Weekend Weather Report # 9 - Live In Japan (continued)...

Sorry for the absence. New job's been keeping me busy (yay!)

Keeping with the chronological approach to this series, although the live recordings made in Japan in 1972 were only partially released (per my last WRW post) on Weather Report's second album, the full concert was remastered and eventually released some 25 years later on CD! Only available as an import, it's interesting to compare the audio quality of the new masters to the original release, and of course, it's great to have all the music from that concert to enjoy.

That band was raw and rocking live, with Eric Gravvat powering things along (Zawinul once said that Eric Gravvat was the perfect drummer for Weather Report. Despite that he only stayed with the band for the second & third albums).

Here's "Medley: Eurydice/The Moors", full of live inventiveness and improvisation, with Zawinul jumping from Fender Rhodes to acoustic piano, letting rip on the piano midway thru, getting inside the lid and strumming the strings, while Shorter wails soulfully on soprano sax. I love the somewhat bemused reception by the Japanese audience, judging from the polite but reserved applause at the end.

Great stuff!

MM