Weather Report website

[Geepers]

I’ve decided to do a deep dive into Weather Report (long story but it started with a comment by Jim Stinnett about Alphonso Johnson) and have come across this amazing labor-of-love website by Curt Bianchi. Click on each album to get the full run down on it including commentary by the musicians themselves. And there’s a bunch of other fascinating stuff on the site too.

The Albums

In-depth description and analysis of Weather Report's albums in the words of the musicians themselves

www.weatherreportdiscography.org

 

[MIMike]

I have an app on my phone that does a good job…no need to visit a website.





…of course….I love Weather Report

 

[bassbrad]

That looks like a great source for WR information, I will have to spend some time reading about and of course listening to so many of my favorite records.

 

[jerry]

Weather Report has been at the top of my fanboy list for over 50 years, I have this book by Bianchi and is also a great resource.

 

[thetaxmiser]

Thanks for this. Mysterious Traveler had a big impact on me as a player. I was 14 when it came out. I can still hear the influence of this album and Tower of Power in my playing. AJ's use of space in these lines and Rocco's staccato funk attack blew my young mind.

 

[Low Main]

I'd be glad to hear a little bit about the background on this. What Jim said about Alphonso, etc.
Experiencing Weather Report in real time as a high school and college kid, the music was so fresh and came at us so fast that we didn't have a chance to take a larger view and form any perspective on what we were experiencing. So it's great to be able to revisit that great period of time and round out the picture through the thoughts of others, even if well after the fact.
When Rob Trujillo's Jaco film came out, I wasn't sure I needed to see it since there was already a good bit of Jaco content available. But after seeing two or three short YouTube excerpt clips featuring people talking about Jaco, I was all in and knew I had to see it. Rob went way beyond what I thought the scope of the film was going to be.
I would so much rather see and hear players and others involved in the life and the process talk about the music than read or hear what music critics and (most) journalists have to say about it.

 

[Killing Floor]

All the personnel iterations and always a remarkable band. Love.

 

[jerry]

Thanks for this. Mysterious Traveler had a big impact on me as a player. I was 14 when it came out. I can still hear the influence of this album and Tower of Power in my playing. AJ's use of space in these lines and Rocco's staccato funk attack blew my young mind.

Mysterious Traveler is my favorite Weather Report album! It was their use of space in songs like Blackthorn Rose that still sticks with me, back then when other peoples favorite headphone album was Dark Side Of The Moon, mine was Mysterious Traveler.

 

[Geepers]

I'd be glad to hear a little bit about the background on this. What Jim said about Alphonso, etc.

My deep dive into Weather Report started after watching a Jim Stinnett video where he refers to “the great bassline by Alphonso Johnson in Weather Report’s ‘Cucumber Slumber’. I was unfamiliar with the song so investigated … and now I’m deep down the rabbit hole!

 

[bassbrad]

@Geepers it is a deep deep rabbit hole, in the bass department WR had some of the best players in the bass chair, don't overlook any of them. Then we get to the percussion section that is just as massive. Joe and Wayne are always riding the very top of the wave in any storm.

 

[Geepers]

@Geepers it is a deep deep rabbit hole, in the bass department WR had some of the best players in the bass chair, don't overlook any of them. Then we get to the percussion section that is just as massive. Joe and Wayne are always riding the very top of the wave in any storm.

Absolutely! A truly astonishing moment in history.