Weather Report - Weather Report (1982 US Columbia Vinyl LP)

Vinyl: NM
Sleeve: EX

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Weather Report - Weather Report | Vinyl LP - 1982 Original US Columbia (PC 37616, CBS Inc.)

• Weather Report's tenth studio album, recorded in the summer of 1981 at Power Station in New York, The Music Room in Pasadena and Soundcastle in Los Angeles; produced by Joe Zawinul with assistance from Jaco Pastorius and Wayne Shorter; engineered by Brian Risner
• The final studio album featuring Jaco Pastorius on bass and Peter Erskine on drums; both departed after recording — Pastorius for his Word of Mouth project, Erskine for Steps Ahead
• The three-part "N.Y.C." suite is the album's centrepiece: "41st Parallel," "The Dance" and "Crazy About Jazz," combining Zawinul's synthesised orchestration with Pastorius's fretless bass and Erskine's drumming
• Original 1982 US Columbia pressing (PC 37616) manufactured by CBS Inc.

This is the second album Weather Report released under their own name — the first was their 1971 debut. By 1981, when these sessions took place across three studios in New York and California, the band had been through several personnel changes since that debut: Jaco Pastorius had joined in 1976, Peter Erskine in 1978, and Robert Thomas Jr. as a second percussionist from 1979. The core remained Joe Zawinul on keyboards and synthesisers and Wayne Shorter on saxophone, as it had been since the band's formation. Zawinul produced; Pastorius and Shorter were assistant producers; Brian Risner engineered.

By 1981, creative tensions between Zawinul and Pastorius had been building. Zawinul's increasing use of synthesised bass lines and computer-generated drum programming — Erskine used a drum computer on several tracks here — displaced some of the role Pastorius had played on earlier records. The Pastorius who plays on this album is still audible as a major force, particularly on "Volcano for Hire" (A1) and through the "N.Y.C." suite, but his writing contribution had reduced to a single group-composed piece. Shorter, similarly, contributed one composition. The vast majority of the material is Zawinul's. It reached No. 5 on the US Jazz Albums chart. After the album was complete, Pastorius left for Word of Mouth commitments and Erskine left for Steps Ahead; Zawinul and Shorter recruited Victor Bailey and Omar Hakim to continue the band. This is the original 1982 US Columbia pressing.