Category Weather Report
Tribal Tech’s ‘Illicit’: the ‘Heavy Weather’ of the 1990s?
Many 1980s and 1990s jazz/rock bands tried and failed to match Weather Report’s killer combination of catchy melodies, elegant group interplay and cutting-edge improvisation, exemplified by their 1977 masterpiece Heavy Weather. But surely the most successful of the lot was guitarist Scott Henderson and bassist Gary Willis’s Tribal Tech. The LA-based group released four albums […]
Kurt Elling/Yellowjackets Celebrate The Music Of Weather Report @ Cadogan Hall, 15 November 2025
It seems such a logical fit for Yellowjackets (purveyors of quality fusion since 1979 who once counted Felix Pastorius – Jaco’s son – amongst their ranks) to celebrate the music of Weather Report. But throw Kurt Elling into the mix too? Then you remember that he has become legendary for vocalising seemingly impossible tunes in […]
Wayne Shorter’s ‘Harlequin’: a tale of three piano players
Wayne Shorter’s memorable but oft-forgotten ballad first appeared as a relatively ‘minor’ track on Heavy Weather, sandwiched between the more famous ‘Teen Town’ and ‘Palladium’. But, like most Wayne tunes of that era, the power of ‘Harlequin’ has only increased over the years – not surprising considering its stunning chord changes, spine-tingling harmony and arresting […]
Book Review: Elegant People (A History of the band Weather Report) by Curt Bianchi
‘The baddest shit on the planet’ – that was Weather Report keyboard player/co-founder/chief composer Joe Zawinul’s assessment of his band’s music. He wasn’t alone – many credit them as the greatest jazz/rock unit in history, pretty impressive considering they developed out of a ‘scene’ that also included The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return To Forever and Herbie […]
DVD Review: Weather Report’s Live In Berlin 1975
They were one of the bands who, along with Chick Corea’s Return To Forever, Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters and John McLaughlin‘s Mahavishnu Orchestra, took Miles Davis‘s late-’60s jazz/rock blueprint and ran with it, progressing from playing nightclubs to concert halls and football stadiums. Their famous credo – ‘we always solo and we never solo’ – was […]
Rescued From The Vaults: Weather Report’s Mr Gone
Dateline 1977: After seven years of hard work with a serious album/tour itinerary and drummer issues to rival even Spinal Tap, Weather Report, the legendary jazz/rock band led by keyboardist Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, finally hit gold. They had a dynamite new bass player in Jaco Pastorius, a US FM radio community that […]
Sounds Of Surprise 