Best Weather Report album

Posted by: Joe Littlewood on 06 June 2011

I recently heard Weather Report on 6 Music and was blown away by them. Which is the best album(s) to get started with them, please?

Posted on: 06 June 2011 by d1a

Hi Joe

Ive been a fan of Weather Report since about 14 and got about 10 of their LP's; or at least the ones I consider the best of what they did, and only got about 3 more to complete my collection.

 

Hope this helps but essential albums to own are the following:

 

1. Night Passage

2. 8:30 Double Live Album *** Superb and rated as the best example of their work ***

3. Heavy Weather 

4. Procession

5. Black Market

6. Weather Report - Self Titled 1982 Album + Still my favorite. Excellent !

7. Mr. Gone

8. Domino Theory - Later album but very good

9. Sportin Life 

10 This Is This - Last album they did before splitting up

11. Weather Report - 1st LP

 

If you want any more info then pm me or reply in your op.

 

Cheers

Posted on: 06 June 2011 by Sloop John B

I'd start with Heavy Weather, it's one of their most accessible.

 

Mysterious Traveller and I sing the body electric would be my second and third if you like Heavy Weather as they (IMHO) are the best at 2 quite different stages in their evolution.

 

SJB

Posted on: 06 June 2011 by d1a

Good link on Weather Report profiling the band and their discography

 

http://www.binkie.net/wrdisc/index.html

Posted on: 06 June 2011 by graham halliwell

although a massive fan of Shorter with the classic Miles Davis groups from the 60's, I was never entirely won over by WR.

 

however, I think this augmented 1971 line up with John Surman and Alan Skidmore is beautiful, and very much Zawinul in his post In A Silent Way/Bitches Brew mode.

 

hope you enjoy it.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRJC5WeeNSI 

Posted on: 06 June 2011 by backfromoz

Dear All,

 

My favourite Weather Report album, which i have had since 1974 when still at school, is Mysterious Traveller.

 

Another album to consider, which is one of my all time favourites, is Joe Zawinul's Concerto Retitled. A truly stunningly beautiful album, again i bought  it when it was issued in 1976.

 

David

Posted on: 06 June 2011 by Gale 401

This is the only one i have on vinyl and CD .

 

 

I am not that keen on the others,but thats just me.

Stu.

Posted on: 06 June 2011 by badknees51
Black Market is my favorite.
Posted on: 06 June 2011 by fred simon
Originally Posted by Joe Littlewood:

I recently heard Weather Report on 6 Music and was blown away by them. Which is the best album(s) to get started with them, please?

Joe, I know a lot about Weather Report, heard them live several times, and in fact hung out with the late Joe Zawinul a little bit.

 

Which album or track(s) did you hear that piqued your interest? Then I can better direct you, because while almost everything is first-rate, it's not all the same ... they really evolved.

 

Best,

Fred

Posted on: 06 June 2011 by Ian Goulding

Hi Joe,

  Not a weather report fan but will look them up, i am however a massive Christy fan and was actually playing "The spirit of freedom" album whilst trawling through here and then came across your thread....

Posted on: 07 June 2011 by Joe Littlewood

Thank you very much for all the replies. I didn't catch the name of the track played on the radio, but having looked on Amazon, most of the albums can be bought quite cheap so I'll maybe buy the ones most mentioned on this thread. Ian G. , WR are very different from Christy, but I have a wide taste in music. Hope you enjoy them too.

Posted on: 07 June 2011 by Sofa

I would to a large extend agree with d1a, but I would replace 4. by 6. and buy the first 5 cd's. No risk. I would not start with 7, 8 or 9

Posted on: 07 June 2011 by fred simon
Originally Posted by Joe Littlewood:

Thank you very much for all the replies. I didn't catch the name of the track played on the radio, but having looked on Amazon, most of the albums can be bought quite cheap so I'll maybe buy the ones most mentioned on this thread. Ian G. , WR are very different from Christy, but I have a wide taste in music. Hope you enjoy them too.

For what it's worth, my recommendations would be these essentials:

 

1. Weather Report (first album)

2. I Sing the Body Electric (half studio, half live; live tracks taken from the complete Live In Tokyo, which, if you like the live tracks on ISTBE, is a must ... early WR is very different from later WR, all the more so in live performance)

3. Black Market (first album with bass-phenomenon Jaco Pastorious)

4. Heavy Weather

5. Night Passage

 

But another recommendation would be to just go for the first seven studio albums, probably their most consistent run:

 

1. Weather Report

2. I Sing the Body Electric

3. Sweetnighter

4. Mysterious Traveler

5. Tale Spinnin'

6. Black Market

7. Heavy Weather

 

Finally, though, you really can't go too wrong with almost any WR album, except for their last, This Is This, which really should have been titled anagrammatically This Is Shit ... an uninspired effort made to fulfill contractual obligations.

 

Weather Report made some of the most inspired, emotionally evocative, life-affirming music ever made by humans ... enjoy!

Posted on: 07 June 2011 by RaceTripper

Sweetnighter and Black Market were always my favorites. But I'm more of an acoustic jazz purist and don't care for most fusion music...as I type this I am listening to vinyl French RCA 1980s reissue of "Sonny Meets Hawk" (Sonny Rollins, Coleman Hawkins)

Posted on: 08 June 2011 by soileduk

WEATHER REPORT Original Album Classics (2007 UK 5-CD album set comprising the classic albums I Sing The Body Electric Sweetnighter Mysterious Traveller Black Market & Night Passage. £9.99 at DVD Source.

Posted on: 08 June 2011 by Martin_C

Studio wise I'd also opt for Heavy Weather as, for me, they definitely hit their peak with Jaco Pastorius in the band - Birdland is probably their most famous track?

 

I'm a huge fan of 8:30 though as it really captures the essence of a Weather Report performance. I saw them the following year and they were fabulous - Jaco even gave me a thumbs up .....not as cool as hanging out with Joe Zawinul but the best I can do.

 

Oh and its also a good starting point for tracing links to loads of other bands via the main man himself: Miles Davis with whom some of these guys played (start with the musicians on Bitches Brew and see where you end up!)

 

Martin C

 

Posted on: 08 June 2011 by fred simon
Originally Posted by Martin_C:

I'm a huge fan of 8:30 though as it really captures the essence of a Weather Report performance. I saw them the following year and they were fabulous - Jaco even gave me a thumbs up .....not as cool as hanging out with Joe Zawinul but the best I can do.

Just to clarify: 8:30 is indeed great, and does capture the essence of a WR performance ... at that time. The earlier Live In Tokyo is equally essential, but very different. In fact, taking both gives one a picture of an incredibly broad-ranging band.

 

Yeah, hanging with Joe was cool ... I've got some stories!

Posted on: 14 June 2011 by Joe Littlewood

Thanks again for all the replies. I bought Heavy Weather over the weekend and really like it.

Posted on: 14 June 2011 by fred simon
Originally Posted by Joe Littlewood:

Thanks again for all the replies. I bought Heavy Weather over the weekend and really like it.

Continuing in a somewhat similar vein, you could go for the albums which bookend Heavy Weather ... Black Market  before and Mr. Gone after.

Posted on: 15 June 2011 by Joe Littlewood

Yeah may try those as well thanks for the suggestion. Does anyone know any other groups who are similar? I will try those as well. I have a very wide taste in music from punk to classic, but have never really got into Jazz.

Posted on: 15 June 2011 by Sloop John B
Fred will be the man for this question but I have not come across anything too similar to Weather Report. It's a bit like asking for artists similar to Hendrix, there are ...... but in reality there isn't. Take a tangent and get Oracle by Gary Peacock and Ralph Towner.
Posted on: 15 June 2011 by Sofa
Originally Posted by Joe Littlewood:

Yeah may try those as well thanks for the suggestion. Does anyone know any other groups who are similar? I will try those as well. I have a very wide taste in music from punk to classic, but have never really got into Jazz.

Here are some suggestions, some are questionable but it's a start:

 

http://www.tastekid.com/like/Weather+Report

 

There are more similar sites. I once found one which gave a nice graphic of similar musicians, your reference musician of band in the middle and the closer other musicians where shown to your  reference musician or band the better the match. Forgot the URL however.

 

Willem

Posted on: 15 June 2011 by backfromoz

Try:

 

Stomu Yamashta and his East Wind. Saw him live in Bristol in the 70's. He was amazing. His wife Hisako is a concert Violinist. His music has been used in movies. Wind Words was in a movie.

 

John Handy and his album Hard Work is also fantastic.

 

david

 

Posted on: 15 June 2011 by RaceTripper
Originally Posted by Joe Littlewood:

Yeah may try those as well thanks for the suggestion. Does anyone know any other groups who are similar? I will try those as well. I have a very wide taste in music from punk to classic, but have never really got into Jazz.

Well, if you want to back up and hear where Weather Report came from, try Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew." That is the seminal jazz fusion album.

 

But if you really want to get into jazz, you'll have to leave fusion and try something like Miles Davis'"Kind Of Blue," arguably one of a few best jazz albums of all time.

Posted on: 15 June 2011 by Joe Littlewood

I do have "Kind of Blue" and must say, it is brilliant, but for some reason I never play it much. Up until now it was the only jazz cd I own, and in fact, until you mentioned it, I had forgot.

Posted on: 18 June 2011 by Jet Johnson
Originally Posted by Joe Littlewood:

Yeah may try those as well thanks for the suggestion. Does anyone know any other groups who are similar? I will try those as well. I have a very wide taste in music from punk to classic, but have never really got into Jazz.

 

One of the obvious differences re Weather Report that seperates them from many other jazzrock /fusion outfits is the lack of a guitarist as many of them have a virtuoso axe man ....and I love the electric guitar yet also love WR!  - I supposed if pushed I'd cite Return To Forever as a band a Weather Report fan would like - even though their line up is more typical of a fusion band.