Weather Report - Black Market (2002 Digital Remaster)

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Weather Report - Black Market (2002 Digital Remaster)

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Weather Report - Black Market (2002 Digital Remaster)
EAC - FLAC (IMG + CUE + LOG) | 220MB Rar (1 CD) | RS.com | Full Scan
Catalog No.: 468210 2 | Release Date: 04/06/2002 | Label: Columbia
Genres: Jazz/ Fusion

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Weather Report - Black Market (2002 Digital Remaster)

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Weather Report - "Black Market" (1976) Digital Remaster (2002)

Weather Report's second "phase" (1973-76) established its (now famous) sound. Changing personnel marked each of Weather Report's first five albums, and Black Market carried forth that tradition, with Chester Thompson, Narada Michael Walden, Alex Acuña, and Jaco Pastorius all making their Weather Report recording debuts.

Asked about the changes in a March 1976 article, Zawinul said, "We're always happy with the group, because if we're not happy, we change it. There are a lot of musicians out there in the world. All the people who have played with us are great mother-fucking musicians. They have fantastic skills. But sometimes they're going in one direction and we're going in another one, so we have to make a change. Changing musicians gives us fresh blood, new ideas."

Black Market is masterpiece #4 in a string of releases that were all fantastic - Sweetnighter, Mysterious Traveler, Tale Spinnin', and Black Market. The first two release are also very good but the band hit full-stride with Sweetnighter.

If you love Heavy Weather, you will love Black Market and should also consider Tale Spinnin' which is close in sound and concept. Work backward from there (Mysterious Traveler, Sweetnighter, I Sing the Body Electric and self titled Weather Report) and discover what the original Weather Report was really all about.

In their 15-year career, Weather Report managed to release over a dozen albums, and not one of them is bad. However, the most interesting ones to the listen are the "transitional" albums that capture the band in the midst of a change. Not only is Black Market one of these albums, it is also among their best. It was recorded using two drummers and two bassists, and marks the first Weather Report recording with Mr. Jaco Pastorius (although Jaco only appears on two out of seven cuts. The other five feature ex-bassist Alphonso Johnson). Alex Acuna, the man behind the kit for WR's breakthrough album, Heavy Weather, also debuts as a memeber of the fusion band here. Track by track this record is phenomenal.

"BLACK MARKET" (1976) evinces a maturity of approach, the band consolidating artistic gains from previous years by constructing a unified group of suite-like musical landscapes that draw on elements of jazz, funk and "world music".

The opener ( "Black Market" ), with its infectious melodic "hook", radiates a positive, life-affirming warmth (nice solos and firm, funky rhythmic support) while the closing moments provide a sobering contrast: synthesized imitations of gun and artillery fire reflecting the tragedy of strife endemic (then and now) in many parts of the war-torn "third world".

"Cannonball" is a tribute to (then recently deceased) Julian Adderley, the famous alto saxophonist/bandleader who was Joe Zawinul's former employer. The tune, while pleasant enough, is somewhat lightweight: its streamlined style and overtly sentimental melody presage similar material to follow on their next ( and most famous ) album "Heavy Weather" ( note that Jaco Pastorius' recorded debut with WR took place on "Cannonball" ).

"Gibraltar" opens to sounds of the portside city (waves & foghorns) and softly evocative soprano sax before giving way to a prototypical Weather Report groove superbly laid down by bassist Alphonso Johnson.

Wayne Shorter's "Elegant People" is one of the perennial Weather Report favorites with its feeling of romantic intrigue and flamenco influenced (Phrygian) cadences (yet another infectious thematic "hook" and some impassioned tenor sax by Shorter).

The other Shorter tune on the album ("Three Clowns") is a bizarre "funhouse" ballad, with the composer playing a synthesized wind instrument ("Lyricon").

The final two pieces are both composed by bassists:

Jaco Pastorius' "Barbary Coast" is a brief, funky and somewhat meandering piece.

Alphonso Johnson's "Herandnu" is an interesting tune; a rolling, calliope-sounding theme in alternating time signatures morphing into an up-tempo fusion feature for some keyboard improv by Zawinul (who paraphrases his own "Black Market" at one point). The theme briefly returns before the ghostly eeriness of a 45 second coda.


The band was in transition - with bassist Alphonso Johnson being replaced by Jaco Pastorius and the ever-rotating drummer's spot going to Chester Thompson and Narada Michael Walden - which added to the incredible artistry, as heard on the seven selections.

Pastorius appears on Cannon Ball and Barbary Coast, the latter having some funky bass lines that drives the train. Joe Zawinul is in full flight on keyboards throughout the title cut and he turns a perfect double play with Wayne Shorter on Elegant People and Three Clowns. A ship's horn leads Gibraltar to port, while Herandu is a perfect composition by Johnson.

"BLACK MARKET" was the summation of a musical path established in the 3 preceding albums, which while exhibiting many traits from the previous period also pointed towards the more streamlined direction they would take in their most popular phase (w/ Jaco Pastorius as a dynamic influence). While the group recorded a lot of good music and gained a much-deserved fame in the following years, the 4 albums Weather Report recorded from 1973 to 1976 stand as their most consistently creative efforts.