Weather Report - 2015 "The Legendary Live Tapes" 1978-1981 [4 CD Box]

The Legendary Live Tapes: 1978–1981 is a four CD live recording of Weather Report on Columbia, Sony, released on 20 November 2015. Disc One and Three are quintet recordings from 1980–81, while Disc Two and Four are quartet recordings from 1978. Most of the music was recorded on analog tape by the band’s then drummer (and producer of this live album) Peter Erskine and front of house mixing engineer Brian Risner. In the liner notes, Erskine provides insight into Weather Report’s live performances and life on tour via a song by song discussion.

Weather Report's The Legendary Live Tapes features four discs of sensational unreleased performances all "completely, totally, unapologetically and insanely live" recorded by the legendary jazz group from 1978 to 1981.

Formed by onetime Miles Davis sidemen Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter in 1970, Weather Report defied categorization in the 15 years they recorded together. Inspired by their "electric" collaborations with Davis, Zawinul and Shorter would lead Weather Report into unpredictable territory, from free-jazz to structured but sprawling multicultural jazz-rock. Though Zawinul would reject the "fusion" genre the band are so often associated with "We don't fuse nuthin', we just play from the heart," he once said their music would serve as a landmark for jazz revolution and evolution in the 1970s and 1980s.

The dramatic addition of electric bass virtuoso Jaco Pastorius to the lineup in 1976 led to an even more energetic and daring Weather Report, who would even score a crossover hit in 1977 with "Birdland." A year later, drummer Peter Erskine joined the fold, creating one of the band's most notable lineups; that lineup would expand to a quintet with the addition of percussionist Bobby Thomas, Jr. in 1980.

These two lineups, responsible for some of Weather Report's most important moments, are chronicled in this four-disc set, sourced from never-before-heard soundboard tapes recorded by longtime live mixing engineer Brian Risner. Produced by Erskine and executive produced by Joe Zawinul's son Anthony, this package uniquely showcases Weather Report's extensive prowess as a band, opting not to replicate the ebb and flow of a standard Weather Report set at the time, instead offering a uniquely curated experience that captures the dazzling directions the group took at the arguable height of their powers.

Culled from Peter Erskine's own private collection, the bulk of the material on this four disc set consists of board mixes, which were made by long time WR sound man, Brian Risner. They are some of the finest live performances of the band ever captured on tape. This is a curated collection, i.e. each track comes from a different performance, dating from 1978-1981. Each disc is sequenced in order to offer the listener a complete and satisfying listening experience, as opposed to making an attempt to replicate a live set.

There are two configurations: one with Bobby Thomas Jr on percussion (discs 1 and 3,) and one with just the quartet. The highlight for this listener is disc 3, on which the quintet plays six tunes off of one their finest late albums, Night Passage. (The entire album is presented-the two remaining tracks from that album, Pastorius' Three Views of a Secret and Zawinul's Forlorn, can be found on disc 1.) The band attacks this material with fierce abandon, stretching far beyond the time constraints of the original recordings. Check out the epic 17 minute version of Madagascar. Like Mile's late bands, there are ensemble marks to hit, cued unison figures to play, but most of this piece is very free, funky and swinging. In general, Wayne Shorter stretches more on this collection than has been captured thus far on any other live WR recording.

Another high point is the quartet version of the rarely performed Gilbraltar, off of the classic Black Market album. Clocking in at 21 minutes, talk about epic - the guys are swinging for the rafters here. It is the definitive version of this tune. This take-no-prisoners attitude dominates these discs, proving once and for all that the late WR formation could still take it all the way into the stratosphere with as much freedom and risk taking as in the early days.

These discs capture some of Joe Zawinul's most inspired solos on record. His control of his keyboards is really amazing, considering the limitations of the technology he had access to at the time. Somehow he's able to duplicate subtle details on the fly, such as the signature repeated synth rise at the beginning of a rollicking rendition of the Ellington chestnut, Rockin' in Rhythm. He sounds like a one man big band here. He was still integrating the acoustic piano into his setup for these tours. Unfortunately, the only time we get to hear the acoustic piano in this collection is on his solo piano spot, in which he freely improvises, cycling through several standards before segueing into a very simpatico duo with Shorter. As masterful as he was on synths, this recording reminds us just how great a pianist he was. Unbelievable technique and freedom.

Also, these discs contain some of Jaco's best playing ever recorded during his tenure with the band. His playing here is audacious, edgy and powerful, yet somehow always in the pocket and in control. Here we hear the Jaco of legend. Even though it's comprised of material similar to other recorded live solos, Jaco's solo spot presented here, replete with quotations from Jimi Hendrix to Alan Hovaness, is focused and clear, and is about as good a representation of what he was doing at the time as one is likely to hear.

While the sound quality can't compete with say, 8:30 or the Offenbach recordings, the audio is surprisingly good, considering these were made from cassettes! While mostly mono, (only the drum overheads are in stereo,) the balances are very good, with the exception of the two or three audience tapes where the keys occasionally sit a little low in the mix, a testament to how good this band sounded onstage. On the other hand, Jaco's bass is pretty high in the mix most of the time, which should please fans, but never so much as to detract from the overall enjoyment, as is sometimes the case on Live and Unreleased. Again, considering the source material, these recordings sound very good indeed, even if it isn't exactly audiophile quality.

Kudos to Peter Erskine for sharing his private tapes with the world and for his wonderful 16 page essay, which includes fascinating background information for each performance. (By the way, if you haven't read his ebook, No Beethoven, it's a must read!) Also, a shout out to Brian Risner who made most of these tapes-his board mixes are way better than one could ever hope for. Mastering meister Rich Breen did a wonderful job, as did the folks who transferred the analog cassettes to digital over at Stanford University.

All in all, this is a labor of love. I feel as if this is a kind of holy grail of live WR recordings. It is hard to imagine topping these, both for content and relative audio quality. I haven't heard anything that comes closer to the excitement this band generated on stage at the shows I had the good fortune to attend. Whereas even with 8:30, the band's only official live release with this lineup, overdubbing and editing were used to achieve its polished final form, this is the totally un-retouched and raw Weather Report I remember. As Peter Erskine says in his liner notes: "the performances on this 4 CD set are completely, unapologetically and insanely live."

Track Listing:

CD 1
1. 8:30
2. Sightseeing
3. Brown Street
4. The Orphan
5. Forlon
6. Three Views Of A Secret
7. Badia / Boogie Waltz
8. Wayne Solo
9. Jaco Solo (Osaka 1980)

CD 2
1. Joe And Wayne Duet (Tokyo 1978)
2. Birdland
3. Peter’s Solo
4. A Remark You Made
5. Continuum / River People
6. Gibraltar

CD 3
1. Fast City
2. Madagascar
3. Night Passage
4. Dream Clock
5. Rockin’ In Rhythm
6. Port Of Entry

CD 4
1. Elegant People
2. Scarlet Women
3. Black Market
4. Jaco Solo (Osaka 1978)
5. Teen Town
6. Peter’s Solo (Osaka 1978)
7. Directions

Personnel:

Joe Zawinul – keyboards; ARP Quadra synthesizer bass (Disc 1 / tracks 1, 3); acoustic piano (Disc 2 / track 1); ”Chicken Neck” (Disc 1 / track 8)
Wayne Shorter – saxophones
Jaco Pastorius – fretless bass; drums (Disc 1 / track 1)
Peter Erskine – drums, timpani (Disc 2 / track 3)
Robert Thomas Jr. – hand drums (Discs 1 & 3)