Record Reviews

WEATHER REPORT ~ THE LEGENDARY TAPES: 1978-1981 COLUMBIA 888751412729 (Barcode: 888751412729) ~ USA ~ Jazz-Rock-World Fusion Recorded: 1978 - 1981 Released: 2015 This is a collection of archival recordings by the seminal Weather ReportFind albums by this artist, one of the most important and groundbreaking ensembles which shaped the state of music as we know it and at the same time also achieved immense popularity both as recording and live acts, which of course helped to spread the gospel. The music on the four CDs which are included herein was recorded live by two lineups of the ensemble: the quartet with keyboardist Joe ZawinulFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Wayne ShorterFind albums by this artist, bassist Jaco PastoriusFind albums by this artist and drummer Peter ErskineFind albums by this artist (1978), and the quintet which adds percussionist Robert Thomas, Jr.Find albums by this artist (1980-1981). All the recordings are "bootleg" quality and in fact originate from recordings captured on portable cassette recorders (for those people who don´t know what this is, please Wiki it), which means that in spite of an effort to improve the sound quality it remains mostly Lo-Fi, sometimes almost painfully so. Peter Erskine, who is the producer of this collection, in his extensive liner notes explains the circumstances of these recordings and adds his personal comments on a track by track basis. He wisely points out the differences about the two facets of Weather Report: the studio recordings which created a long series of incredible albums using advanced studio technology and a long process of mixing, editing and overdubbing following the recording, and the live performances, like the ones captured here, which were, as he puts it: "completely, totally, unapologetically and insanely live". Since I already wrote extensively about Weather Report and their albums, I´ll say only what I find relevant about this specific release. When it was first announced by ColumbiaFind albums on this label I already had some mixed feelings about it. A four CDs worth of previously unreleased material by one of the most popular Jazz / Fusion bands of all times sounds simply too good to be true. When the actual set arrived on my desk, sadly my suspicions turned out to be painfully accurate. Although there are plenty of great moments on these four CDs, the overall result is simply disappointing for many reasons. Firstly there is the sound quality and the recording quality (i.e. balance, distortion and other aspects of live recordings) which turn out to be a major hindrance when listening to this material. I often say that where there is sublime music, the sound quality is only secondary; sadly this does not seem to help in case of this collection. Secondly there is nothing here that we haven´t already heard. Of course in case of Jazz every live performance is unique, but often the unique performance can be very similar to other unique performances and as such are of lesser importance. Obviously some performances are less inspired that others, and when looking at an artist´s legacy, I prefer to remember and cherish the most inspired ones. And yes I agree that Pastorius was a Genius, but if I hear one more Pastorius solo I´ll go ballistic. Thirdly I am always worried about the motivation behind releasing archival material. Was this material released based on its strength, artistic merit and historic importance, or simply to squeeze some more money from the dwindling music buying public in a collapsing music market? I´ll let the listener be the judge of that. And lastly the collection was released in a completely non-standard packaging (sizewise), somewhere in between the CD and the DVD size. Someone wanted to be creative all of a sudden? We, the oppressed buying public, have to be able to store these artifacts somehow and this one does not fit in the standard CD shelves! For me Weather Report are a legend and I´d really love to keep it like that. This collection does put a slight dent on the ensemble´s iconic status, as far as I am concerned, which I deeply regret. On the other hand forever, four hours of previously unreleased material by Weather Report is devilishly tempting…

Updated: 01/06/2018Posted: 25/12/2015

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