Weather Report- Heavy Weather
In the late 1970’s throughout the 80’s, Jaco Pastorius solely changed the way we viewed the modern electric bass. This record, being his very first appearance with the fusion icons, Weather Report, is no different than his other albums. However, keep in mind that I am not a humongous Jaco fan boy, and find his tone and personality to be somewhat agitating and some music to be rather dull and lifeless . But the talent can’t be denied. The bass playing is great, and the compositions are wonderful, but what’s my rating? Read to find out….
Weather Report is….
Joe Zawinul- Keyboards, synthesizers, and vocals
Wayne Shorter- Saxophones
Alex Acuna- Drums
Jaco Pastorius- Bass
Manolo Badrena- Percussion
Today’s forecast is…..
The album kicks off with a remarkable track by the name of
Birdland . This song features some wonderful, bluesy keyboards as well as smooth soprano and tenor sax performances. The drums are simple, yet awesome and the bass just seems to be making some wonderful little licks that fit in perfectly with Joe’s keys. The lines are fast as hell, doing that stopp/start technique that Jaco is famous for on a later track. It sounds lame, but the tambourine really keeps the groove together in this song. One thing that I noticed is that this song features some light vocals, courtesy of Joe and Jaco. It’s not a lot, but it makes the song feel more upbeat and happier. This song is the epitome of ‘feel good’ music. Being a saxophonist, I really dig the end where Wayne does some cheery tenor soloing, and he is quite a sax player. This was one of the better, livelier tracks on this fusion epic. [4/5]
Another more famous song is next.
A Remark You Made is much more mellow and darker than it’s predecessor, yet a smooth performance. It’s one of the jazzier tracks as well. The great saxophone sounds bear a resemblance to ‘Us and Them’ by Pink Floyd. The bass is taking a back seat for the most part, letting Alex do fills to plug in the gap between the dueling keys and Wayne’s pretty sax melodies. Jaco finally fills the rhythm shoes and tastefully backs up the other instruments with ease, giving you a soulful performance. There isn’t a whole lot more to say, except this song is beautiful and wringing with emotion. The basslines are very pretty and not over the top, which is nice to hear, especially from Jaco. About five minutes in, Joe makes a polyphonic sound awesome, with a solo that’ll leave you thinking “That was that annoying little sampler thing?” This darker jazz song was great, and gets my vote for being awesome. [4.5/5]
Most bassists will know the next song.
Teen Town , being one of two tracks that were written by Mr. Pastorius, is bass heavy to the extreme, yet awesome. However, his tone is absolutely annoying, and I advise you to check out Marcus Miller’s cover of this. He really did a great job. Back to the song. Simple keys start us off and drop us off at the infamous stop/start shredding of Jaco; with blistering runs that seem to amaze everybody. How his fingers move that fast is anyone’s guess. The song, while being amazingly talented, doesn’t seem to keep my attention, very long, and I find the wanking to be quite dull, even if the song is very short. Midway through, the tempo changes to a slower, darker pace. Now it’s time for slower wanking!!! But the short sax fills are quite nice. This, while being a bass necessity, is probably one of the more boring songs. [3/5]
Harlequin , the next song, actually features some acoustic piano and is nice. The bass takes the melodies, along with the sax. The bass melodies are better than Teen Town, and don’t use as much flash. I like Jaco’s calmer role much more than his virtuoso role. The keys wail as the drums thunder beneath the layers of bottom and treble laid out by Wayne’s screaming Tenor sax and Jaco’s bass. The drums are a highlight on this one. I’ve never heard such powerhouse jazz drumming in my entire life. Acuna does a phenomenal job, laying out arse shakin beats and infectious fills to keep the groove flowing. Mild piano ends this song. [4/5]
A strange track,
Rumba Mama follows. It starts with Manolo yelling in Spanish and drum fills. About a minute in, the bongos and congas come in and just solo their minds out for a minute and a half. Talk about a worthless track… This thing makes normal filler tracks look like classics. Take some loud guy screaming in Spanish and a fast percussion solo and you’ve got this track. There’s nothing else that describes how pointless this is…..[2/5]
This next song,
Palladium , is another more upbeat jazz song. Starts with keys duking it out with bass on a sudden riff until the groove comes in. Keyboards are limited here, letting Badrena and Jaco do their work in front of Wayne’s alto sax. Keys come in a bit later, only to duel with the bass around the tight percussion section. This song is probably my favorite off the album, with superb, yet working musicianship that show you talent, while working in unison perfectly. The blend of keys and sax in the solo section really lift up the mood of the song. Jaco’s dancing bass moves are still awesome. One of the funkier on the album, and my favorite. [5/5]
This song,
The Juggler shows the band’s more fusion style. It winds from electronic, to jazzy, and disco through a whirlwind of mellow and jagged melodies. The dynamics are quite good in this song, but the very soft feel kinda lose the groove here and there. It seems to ‘elevator-ish’ for my taste. The keys are the spotlight here, mainly because Zawinul wrote all the parts. The lack of flow disappoints me, particularly for such a famous fusion band. Jaco’s bass is quite lifeless in this one, as well. Towards the end, the keys got this very odd, almost traditional Japanese sound. I was happy this was over. [3/5]
The album closer,
Havona is Jaco’s final composition and you guessed it, is entirely bass driven, with some synths thrown in as well. The synth starts us off and carries us into a mellow, infectious bass line that zooms around the jazzy drum beat. After every bass ‘phrase’, the sax zooms in before a catchy chorus that gets you excited for the song. It would lack originality and attention if it wasn’t for the chorus. The sax does take a solo. And it’s quite nice. The tone is too high pitched to make it tenor, even alto, so it must be Wayne showing his soprano skills. The bass ‘solos’ are quite redeeming, still leaving me thinking ‘why not me!’ Later on, the keys are thrown in to the groove, making a strange array of noises and commanding a place in the mix. At the very end, Jaco makes his bass sustain like crazy, and after a couple of loops, this jazz classic comes to and end. This was another one of the best tracks of the eight on this CD. It’s also very long, but not in a bad way. [4/5]
Pros
________
+ Good drumming, bass, sax, and keys
+ Overall just grooves
+ Easy listen
Cons
_______
- Filler is really bad
- Teen Town is overrated
- Crazy bass can get boring
- Bass tone is very dull
- Predictable
Overall: I was for the most part, not unhappy to listen to this CD, but I expected much more, especially from the hype I’ve heard about it. Good CD, but it lacked the energy needed to make me want to keep it in my CD player. The musicianship is fantastic, no doubt, but the flow isn’t present. [3/5]
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P.S.- Please vote on this accordingly. I would like to know your opinions on how I wrote the review, not your opinions. I don’t want any Jaco fanboys voting “No” because they thought their opinion was superior to mine. If I see anyone post a fan boy comment and vote no, because of opinion, they will be reported to the bad user thread on the site forum. Thank you!!! :D
