FunkFreak75 I have a bit of a problem with 45% of this album's music coming from Live concert recordings as I am never happy with live recordings or live performances of music intended for studio recording. The band's sophomore album sees the exit of the percussion duo of Alphonse Mouzon (gone to work with McCoy Tyner) and Airto Moreira (to work with some solo ideas as well as in lineups with Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, Antonio Carlos Joabim, Johnny Hammond, Hubert Laws, Flora Purim, Gato Barbieri, and Grover Washington, Jr.), here replaced by Eric Gravatt and Dom Um Romão. All Side A selections recorded in Columbia studios, New York City, in November of 1971 (A1, A2) and/or in January 1972 (A3, !4). All Side B selections were recorded during a "standing room only" concert performance in Tokyo, Japan, on January 13, 1972, in Shibuya Kokaido Hall. The album was released on the 26th of May, 1972.

1. "Unknown Soldier" (7:57) a great mood-setter, manipulating the listener's emotions as a cinema soundtrack is supposed to. Would that all WR music would do this as masterfully. Eric Gravatt's cymbal play is key, as are the spacious playing of the other three principle musicians. So disciplined! Once the drums go military-snare, the enlisted support of other musicians begins--and the principles go off into a frenzy of free-jazz. I've never heard Wayne Shorter go so fast! In the sixth minute the music returns to the more disciplined, spacious play as the opening. Very interesting--and surprisingly dynamic--song! (13.5/15)

2. "The Moors" (4:40) picked notes from Ralph Towner's 12-string guitar open this one, soon bursting into John McLaughlin-like runs of remarkable speed as well as a flurry of syncopated strumming of muted and unmuted blues chords and harmonics. At 1:44 soprano sax, percussion, and bass notes join in before drums and keys also kick in, creating a fast-moving jam over which Wayne holds long, smooth notes. It is very surprising to me how much the performers packed into this little 4:40 song! (9/10)

3. "Crystal" (7:16) spacey wind-synth sounds with slow conga beat open this one before multiple saxophones enter, obviously recorded on different tracks. Keys support. Drums add some stuff here and there but it's really Wayne's multiple saxes and Joe Zawinul's multiple tracks of keyboards that are doing all the movement. Heavily-distorted bass joins in during the fourth minute, going off on his own direction--as have all three of the principle musicians at this point. The mix really doesn't sound very good. Drummer Gravatt has moved to percussion: he keeps trying to join in with his congas but it really doesn't fit, so he gives up and moves to wind chimes with some additional ride cymbal. Early experimentation with multi-tracking. It just feels like warm ups--as if it should never have been committed to tape/vinyl. Should we forgive them? (12/15)

4. "Second Sunday in August" (4:09) piano, percussion, distant drums, more horrible-sounding distorted bass, and spry and upbeat soprano sax. I like the piano and sax; the rest you can dispose of, thank you very much. (8.66667/10)

5. "Medley: Vertical Invader / T.H. / Dr. Honoris Causa" (Live *) (10:10) (/20) 6. "Surucucus" (Live *) (7:41) (/15) 7. "Directions" (Live *) (4:35) (/10)

Total Time: 46:28

* Edited from recordings at a concert January 13, 1972 in Shibuya Kokaido Hall, Tokyo, Japan.

B-/3.5 stars; a fair representation of studio songs which show the engineering and sound experimentation the and was going through. I do not review recordings of live performances.

FunkFreak75 Following the ground-breaking Mysterious Traveller--many prog and jazz-rock fusion lover's all-time favorite Weather Report studio release--was no small challenge. 1. "Man in the Green Shirt" (6:28) I really love the interplay of drumming, percussion, bass, and electric piano in this song. The horns are nice, and the weird synthesized Nature sounds entertaining, but it's the great coordination of high speed play from the rhythmatists that impresses and engages me the most. (9.375/10)

2. "Lusitanos" (7:24) opening with quirky comi-funk before synth, keys, and horns present a WR-type of melodic/chordal statement. Between regular repetitions of this chorded theme Wayne and Joe take turns adding their respective solos but the sonic field is so layered that it's almost full: practically burying any soloist's attempts. But then the band thins it out, keeping only the bare bones, so that Wayne and Joe can trade solos on soprano sax and piano, respectively--Joe even going so far as to solo twice: as if duelling with himself! Then Wayne takes a turn on his tenor sax: first within the full band weave, then with the open field laid out for him. No matter who's soloing, Joe is always adding quirky little sound injections from his circus collection of synth and hand tools. Alphonso Johnson's bass is creatively effected but it seems to handcuff him into playing some rather simple lines and a lot of single tone repetitions. (13.125/15)

3. "Between the Thighs" (9:33) the Weather Report circus show continues as Joe seems pretty set/obsessed with incorporating as many unusual quirky sounds and instruments into his songs as possible. So far in three songs, almost 24 minutes of music, there has really never a minute passed without some randomly fresh sound being injected haphazardly into the mix. It's almost like he's going for a citation in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most instruments played (or included) in a single song (or album). (Being a big fan of Andreas' Vollenweider's "busiest multi- instrumentalist I've ever encountered," Pedro Haldemann, as well as Pat Metheny's legion of upper-stage multi- instrumentalists, Mr. Zawinul may find that he has a little competition.) So many times on this album I'm hearing riffs and samples that predict the cumulative breakout that 1977's "Birdland" will be for them. The best funk and groove in this song is, for me, in the song's final minute. (17.75/20)

4. "Badia" (5:20) reaching into the orient for inspiration. (It's okay: the band had now been there--on their tours-- several times.) Odd percussion, reeds, sqealy synth, pregnant bass couplets, cymbal play, and treated horn and mzuthra make for an interesting and very spacious weave. Melodica and oud are also prominent. How confusing it must have been for dynamic creatives like Alphonso Johnson and Leon Ndugu Chancler to have been so shackled like this. (8.75/10)

5. "Freezing Fire" (7:29) funk that finally taps the tremendous skill and potentialities of the relatively untested and untried bass funk master. A song that grooves and flows, feeling a little more like a Jazz-Rock Fusion tune, despite the continued barrage of incidentals injected as accents throughout the length of the song. Again, it's the drum 'n' bass unity that interests and impresses me, not the parade of creative sound injections that Joe (and Alyrio?) can muster. Just give me Alphonso and Ndugu and I'd be a happy camper! Great foundation; weird and "novelty" level entertainment. (But, Joe: I don't come to your albums for surprise and novelty: I come for the grooves and weaves!) (13.3333/15)

6. "Five Short Stories" (6:56) one of those interesting-but-ultimately-off-putting musical equations (or masturbatory exercises) that Joe and Wayne like to work through with their band. Slow and methodic, sometimes melodic; definitely cerebral and mathematical. Quite the challenge to stay engaged/interested--especially over seven minutes. (13/15)

Total Time: 43:10

The smooth, careful, and calculated side of Jazz-Rock Fusion, here presenting a lot of interesting ideas (many of which will be more fully developed on future albums). With Joe and Wayne monopolizing all of the compositional duties I think they still had not realized what they had on their hands with the recent acquisition of 24-year old bass genius Alphonso Johnson. As demonstrated on Eddie Henderson's Sunburst album that was recorded and released at about the same time as this one, the kid is nothing short of a creative genius; he has ideas, he has the chops to star--to lead-- and he has a bag of his own compositions bursting at the seams (two of which ended up on that Sunburst album). Don't get me wrong: the compositions on Tale Spinnin' are all fine, mature, presenting ground for a lot of great performances and some rather memorable songs and riffs, they're just not quite as dynamic and powerful as those on Sunburst. I think it a terrible thing that Joe and Wayne "wasted" so much talent that came their way (though many would look at it as "mentored," "groomed," or "developed"). There is some great music here, just too much entertainment-oriented circus noise.

B/four stars; an album of sophisticated, busy, multi-layered music that is often overly-gilded in what amounts to circus entertainment tricks. Too bad! as I LOVE the bones and richly constructed first layers of a lot of this music.

FunkFreak75 Though the band had long been established--inspired by Miles Davis' Bitches Brew sessions in the summer of 1969--ths is one of the band's most popular albums. While the sounds or stylings of Joe Zawinal and Wayne Shorter never really wowed me, the ensemble sound, unusual (and engaging) melodies, and great performances from the extraordinary Weather Report rhythm section always drew me in. Here we are graced with various combinations of contributions from bassists Alphonso Johnson and Jaco Pastorius, drummers Narada Michael Walden and Chester Thompson, and percussionists Don Elias and Alejandro "Alex" Acuña. What a treat!

Line-up / Musicians: - Joe Zawinul / Yamaha grand piano, Rhodes electric piano, ARP 2600 & Oberheim Polyphonic synths, orchestrations, co-producer - Wayne Shorter / soprano & tenor saxophones, Computone Lyricon, co-producer - Alphonso Johnson / basses (1,3-5,7) - Jaco Pastorius / fretless bass (2,6,8-10) - Narada Michael Walden / drums (1,2) - Chester Thompson / drums (3-7) - Don Elias / congas & percussion (1,6) - Alejandro "Alex" Acuña / congas, percussion (2-5,7)

1. "Black Market" (6:30) (8.5/10)

2. "Cannon Ball" (4:40) the band's first contribution from Jaco Pastorius (9/10)

3. "Gibraltar" (7:49) (13.5/15)

4. "Elegant People" (5:03) the percussionist's treat (9/10)

5. "Three Clowns" (3:27) (8.5/10)

6. "Barbary Coast" (3:10) Jaco's first compositional contribution to the band. This is Jaco doing Jaco while the band supports. (8.5/10)

7. "Herandnu" (6:38) Alfonso Johnson penned this final song of the album--and a beauty it is! For me this is the band at their most dynamic and joyful. Very Steely Dan-like. (9/10)

Total Time: 37:17

While the performances are masterful throughout this album, I don't feel that the compositions are as strong or as memorable as those from other WR albums.

B/four stars; an excellent acquisition for any Jazz-Rock Fusion lover and a landmark album in the discography of Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter's ever-transitioning band.

FunkFreak75 The international conglomeration that is to be known as "Weather Report" makes its debut. Fun to see two Central European-born collaborate on a successful jazz-rock fusion band. (Joe Zawinul was born in Austria and Miroslav Vitous in what was then Czechoslovakia.) The band seems to have been very sure to evenly distribute the compositional duties (or credits) between its three principle songwriters as three are attributed to Joe, three to Wayne, and three to Miroslav.

A1 "Milky Way" (2:30) an atmospheric mood-setter by Joe and Wayne. (4.375/5)

A2 "Umbrellas" (3:24) an almost-funky (Miroslav does not quite have the comprehension for that which makes funk bass play yet) composition from the three principle songwriters is saved by a sharp turn in the final 45-seconds. Drummer Alphonse Mouzon and percussionist Airto Moreira are, surprisingly, not much better at bringing the funk. (8.66667/10)

A3 "Seventh Arrow" (5:20) an interesting song that seems to succeed despite not really hitting the funk on all cylinders nor presenting any melodies worthy of "earworm" status. I like Joe's use of experimental sounds from his electronic keyboard (a proclivity that he will continue to feed for the rest of his life). (8.75/10) A4 "Orange Lady" (8:40) soft and spacious (and drumless) sax and Fender Rhodes interplay for the first 3:30. Then spacey electric bass and playful percussives are allowed to join in. Interesting. Alphonse's wordless vocalese can be heard far in the studio background starting at the end of the sixth minute. I don't know if this was composer Joe Zawinul's intention, but the song has a simple, naïve lullaby-like feel. (17.25/20)

B1 "Morning Lake" (4:23) another spacious impressionistic lullaby--this time coming from the mind of Miroslav Vitous. Joe's creatively playful electric piano play is especially noteworthy. (8.75/10)

B2 "Waterfall" (6:18) a composition credited to Joe Zawinul, this one presents a whole-band weave that is the most satisfying on the album for its solid form and generous melody-making. (8.875/10)

B3 "Tears" (3:22) A Wayne Shorter tune, this one actually kicks in and moves--for several teasingly brief passages, dropping back to complete stops every 30-seconds or so each time it does. Alphonse Mouzon's very pleasant voice (again wordless vocalese) works very well here. Nice tune! (9.125/10)

B4 "Eurydice" (5:43) the only things that set this Wayne Shorter composition apart from more conventional jazz songs is its prominent placement of both Airto Moreira's playful percussion work and Joe's equally-prominent placement of his electric piano track despite its mostly-support role. Miroslav's walking bass lines are constant and perhaps more critical to driving the song forward than Mouzon's drum play. (8.75/10)

Total Time: 39:55

One of the things that really set Weather Report on its own is present here, from the very start: that is, the lack of guitars. Obviously, Joe and Wayne really wanted to be considered more jazz-oriented (which seems a bit ironic with so many atmospheric/impressionistic songs to their credit) than rock plus, I'm sure, they wanted the sound experimentations of their own instruments to garner all of the attention. Too bad that the electric piano Joe used predominantly at this time sounds so much like that of children's television host Fred Rogers. And too bad that both Kenny G and Najee chose to use Wayne's soprano sax as their main tools.

B/four stars; a nice exposition of fresh ideas from this group of idealistic breakaway artists--two of whom had found a partner for fruitful collaboration that would last for quite some time.

FunkFreak75 An album that brought world fame to an otherwise obscure and rather run-of-the-mill jazz-rock fusion band because of the radio-friendly mega hit, "Birdland." Though I never listened to this album as much as its companion, the previous year's, Black Market, I do like it.

Lineup / Musicians: - Joe Zawinul / Synthesizer [Oberheim Polyphonic, Arp 2600], Piano [Acoustic], Vocals, Melodica, Piano [Acoustic], Electric Piano [Rhodes], Guitar, Tabla - Wayne Shorter / Soprano and Tenor Saxophones, Composer (4, 6) - Jaco Pastorius / Bass, Mandocello (1, 7), Drums (3), Steel Drums (6), Vocals (1), Composer (3, 8) - Alejandro "Alex" Acuña / Drums, Congas and Tom Toms (5), Handclaps (7) - Manolo Badrena / Tambourine (1), Congas (3 5, 6), Vocals (4, 5), Timbales (5), Percussion (6, 7)

1. "Birdland" (5:57) iconic (though never a favorite of mine). (8.875/10)

2. "A Remark You Made" (6:51) beautiful melodies and performances but the song is so dang slow--and it just seems to drag more and more the longer it goes. Almost irritating! Still, that Zawinal synth solo toward the end is great. (13.33333/15)

3. "Teen Town" (2:51) a Jaco Pastorius showpiece, otherwise it's not much musically. (8.6667/10)

4. "Harlequin" (3:59) slow, melodic and memorable, this is one of my three favorite songs on the album and perhaps my favorite Weather Report song (that I've ever heard). (9/10)

5. "Rumba Mama" (2:11) is this where Pat Metheny got the idea to do this expanded percussion section jam so often? Weird that this is a live recording (Why couldn't they have done it in the studio.) (4.25/5)

6. "Palladium" (4:46) the second best song on the album with all band members in sync and hitting on all cylinders. I wish it were a little more melodic. (9.5/10)

7. "The Juggler" (5:03) another decent song: it's fairly slow and spacious with lots of individual subtleties woven together but the song never seems to get into full gear. Another top three song. (8.875/10)

8. "Havona" (6:01) another top three song: the most dynamic song on the album. Jaco and Alex's performances are sublime. This is jazz fusion! (9.5/10)

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of full-blown Jazz-Rock Fusion--one my Top 20 Favorites from the "Third Wave" of prog's "Classic Era."

Maxsmusic The mid 70's was the pinnacle for jazz fusion and this concert captures the energy and excitement of the era. The artists were playing in front of large crowds and making money. This band evolved from the post bop of the 60's and was super talented. The leader was a keyboard virtuoso and he wanted to create a new sound fusing jazz with rock. Weather Report actually had hits played on the radio, which was unheard of for a jazz band. This is not traditional jazz, as this was the electronic era and the musicians wanted to crank it up and play with synths and feedback. The 70's was the decade of experimentation in all forms of music and they took the jazz format to its limit. On bass the incredible artist of Jaco Pastorius, who had only recently joined the band, makes his mark with a vengeance. He plays as a true great bassist with feel and funkiness. This music is a direct offshoot of the Miles Davis school of music. It is highly recommended for the art it conveys. 5 stars.

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...