Celebrating the Music of Weather Report

"This project brings together the best contemporary musicians and shows the world how important Weather Report was to their development and the effect it had on the development of music. It's also important to introduce Weather Report to a new generation."
—Producer Jason Miles

Few groups have made music better than Weather Report—high voltage jazz with rock excitement and lush, adventurous exoticism. Telarc marks the 30th anniversary of this visionary supergroup's formation with the release of Celebrating the Music of Weather Report. Produced by Miles Davis veteran Jason Miles, this highly anticipated studio recording features updated arrangements, creative new sounds and a superlative lineup, with a jazz-funk Hall of Fame that includes Weather Report alumni Victor Bailey and Omar Hakim.

Josef Zawinul and Wayne Shorter formed Weather Report in 1970, both having been part of Miles Davis' jazz-rock experiments, and the highly successful fusion band remained active for 15 years. Neither nostalgic nor cliché, the 11 tracks on Celebrating the Music of Weather Report highlight all the important phases in the group's evolution, including the chart topping "Birdland,” "Elegant People,” "Badia,” "Young and Fine,” "Cannonball,” "Pursuit of the Woman with the Feathered Hat,” "Mysterious Traveller,” "Harlequin,” "Man in the Green Shirt,” "Palladium” and "Cucumber Slumber.”

Superstar teamings are so common in jazz these days that some of them are barely worth noticing. But producer/arranger Jason Miles, a multi-talented musician with top session and production credits, solo albums and award-winning film music, has been working behind the scenes on all-star projects since the mid '80s. He was the number one programmer and keyboard player for Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Kiss and others. He created most of the synth sounds on Miles Davis' classic Tutu, and even contributed to Michael Jackson's History album. His main focus over the last few years has been writing, arranging and producing.

Performers:
Victor Bailey - bass
Cyro Baptista - percussion, shaker
Jay Beckenstein - soprano saxophone
Michael Brecker - tenor saxophone
Randy Brecker - trumpet
Dean Brown - guitar
Porter Carroll - vocals
Dennis Chambers - drums
Vinnie Colaiuta - drums
Mary Fahl - vocals
Steve Gadd - drums
Omar Hakim - drums
Aaron Heick - soprano and tenor saxophones
Will Lee - bass
Chuck Loeb - guitar
Jason Miles - keyboards, drum programming and percussion programming
Marcus Miller - bass
Andy Narell - pans
John Patitucci - bass
Mike Pope - bass
Mark Quinones - congas, bongos
Joe Sample - piano
David Sanborn - alto saxophone
Tom Schuman - solo synthesizer
John Scofield - guitar
Take 6 - vocal samples

"Masterfully produced and arranged by Jason Miles, this wonderful CD treads respectfully on what many musicians and producers consider sacred ground, while at the same time bringing a fresh perspective to songs that have been with us for more than 20 years." - EQ