious with its ambient sound, and few climaxes. "Predator" features a lot of nice rhythmic playing, but it´s also a track which isn´t really leading to anywhere. The same can unfortunately be said about "Blue Sound Note 3", which is a relatively experimental affair, but again lacking direction and catchiness, until about 5 minutes in, when some melancholic saxophone melodies come in to save the day. "Swamp Cabbage" is decent enough, but not exactly a mind blowing track. I like the dark and haunting atmosphere of the title track, but it´s another ambient track, and "Domino Theory" could definitely have been a little more interesting with fewer ambient moments.

"Domino Theory" features a detailed, organic, and well sounding production. Some people may not appreciate some of the 80s synths choices, but Zawinul is a master of his craft, and anything he touches is at least interesting to listen to. Upon conclusion "Domino Theory" isn´t the greatest release by Weather Report. It starts out strong with "Can It Be Done" and "Db Waltz", which to my ears are the two best quality tracks on the album, but from then on the highlights are few and far between. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

DocB Sportin' Life came as a breath of fresh air when it was released in 1985, with Weather Report sounding more spontaneous, and Wayne Shorter contributing more than he had on some recent releases. The album followed two of the best releases since 1977's Heavy Weather - 1983's Procession and 1984's Domino Theory. My personal Weather Report favourites are Mysterious Traveller, Tale Spinnin' and Black Market, from the era that was the band's and jazz fusion's high point, and Sportin' Life harkens back to that era. I quite like it. Here's what the trades have to say about the album's merits: (Editor's note) Unfortunately I had to remove the other two reviews that were attached to this original review. Here at JMA, we are only interested in original reviews, not reviews taken from other sources. Thank you for your understanding.

dreadpirateroberts On ‘Mysterious Traveller’ a shuffling of the line-up enables a step toward the funkier, slicker fusion the band would soon be playing, but a sound they hadn’t full embraced just yet, as not every piece turns away from the more ethereal music of earlier albums.

The first few Weather Report albums produced some of my favourite pieces in jazz fusion, but across this record I don’t find the funkier pieces as effective. This doesn’t mean I think ‘Mysterious Traveller’ irreversibly flawed either, but ‘Cucumber Slumber’ for instance, doesn’t seem to have enough variation to hold my interest the whole way through. New bassist Alphonso Johnson certainly adds some pep to the piece, but I find the group’s approach to funk much more satisfying on the exciting ‘Nubian Sundance’ which also incorporates some African elements, mixed in with Zawinul’s sonic layering. In fact, he trots out a fair range of sounds on the song, seeming to have a great time with Wilburn’s urgent beat to ride atop of.

While some of Zawinul’s explorations on the keys don’t exactly fall down, something like the moody ‘Scarlet Woman’ is fascinating to me – because I can’t decide whether I enjoy it or find my ears getting ‘zapped’ every time he and Shorter sync up. While you’ll hear less of Shorter on this album than on prior releases, he still gets time for a nice solo on the title track, whereas elsewhere, on the more ambient pieces, he’s much more supportive, as if considering the effect of every note.

‘Jungle Book’ is quite a gentle closer, but one less sombre than the surprising ‘American Tango,’ which is still one of my favourite Weather Report pieces. Vitous’ only credit on the album, this piece is something of a stumbling ballad, with what should be jarring keys from Zawinul – but somehow their spacey immediacy gives the song something extra, even with what’s almost an awkward, lumbering and brief detour in there just before the long fade, with Shorter’s soprano tugging at the heart.

A Top Fifty Billboard release, this album would be something of a gateway between their more commercially successful period and the ‘In a Silent Way/Bitches Brew’ influenced output of their first three albums. Still one of my favourites of theirs, and probably not one that should be overlooked due to its transitional aspects.

Warthur A consistently catchy album of comparatively accessible fusion from Weather Report, Black Market gets a lot of props for being Jaco Pastorius' first album with the group, though in actuality he only appears on two tracks. Granted, one of them is his own Barbary Coast, but I the fact that this empty technical showboating made it onto the album as being a fairly clear symptom of the weakness of the songwriting this time around. Personally, I don't consider Black Market to be the unalloyed classic it's often made out to be - not only are the band playing a style of fusion which by this point in the 1970s had become fairly safe and mainstream, they don't even do anything particularly novel or interesting with it.

Sean Trane Well if the world still has to find some live recording from the very first studio all-star line-up (not likely, though), at least we've got now something very close to and we can even see the quintet at work with this just-as-famous version in the form of a German TV show called the Beat Club. With only Airto Moreira gone, replaced by Brazilian countryman Um Romao, the other four being Vitous, Shorter, Mouzon and Zawinul, Weather Report embarked on this TV show adventure not knowing that Alphonse Mouzon would leave the band in a while.

As you'd expect this broadcast consisted mainly of tracks from the debut album, but some are fairly different as WR always made improvisation their force. So you'll recognize 'Umbrellas generic structure, but drafted fairly differently, not just because of Romao's constant change of percussions instruments - he's one of the visual focus of the group, who otherwise remains fairly static and even blows a flute (and later some whistles) for a short while. One of the big difference between the studio album and this broadcast is that Miroslav has taken up the electric bass (his contrabass is still very present but mainly played with a bow), thus allowing even more energy to invade the quintet's shared space. The group's steaming-hot improvised fusion is simply awesome and flows naturally from your speakers like a river of fresh lave spewing out from your volcanic woofers.

Clearly the gravitational centre of the band is Zawinul's Rhodes, but it is clear that it is the group's tightness its main force. Morning Lake is much needed breathing space, starting out slowly with Shorter's sax signalling the dawn for Romao's birdsongs. Just past that Dom pulls an Brazilian berimbau . Drummer Alphonse sings funkilly (rather well, too) a rare sung track in the closing medley, but it's will veer into the Dr Honoris Causa - later on the Body Electric album.

A while later, Mouzon would leave the band and be replaced by drummer Erik Gravatt and this line-up would go on to record Body Electric and the Tokyo concert (released in 77, but part of it in the ISTBE album) and in the process become the definitive line-up of the Vitous- era Weather Report But for now, this German TV broadcast is an inestimable witness of the group's almost original line-up, and is just as essential as their debut album, the Tokyo concert or Body Electric.Too bad it's relatively short, though. Run for this baby...