Weather Report
Mr.Gone

"Mr. Gone" is among the most controversial albums by Weather Report, probably the most significant fusion group, led by the legendary Joe Zawinul (1932-2007) and Wayne Shorter (1933). The two became famous as the keyboardist for Cannonball Adderley (the former) and the saxophonist for Miles Davis (the latter), in addition to having fantastic albums as leaders.

Until 1977, Weather Report did not miss a beat. Among masterpieces known and recognized worldwide (the self-titled debut, "Mysterious Traveller," "Black Market," "Heavy Weather") and great albums considered minor only because they are close to the aforementioned masterpieces, the group is the main protagonist of the jazz fusion boom of the '70s.

After yet another global consecration as jazz legends with "Heavy Weather," the mastermind of the group, Joe Zawinul, wanted to do something new. If, in similar situations, many musicians would try to repeat themselves with an album similar to the previous one, Zawinul surprises everyone. Or, to be more precise, Joe takes the strengths of the 1977 album to the extreme, like the radio-friendliness of "Birdland". The result is an album with hints of disco music (some drum parts, like the one in "River People" played by Jaco, demonstrate this) and attention to the commerciality (in the positive sense of the term) of the work.

However, the excessive production and sometimes exaggerated arrangements do not allow the album to repeat the commercial success of its predecessor. Indeed, at the time, "Mr. Gone" didn't have much luck; in fact, it was considered a misstep, an unfortunate interlude between "Heavy Weather" and the "8:30/Night Passage" duo.

But "Mr. Gone" is a beautiful album, even if immensely complex.

To understand it, it is necessary to talk again about Joe Zawinul. He is the main, sometimes absolute, protagonist of this album. Joe writes four of the eight tracks and arranges five (his and "The Elders" by Wayne Shorter). Joe plays everything, he even plays too much, in the sense that, as already mentioned, the album's arrangements are so complicated and complex that they overshadow the contributions of Shorter and Pastorius.

This is one of the many peculiarities of "Mr. Gone": the two unmatched talents of Wayne and Jaco struggle to find their dimension. The bass lines are often doubled by the keyboards, when they are not played exclusively by them. As for the saxophonist, some critics, following its publication, hypothesized that the mysterious "Mr. Gone" in the title referred to Shorter himself, so marginal was his presence in the project.

Moreover, as unfortunately always happened during the group's 15 years of activity, the role of the drummer continuously changes. There are appearances from big names, like Steve Gadd, Tony Williams, and Peter Erskine, who would become the official drummer only later.

It's futile to do a track-by-track of the album, in which there are few memorable pieces, like the new version of Shorter's "Pinocchio" (already published on "Nefertiti" by Miles Davis), where Peter Erskine's great work deserves a mention, "Young And Fine" with Wayne finally in the spotlight and the final "And Then" (Deniece Williams and Maurice White of Earth Wind & Fire on vocals), in addition to the first version of Jaco's "Punk Jazz".

"But then why do you give four stars to this album if it has so many flaws?" you might ask. And I answer: this is, in itself, an album worth 3, maximum 3.5, but it deserves four stars for the idea, the courage, and the diversity, qualities that make it unique in Weather Report's discography. Essentially, listen to this album, don't expect the usual Weather Report, this is something else, other music. But, as Bill Milkwoski writes in the liner notes of the compact disc version, this is (in its own way) "a landmark release".