Classic Recordings,
Weather Report, 'Heavy Weather'
Now this is really tenuous – as per the recommendation of my wonderful editor Matt, given the extreme weather we’re experiencing here in the UK I’ve been revisiting the seminal jazz fusion album, Weather Report’s Heavy Weather. Originally founded in 1970 by a trio of already well-established bandleaders – keyboardist Joe Zawinul, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and bassist Miroslav Vitouš – during its 16 years of existence Weather Report went through numerous lineup changes with a total of 30 different members passing through its doors, Shorter and Zawinul being the only constant members throughout until its dissolution in 1986. When you’re talking about Weather Report it’s hard not to mention them in the same breath as their fellow fusion contemporaries; bands like John McLaughlin’s fiery Mahavishnu Orchestra, Chick Corea’s Return to Forever, or Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters – all of whom were heavily inspired by Miles Davis’ own fusion period, and some of its members in turn would have played with Miles during this time, too. Zawinul had already been experimenting with a similarly-conceptualised project for his 1971 album Zawinul, releasing shortly before the release of Weather Report’s self-titled debut, and featuring Herbie Hancock on electric piano (though Hancock would never play in Weather Report himself).
By the time we get to 1977’s Heavy Weather, the band had gone through numerous drummers and percussionists as well as two bass player changes, the low-end now being supplied by the enigmatic Jaco Pastorius for what would prove to be one of the band’s most successful periods. He’s hard to miss on Heavy Weather given the distinctive tone of his playing style, and even on the other band member’s compositions his uplifting funk basslines end up forming an integral part of the arrangements, often a leading voice in the ensemble as much as a bassy foundation. The opening track ‘Birdland’, named after the popular New York jazz club, proved to be a surprising commercial success given Weather Report’s nature as an ostensibly instrumental-only fusion band. That being said, it’s not hard to see why given its incredibly pop-like melody and progression, as with much of the record Heavy Weather is one of the more accessible as far as ‘70s fusion goes – I’d even go as far as to say it strays into slightly cheesy territory at points even by jazz fusion standards. That, coupled with copious amounts of synthesisers and oddball harmonic turns, sets the stage for a simultaneously palatable and intriguing release.
Besides the grand piano or Rhodes keyboard, you can hear Zawinul employing a couple of the era’s now-iconic boundary-pushing synths, namely the Oberheim Polyphonic Synthesiser and the monophonic (i.e., only able to produce one note at a time) ARP 2600. Another poppy number, the balladic ‘A Remark You Made’, has Zawinul really stretching the capabilities of this humble synth with his solo at the end, skipping between bleepy octaves and moving so fast it almost can’t keep up. Elsewhere you can hear Zawinul’s synths imitating a flute lead on ‘The Juggler’ – you’d be forgiven for thinking it was Shorter playing at first, but the strikingly retro-sounding filters are a dead giveaway. All members contribute at least one composition to Heavy Weather, including the live recording (though not mentioned as such) of Manolo Badrena and Alex Acuña’s percussion-vocal duet ‘Rumba Mama’, and the ever-popular (with bass players, at least) Jaco composition ‘Teen Town’. Shorter’s two contributions on Heavy Weather offer us two sides of the enigmatic saxophonist; ‘Harlequin’ is still a rather bright yet somewhat obtuse composition, while ‘Palladium’ is much more in line with the then-contemporary latin pop sounds, with a singable melody much like ‘Birdland’.
Against the comparatively standoffish sounds of Weather Report’s contemporaries, Heavy Weather makes for a remarkably commercial-friendly and welcoming ‘70s fusion album from a time when the genre was beginning to fall out of the jazz public’s favour. A cross-section of jazz-rock, fusion and pop music of the time, Heavy Weather manages the impressive accomplishment of appealing to both serious jazzheads (it went on to win multiple accolades from outlets like Downbeat magazine) and the wider music-listening audience – no small feat for a purely instrumental record – making Heavy Weather a true all-timer for fusion fans.
Joshua Lee - Jazz Content
