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| | Night Passage | | | Music Artist : | | Weather Report | | Music Style : | | General | | Record Label : | | Sbme Special Mkts. | | Release Date : | | 2008-03-01 | | Store Price : | | $6.99 | | Artistopia's Price: $6.99 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. Night Passage
2. Dream Clock
3. Port of Entry
4. Forlorn
5. Rockin' in Rhythm
6. Fast City
7. Three Views of a Secret
8. Madagascar
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Other Artist Albums
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 Fly by Night
Submitted on: 2009-02-27 |
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The live album - seven of the eight numbers were performed in front of 250 fans for each of the four gigs over two evenings at The Complex studios, Los Angeles - is Weather Report at the peak of its performance power.
The most famous lineup - Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine, percussionist Robert Thomas, Jr. - with Jaco's iconic composition, Three Views of a Secret, being the surprising standout. Zawinul penned four numbers, Shorter has one and there is a neat cover of Duke Ellington's Rockin' in Rhythm. An eighth track - Madagascar - was recorded while on a 1980 tour of Japan.
The band was playing in larger venues and had truly crossed-over into a rock audience, but it seems as if Zawinul seized control of the train to deliver a jazz recording worthy for inclusion with the releases of the early-1970s.
There is an excitement to the music that seems to be attempting to light a clear path for jazz in the 1980s. That it quickly became a trail lightly treaded upon simply shows that brilliance can be a lonely traveler. |
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As good as music gets
Submitted on: 2008-08-25 |
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| The power and passion of this music is undeniable. Weather Report was always noted for their compositions, and this album contains five of the band's strongest tunes: "Night Passage", "Dream Clock", "Fast City", Jaco Pastorius' achingly beautiful "Three Views of A Secret" and the band's magnum opus, "Madagascar". From a whisper to a roar, this is an intensely dynamic album---be careful not to play it too loud! Some of the synth sounds have dated a bit, but this remains music of incredible sophisication and soulfulness, and the grooves---particularly on "Madagascar"---are out of this world. |
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 Weather Report in decline
Submitted on: 2008-07-20 |
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| This effort only shows how much W.R. had slipped from it's Black Market, 8:30, Heavy Weather, Mr Gone period. Night Passage is the beginning of the end. It seems that Zawinul became the ultimate control freak to the detriment of the band. 3 stars at best and only because of Jaco's brilliance did I not rate it a 1 star. |
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 Virtuosic but uncreative
Submitted on: 2008-04-27 |
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Jazz fans must have been thrilled when Weather Report left the studio experiments of Mr. Gone behind. Unfortunately, Night Passage doesn't really go anywhere. There's some cool improvisation (this was the jazziest WR album since I Sing the Body Electric) but the compositions themselves are mostly generic fusion. Wayne Shorter only contributes "Port of Entry", a sort of "Elegant People"-lite but easily the best tune on here. (Shorter also plays a lot of great tenor saxophone on this album.) Jaco Pastorius offers "Three Views of a Secret" and the band does a really cheesy cover of Ellington's "Rockin' in Rhythm". Zawinul does the rest of the songwriting and with the exception of "Fast City", it's unremarkable. Those who are interested in the chops of Peter Erskine and Jaco Pastorius will like the album but others may just be bored.
[This review is based on the 1990 CD version; I do not know if the 2008 reissue has better sound quality, but the two have an identical tracklist.] |
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