![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Curiously, in the liner notes to Odyssey of Iska there is a reference to Wayne's new band, Weather Forecast. Percussionist Barbara Burton, who made a significant though uncredited appearance on Weather Report, also contributes to Creation (which at this point exists only in bootleg form). That triumvirate of recordings from 1970 helped to forge the rhythm tandem chemistry between bassist Miroslav Vitous and drummer Alphonse Mouzon, both of whom would appear a year later on Weather Report’s self-titled debut from 1971. The transitional Odyssey of Iska and Moto Grosso Feio provide further linkage to the subsequent formation of Weather Report, as did an unissued recording entitled Creation. With John McLaughlin and Sonny Sharrock on guitars, Walter Booker on bass, Airto on percussion and Chick Corea on drums (!), it launched Shorter into another musical zone. His 1969 outing, Super Nova, was a startling departure from his previous Blue Note output. Meanwhile, Shorter pointed to a similarly adventurous path in his last few recordings for the Blue Note label. Zawinul would reciprocate later that same year by appearing on Vitous' second album as a leader, the excellent but currently rare Purple, an important early fusion project which also included John McLaughlin and Billy Cobham in the lineup. The bassist on that breakthrough, self-titled project was Miroslav Vitous, the gifted Czech musician who would become a charter member of Weather Report and along with Joe and Wayne form the nucleus of that great band. Also noteworthy is ‘Doctor Honoris Causa', a tune that Joe dedicated to Herbie Hancock and which would later become a regular concert-opener for Weather Report. The more progressive-sounding Zawinul features Joe's very personal take on his own evocative composition 'In A Silent Way', which he had originally written to convey his impressions of his days as a shepherd boy in Austria. Zawinul, the keyboardist composer's third and most ambitious album as a leader for Atlantic, marks a decided stride into the new, and away from the soul-jazz and hard bop tone of Joe's two previous Atlantic outings, 1966's Money in the Pocket and 1968's The Rise & Fall of the Third Stream. Two other key recordings, both released in that pivotal year of 1970, were important precursors to Weather Report. Zawinul hinted at this forward-thinking, harmonically open direction as early as 1967 in his capacity as keyboardist for the Cannonball Adderley Quintet. Indeed, it was a musical concept that gestated over time during the late ’60s through various recordings before finally manifesting as the super group that would become indisputably the premier fusion band of the 1970s and 1980s. A perennial poll-winner, the group reached enormous peaks of worldwide popularity while also establishing itself as one of the most vitally creative and influential units to come out of the volatile 1970s.Ī series of key, interconnected events led to the ultimate formation of Weather Report in the early part of December, 1970. Co-founded by Miles Davis alumnae Wayne Shorter and Josef Zawinul, Weather Report forged a new direction in instrumental music with an exhilarating hybrid of styles that drew heavily on jazz while also incorporating elements of rock, funk, free flowing group improvisation, electronic abstraction and pan-global exotica.
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