"Zawinul also hired bassist Pastorius, and the band is already veering in the directions he's charting."
- Neil Tesser, Down Beat May 1977"We really care, you know? Hey man, Down Beat is my favorite magazine. You know why? Because I grew up on it, it was my connection to America and it brought me into jazz music. But there is no way in the world that a record like [Mr. Gone] could get a one star review," said Joe Zawinul back in 1979, responding to Down Beat's dismal review of Mr. Gone, Weather Report's follow up to their critically acclaimed and hugely successful Heavy Weather album.
In reality though, it was not so much that Down Beat considered Mr. Gone a poor album, but more a case of Weather Report raising their own bar so high with the astonishing tour-de-force that Heavy Weather was, which not only received a five-star review in the magazine but went on to become one of the biggest selling jazz "fusion" records in history (earning the group its sole gold album award). Not coincidentally, Heavy Weather was also the first Weather Report album that featured Jaco Pastorius as a full-time band member.
Reprinted below is the full text of Neil Tesser's Down Beat review, which appeared in the May 19, 1977 issue.
Weather Report: Heavy Weather
Like a glittering pendant anchoring the strings of pearls of fusion music, Weather Report, at this late date, hardly needs to be pointed out. Indeed, Zawinul, Shorter and their slowly but steadily revolving door of rhythm players have had so enormous an impact on the way many of us listen to music-- on how we hear music-- that their atmospheri-musical research has become indispensable (try to conceive modern music without the efforts and effects of this band). Most important, though, is the consistent freshness of each album, along with the equally consistent craftsmanship and attention to detail. Their gleaming, futuristic structures are not only innovative architecture; the plumbing works, as well.
I doubt that Weather Report will ever duplicate the dramatic success of 1974's Mysterious Traveler (no easy task, since it remains the finest fusion album of all). Moreover, they don't have to. The proof of their vision has been out for years; it's now a matter of re-affirming, in constantly shifting ways, what is already evident, providing new perspectives on a music so vital that it actually welcomes such scrutiny. The sonic neologisms, no less real, are more subtle and integrated now. And Heavy Weather is certainly Zawinul's finest achievement since Traveler.
I credit Zawinul because Weather Report, at least to the naked ear, has really become his band. On this album he is directly responsible for the two most salient attributes. First is the sound. Weather Report has never employed the studio-as-instrument as
thoroughly or as well as on Heavy Weather: the LP literally explodes with the clarity, seperation and sheer variety of timbres, and Zawinul's arsenal of synthesized tonalities is astounding (he's listed on the liner as "producer/orchestrator"). Because of the recording quality, you can hear the smallest details of the inticately-arranged layers of sound, with the versatile polyphonic synthesizer creating a vibrant, velvety richness that makes Getty look like a welfare case. Play it loud, and Zawinul's insanely happy "Birdland", the band's first hit single, will prickle your spine with the illusory sensation of sound-as-physical-mass. Heavy Weather is an arrangemental tour-de-force, a smorgasbord for the ear.
Zawinul also hired bassist Pastorius, and the band is alredy veering in the directions he's charting. Jaco contributes broadly to the sound: not only does he produce a singing, almost unbearably full tone, but he co-produced the LP. Already known as a superb composer, he has supplied two effective pieces here. But his main addition is in the playing. The moving bass lines he draws behind the main action have added even more depth to Weather Report's music-- listen to his background work on "Havona", scooting around like a lizard at a roadrunners' convention. His rhythms, born "of the rhythms of the Caribbean" (in his own words), are uniquely recognizable and blend impeccably with the fine drumming team of Acuna and Badrena. And Pastorius adds a solo voice of authority, perception and expertise to match Zawinul and Shorter, something that was missing until now.
On balance, this is a five-star disc; there are two tunes that don't really click for me, but what is good is so good that it tips the scales. Zawinul's ballad "A Remark You Made", despite the wrenching emotionalism of the standout tenor solo, is almost too pat in its undeniable prettiness; his "The Juggler", a gentle, dancing melody accompanied by a wistfully martial snare pattern, is uncomfortably reminiscent of Return To Forever's mechanistic flair. But the joyful multiplicity of "Birdland" and Shorter's "Palladium", and the particularly lyrical and flighty bass solo on "Havona", are unforgettable. And Jaco's easily overlooked "Teen Town" (the other side of the single) has a desperate, maniac feel, a stunning bass break and a melody that bears down like a crazed kidnapper, serious and parodistic at the same time.
Shorter, though soloing less, still brings the greatest maturity to the band in his short, caroming statements (Zawinul, in widely exploring the potential of colors at his disposal, has perhaps cut back a bit too much on the solo space). Pastorius, a still-young musical force to be reckoned with, is in the best possible position to bring his brilliant ideas to the public. Zawinul looks more and more, in retrospect, like fusion music's midwife and unsurpassed wizard.
- Neil Tesser, May 1977