Weekend Weather Report # 5 - Solo Introspection (Calm Before The Storm Part 2)

Both Zawinul and Shorter released solo albums prior to joining together to form the Weather Report group itself (in fact, Shorter continued to put out further solo albums during the band's tenure). Shorter has a more extensive solo catalog overall by far, but Joe Zawinul was arguably the most inventive and creative of the two.

Zawinul's 1970 release, simply named "Zawinul", bears a moody, sepia-toned potrait photo of him on the front cover, already beginning to look a little old and thinning on top. It's an intense gaze to accompany an intense album, full of experimentation and deep reflection - very much the counterpoint to the carnival-like joy that, together, made up the extremes that various Weather Report lineups would wander between in the coming years.

Coming shortly after the Miles period as this album does, there's a version of Joe's "In A Silent Way" composition here, done with a more intricate arrangement than was found in the original Miles Davis version (and possibly not quite as effective here). There's also a version of "Dr Honoris Causa" that was later recorded by the first Weather Report band.

But the standout track for me is the simple masterpiece "His Last Journey", written as a tribute to his father. The deceptively simple and reflective piano motif, the barely audible snare roll, temple bells, bell trees, slowed-down bowed strings, each contributing to the tone poem-like atmosphere, and layered with gently bowed string bass (courtesy of soon-to-be third founding member of Weather Report, Miroslav Vitous). Zawinul also mimicks chruch bells with the Rhodes piano played thru a wah pedal - processed Rhodes sounds would be a core component of the early Weather Report sound. Finally some lovely trumpet playing by Woody Shaw (an excellent but often overlooked musician of the times) finishes off the arrangement, a piece that brings the various strands of musical experience together in an eclectic piece that really points the way in which Zawinul would steer the Weather Report lineups in the coming years to be not just about "jazz".

Wayne Shorter also makes an appearance on this lovely album, further hinting at the musical storm that was just over the horizon... the incomparable Weather Report group.

Be careful with your volume controls, the intro is extremely quiet, and as always, enjoy.

MM