Celebrating the Music of Weather Report

Celebrating the Music of Weather Report

ASIN: B00004L89F

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
In 1970, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and pianist Joe Zawinul, fresh from their stint with Miles Davis, created an ensemble that performed with a jazz sensibility coupled with a groundbreaking use of electronics. Known as Weather Report, their band undertook evolutionary explorations that one writer then described as "folk music of the future." By the time Weather Report disbanded in 1985, some of the brightest stars of the post-'60s era had passed through the group, including bassist Jaco Pastorius, drummer Peter Erskine, and guitarist Steve Khan. Now another Davis sideman, keyboardist Jason Miles has produced a heartfelt tribute to WR with over 20 all-star performers. With ex-Weather Reporters Victor Bailey and Omar Hakim holding it down on bass and drums, Jason Miles and company's take on WR's music comes tailor-made for smooth-jazz audiences. Take 6's vocal samplings on the hit "Birdland" and the funky "Palladium" are as snappy as the harmonies of "A Remark You Made" and "Mysterious Traveller" are impressionistic. Add the Brecker Brothers, alto saxophonist David Sanborn, vibraphonist Andy Narrell, and pianist Joe Sample into the mix, and you have pointers aplenty to the sonic signature Zawinul and Shorter laid down years ago--and to the future sounds they made possible. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Tracks:

Birdland - Chuck Loeb
Elegant People - Jason Miles
Badia - Jason Miles
Young And Fine - Andy Narell
Cannonball - Cyro Baptista
Pursuit Of The Woman With The Feathered Hat - Cyro Baptista
Mysterious Traveller - Jason Miles
Harlequin - Cyro Baptista
Man In The Green Shirt - Andy Narell
Palladium - Jason Miles
Cucumber Slumber - Cyro Baptista

Amazon.com

In 1970, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and pianist Joe Zawinul, fresh from their stint with Miles Davis, created an ensemble that performed with a jazz sensibility coupled with a groundbreaking use of electronics. Known as Weather Report, their band undertook evolutionary explorations that one writer then described as "folk music of the future." By the time Weather Report disbanded in 1985, some of the brightest stars of the post-'60s era had passed through the group, including bassist Jaco Pastorius, drummer Peter Erskine, and guitarist Steve Khan. Now another Davis sideman, keyboardist Jason Miles has produced a heartfelt tribute to WR with over 20 all-star performers. With ex-Weather Reporters Victor Bailey and Omar Hakim holding it down on bass and drums, Jason Miles and company's take on WR's music comes tailor-made for smooth-jazz audiences. Take 6's vocal samplings on the hit "Birdland" and the funky "Palladium" are as snappy as the harmonies of "A Remark You Made" and "Mysterious Traveller" are impressionistic. Add the Brecker Brothers, alto saxophonist David Sanborn, vibraphonist Andy Narrell, and pianist Joe Sample into the mix, and you have pointers aplenty to the sonic signature Zawinul and Shorter laid down years ago--and to the future sounds they made possible. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Customer Reviews:

Ain't Nothin' like the Real Thing.......2007-02-02

This CD was a real disappointment, to say the least. I understand that this was the brainchild of Jason Miles, who I believe contributed drums and keyboard parts to the project. I assume these were his arrangements as well. While it is clear from the liner notes that this was a labor of love for Miles, it couldn't have been a more misguided project. The music sounds as if most of it was recorded with a click track, which Weather Report never did. Thus from the start, the feel is hobbled by the shackles of metronomic time. This took most of fire out of the project, which left it feeling bland and pedestrian, a sailboat with no wind in its sails, adrift in an ocean of mediocrity.

Even with a stable of impressive names, the music often feels like a pale imitation of the robust gems it tries to give hommage to. For the most part, rather than finding inspiration from the source material, Miles has chosen emulation and the results on those tracks are disastrous, as they cannot avoid comparison to their fiery predecessors, which are superior in every way. On the other hand, the new arrangement of The Man in the Green Shirt had me rushing for the remote to squelch the banal travesty that was assaulting my ears. How anyone could've come up with this watered down, tamed and cutesified, coy and oh so "caribbean" version is beyond my understanding. What a waste of Andy Narrell's steel pan talents! IWhat a waste of son many major talents! haven't had the intestinal fortitude to approach it again.

The good news is, once again Sony is putting out a newly remastered set of WR CDs on their japanese Mastersound label. There will be 10 in all, remastered with the dsd process. I recently got the Mastersound version of Night Passage (unfortunately not included in the new series,) on the Mastersound label and was very impressed-these may very well be even better. I intend to purchase many of the new WP re-releases, which incidentally will be available at Amazon. They have a street date sometime in March 2007 so be on the lookout for them.

In summary, life is too short for mediocre music. Your money will be better spent on picking up one of these re-vitalized new releases. Weather Report is still one of the greatest bands of all time. Accept no substitutes!

Often imitated; never duplicated..........2006-05-12

Weather Report sported an esoteric music style which to this day remains in a class by itself. Unfortunately, this fine ensemble is beknownst only to a select number of jazz music fans; hence, the incentive to create such a compilation seems mysterious. The contemporary arrangements are ultimately disappointing and typically ignore the fire and passion of the original recordings. The album features cuts from Mysterious Traveler, Tale Spinnin', Black Market, Heavy Weather, and Mr. Gone.

Basically a "Smooth Jazz" version of WR tunes.......2006-04-03

I'm sure the intent of the producer was to re-create his fave WR tunes and re-package them to a more viable commercial format in today's millenium market. Generally speaking I'd only recommend this CD if you are a big WR fan already and want to hear alternative versions of many of their hits. Probably the highlight is Sanborn playing on "Cannonball" but David alone can't bring the piece as a whole (WR was always about the sum being greater than the parts) up to the level of the original version.

Celebrating the Music of Weather Report.......2005-03-03

This recording is a great compilation of many contemporary jazz artists found together on one disc. It seems that "Celebating the Music of Weather Report" fell through the proverbial "crack" for me. It only took a matter of five years for me to get "hip" to this release. Much gratitude goes out to Jason Miles, who produced it and also to a jazz loving friend of mine, who introduced this "powerhouse" of a CD to me. I've been "Celebrating the Music of Weather Report" ever since.

Glad I checked this out.......2004-08-08

I had heard about this CD and when I came to this page and saw all these reviews that were totally different from each other I decided to buy this CD.I have to take the side of the positive reviews. This is not Smooth jazz(maybe Birdland alittle but that song was also a radio hit when it cam out)but real contemporary jazz with thoughfull arrangements and great playing. I mean Michael Breckers solo on Elegant People was excellent. Randy on Palladium was also excellent. Cucmber Slumber rocks with Scofield and Marcus Miller playing right on the money.This isn't Weather Report nor is it supposed to be.It represents the music of two great composers and it lives up to it's billing

Average customer rating:

Ain't Nothin' like the Real Thing
Often imitated; never duplicated...
Basically a "Smooth Jazz" version of WR tunes
Celebrating the Music of Weather Report
Glad I checked this out

Celebrating the Music of Weather Report
Jason Miles , and Various Artists
Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00005QZLF
Release Date: 2001-10-23