Weather Report
Live In Tokyo

THE REVIEW

Zawinul and the Weather recorded their first live album at the Shibuya Kokaido Hall. In 1972, the band had already churned out the surreal debut with those minimal, intangible, ethereal sounds. "I Sing The Body Electric" confirms the original inspired flair of the combo and, in these five medleys, presents us with their uninhibited live art.

Gravatt on drums is a whirlwind, Shorter on sax is something unique. Vitous on bass never stops, and Dom Um Romao delights us with resounding tribalisms. We're a few years before Pastorius, with the pompous funky fusion of "Heavy Weather" and "Night Passage."

Here, we are faced with the avant-garde, made of archaic, shrill sounds without a destination. Jazz, however, tends to revolve around the song and return to a structural base. Here, everything seems unattainable, boundless. Although it is true that the medley arrangements are exquisite and greatly enrich the sound canvases.

"Seventh Arrow-TH/Seventh Arrow/ Doctor/Honoris Causa" is a desert dance seasoned with the quintet's intense excursions. The performance leaves no room for reflection, traveling at tight rhythms and with relentless puzzles. One is intrigued by the ancestral sounds of the sax, by maestro Zawinul's piano, which seems to come from Space, and by the drums which, despite the heavy snare and cymbal work, do not overshadow the ensemble at all. It is all perfect.

The sharp "Surucucú/Lost/Early Minor/Directions" evokes the beauty of the second album, always fueled by the free component. The standard is achieved later with the funky of "Sweetnighter."

"Orange Lady" is the journey to the Moon allowed by the debut and this live gem. Eighteen minutes of stasis. You stay still, hesitating in jolts because everything gently lulls you. "Eurydice/The Moors" and "Tears/Umbrellas" carry this concert forward, with a total duration of more than an hour. It is a performance I would prefer not to have to recommend too much, because the proposal is tantalizing.