image note       view larger image

Columbia Albums 1971 to 1975 (Weather Report/I Sing The Body Electric/Live In Tokyo/Sweetnighter/Mysterious Traveller/Tale Spinnin (7CD set)

$42.99 ... CD 7 CDs List Price: 47.98 (€32.83 || £28.10 || ¥4291) (approx.)

6 classics from Weather Report – presented in cool tiny LP-sleeve covers! First up is the original Weather Report album from 1971 – a massive session that took fusion to a whole new level for the 70s! Most of the players here had been associated with Miles Davis at some point in the year or two beforehand – and Miles' electric work is definitely a starting point for this group – but they quickly flow off in whole new directions, thanks to the mighty legacy of their own talents on previous records! Next is I Sing The Body Electric – one of the finest statements ever uttered by group, and a set that's got a bit more soul and warmth than their first album! The lineup's changed slightly at this point – still Wayne Shorter on reeds, Joe Zawinul on keyboards, and Miroslav Vitous on bass – but Eric Gravatt has replaced Alphonse Mouzon on drums, and Dom Um Romao's taken over for Airto on percussion – giving the record an even earthier feel at times! Then, you get the 2CD set Live In Tokyo – an album that was only ever issued in Japan at the time of recording, and which really shows a searing side of the Weather Report sound! Sweetnighter is one of our favorite albums ever from Weather Report – an album that has them picking up a bit more soul than before, and shaking off some of the experimental sounds of their roots – yet all in a way that still makes them one of the most revolutionary fusion combos of the time! There's an incredible sense of tightness between the reeds of Wayne Shorter, the keyboards of Joe Zawinul, and the bass of Miroslav Vitous – and even when things go a bit outside, there's always a sense of focus and groove that brings them back together – a style that's never entirely funky, but which has plenty of funky elements to please our ears! Mysterious Traveller brings a new sense of focus in the Weather Report sound – that building, soaring groove that would become the group's trademark in the mid 70s – offered up here in one of it's first and finest examples! The approach is one to describe accurately on paper – but which is instantly recognizable as the Weather Report sound of the time – a flowing, stretching, organic vibe that builds equally from the talents of all players, and turns it into a wonderfully righteous groove! And last up is Tale Spinnin – a beautiful title for a beautiful little record – one that really does have Weather Report spinning out musical tales in sound – with a free-flowing and soulful sense of energy! The groove's definitely tighter than the earlier years, but it's never slick – and Joe Zawinul handled the overall orchestrations for the record, with an approach that's often highly rhythmic, vamping, and building up nicely as the tunes roll on.  © 1996-2013, Dusty Groove, Inc.