Weather Report this weekend – recorded at the International Music Forum at Stitshoff, Ossiach, Austria on July 27, 1971 and broadcast via WDR. Featured in the band is: Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Mirolslav Vitous, Alphonse Mouzon and Dom Um Romano – the original lineup and reportedly the earliest known recorded live performance of the band.
Weather Report was founded in 1970 by Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer Alphonse Mouzon and American percussionists Don Alias and Barbara Burton. The band was initially co-led by Zawinul and Shorter but as the 1970s progressed, Zawinul became the primary composer and creative director of the group. Other prominent members throughout the band’s history included bassists Jaco Pastorius, Alphonso Johnson and Victor Bailey, drummers Chester Thompson, Peter Erskine and Omar Hakim, and percussionists Airto Moreira and Alex Acuña. A quintet of Zawinul and Shorter plus a bassist, a drummer, and a percussionist was the standard formation for Weather Report.
Over their 16-year career, Weather Report explored various types of music, predominantly centered on jazz (initially the “free” variety), but also incorporating elements of art music, ethnic music, R&B, funk, and rock. While their work was categorized as “jazz fusion”, the band members generally distanced themselves from that term.
From the start, Weather Report took the unusual approach of abandoning the traditional “soloist/accompaniment” demarcation of straight-ahead jazz and featured opportunities for continuous improvisation by every member of the band. That position remained consistent throughout the life of the band. From the point where Alphonso Johnson joined the band, individual solos became more prominent in concert, but were never allowed to overwhelm the collective approach. Initially, the band’s music featured an improvisational method (similar to Miles Davis‘s Bitches Brew-period), but eventually that shifted to a more groove-oriented approach and catchier compositions (as epitomized by their 1977 hit single “Birdland”).
Weather Report has sported a list of participants as something of a “Who’s Who” in 70s era Jazz. It has added to the flexibility in approach but also a proving ground for up and comers and has kept it fresh all the way up to the eventual split in 1986.
During the course of those years, Weather Report maintained a legion of devoted followers and picked up new fans along the way. Their legacy is one of exploration and discovery. And years later, they are still listened to and admired for their pioneering work.
For a historic slant, here is their, what is believed to be first recorded public performance from 1971. Fingers crossed there are earlier. In the meantime . . .
