Weather Report (1971 album)

Weather Report
Studio album by Weather Report
Released	May 12, 1971
Recorded	February 16–18, 22 & March 17, 1971
Genre	Jazz fusion
Length	40:05
Label	Columbia
Producer	Shoviza Productions
Weather Report chronology
Weather Report (1971) Live in Tokyo (1972)
Joe Zawinul chronology
Zawinul (1971) Weather Report (1971) Live in Tokyo (1972)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[3]
Sputnikmusic	4/5[4]

Weather Report is the debut studio album by American jazz fusion band Weather Report, released on May 12, 1971, by Columbia Records. The album was reissued by Sony and digitally remastered by Vic Anesini in November 1991 at Sony Music Studios in New York City.

Liner notes

Writing on the back sleeve of the album, Clive Davis, the then president of Columbia Records, opines: "There have always been two kinds of musicians-those who create and those who imitate. Weather Report creates. It is that rare thing in music, an original […] Together these gifted young musicians have created Weather Report, a soundtrack for the mind, the imagination, for opening up heads and hearts."^[6]

Critical reception

Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau called the album "In a Silent Way played mostly for atmosphere", and went on to write: "The Milesian demi-jazz of side two sounds pretty finky (no misprint intended), but the tone-poem impressionism of side one does its mysterious work. Highlight: the opening mood piece, 'Milky Way,' in which two Silent Way vets, soprano saxophonist Wayne Shorter and pianist Joe Zawinul, make sounds that suggest a carillon approaching a time warp."^[2]

Track listing

Side A

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Milky Way"	Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul	2:33
2.	"Umbrellas"	Shorter, Zawinul, Miroslav Vitouš	3:27
3.	"Seventh Arrow"	Vitouš	5:23
4.	"Orange Lady"	Zawinul	8:44

Side B

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
5.	"Morning Lake"	Vitouš	4:26
6.	"Waterfall"	Zawinul	6:20
7.	"Tears"	Shorter	3:25
8.	"Eurydice"	Shorter	5:45
Total length:			40:05

Personnel

Credits for Weather Report adapted from liner notes.^[6]

Weather Report

• Joe Zawinul – electric and acoustic piano
• Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone
• Miroslav Vitouš – electric and acoustic bass
• Alphonse Mouzon – drums, voice
• Airto Moreira – percussion

Other musicians

• Barbara Burton – percussion (uncredited)
• Don Alias – percussion (uncredited)

Production

• Wayne Tarnowski – engineering
• Ed Lee – cover design
• Ed Freeman – cover photography
• Shoviza Productions, Inc. – production

Awards

• "Jazz Album of the Year", DownBeat Readers Poll.
• Swing Journal magazine Grand Prix Award (a gold record given for winning the Journal's Readers' and Critics' polls).

References

1. Ginell, Richard S. "Weather Report [1971] - Weather Report | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: W". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 22, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
3. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 204. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
4. Campbell, Hernan M. (July 5, 2012). "Review: Weather Report - Weather Report | Sputnikmusic". sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved April 9, 2013.
5. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1474. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
6. Davis, Clive (1971). Weather Report (liner notes; LP). New York City, New York: Columbia Records. C 30661.

External links

• Weather Report Annotated Discography: Weather Report