Author Archives: curt

B.B. King

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[Cross-posted from Zawinul Online]

B.B. King died on Thursday at the age of 89 years old. He was a true legend in American music, claiming the mantle of King Of The Blues for six decades. He was also one of the hardest working men in the music business–something that Joe must have appreciated. It is said that in 1956 King performed an astonishing 342 one-night stands. He maintained a vigorous touring schedule well into his eighties.

There are two connections between King and Weather Report that I am aware of. Back in the early days of Weather Report, the band would sometimes open for popular acts such as The Ike & Tina Turner Revue, Frank Zappa and the Mothers Of Invention, or Fleetwood Mac. Their music didn’t always go over well with these audiences, who were there to see the headliner and not some “spacey” jazz band, as so many reviewers referred to Weather Report.

B.B. King and Weather Report

In the summer of 1973, Weather Report performed as the middle act on bill that included The Climax Blues Band and the headliner, B.B. King and his nine-piece band. Having won a Grammy in 1970 for his recording of “The Thrill Is Gone,” King was very popular at the time; in fact, he was the most popular blues artist there had ever been. More than 3,500 fans came to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center to see him, but had to sit through the opening acts first. According to one review, by the time King hit the stage, the audience had “first been rocked into a frenzy” by the U.K. based Climax Blues Band, but was “bored to varying degrees” by “The Weather Report,” who played songs that were “much too long and featured soloists who were imaginative, but often out of reach of their audience.” Eric Gravatt was “a very steady drummer,” and Dom Um Romão “looked like an overly ambitious Swiss bell ringer as he performed a continuous shake-along with the rest of the group.”

The second connection has to do with Earl Turbinton, who turned in such a beautiful performance on soprano sax on Joe Zawinul’s 1971 eponymous album. Turbinton hailed from New Orleans, where Joe got to know him while he was a member of Cannonball Adderley’s band. I wrote about that here. As I said in that article, Turbinton–who died in 2007–often said that he was asked to be a part of the original Weather Report, but turned down the offer in favor of touring with B.B. King–a gig that would have been more steady and financial secure. The Weather Report story is highly improbable, but it wouldn’t be surprising at all that Joe and Earl talked of forming a band after recording Zawinul in August 1970.

RIP, B.B. King.

Jaco Pastorius and Record Store Day

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Jaco Pastorius Record Store Day Poster

Tomorrow, April 19, is Record Store Day, and Jaco Pastorius figures prominently.

First up, we have a new Jaco Pastorius album release, available tomorrow only at participating independent record stores. I have no idea if the stores where I live will participate, but I’ll be checking it out.

The new release is Modern American Music… Period; The Criteria Sessions. The album contains the demo tracks that Jaco made in 1974 at the age of 22, which have either never been officially released, or previously released only in edited form. These tracks — with drummer Bob Economou, pianist Alex Darqui, steel drums players Othello Molineaux and Sir Cederik Lucious and percussionist Don Alias — led to Jaco’s first album, and you hear the early “demo” versions of many of the songs that Jaco later recorded. John Kelman of All About Jazz has a lengthy review.

In addition, Metallica bass player Robert Trujillo’s long awaited documentary about Jaco is the official film of Record Store Day, although it isn’t expected to be completed until late this year. You can hear Trujillo talk about Jaco and the documentary in an NPR interview that was published today. You can also follow the progress on the film at their Facebook page.

And finally, Jaco is the subject of the official Record Store Day poster (pictured above), which will be given away at select stores while supplies last. For more information, see the Record Store Day news release about Jaco.

Update: My local record stores did participate, and I saw both the CD and vinyl album at the stores. Didn’t see any posters, although by the time I made the rounds they may have already been taken.

“Five jazz concerts I wish I had been at”

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Gabriel Solis has a post on the Oxford University Press blog titled, “Five jazz concerts I wish I had been at.” Coming in at number four is Weather Report Live in Tokyo, 1972. Indeed, I bet a few us wish we could have been there.

As Solis writes, “Recordings of this music can only begin to capture its range. Even on high fidelity equipment, the silences are not as heavy as they would have been in the concert hall, not as pregnant with expectation, and the band at full volume is not as overwhelming. In some sense jazz performances are always a bit of a ritual, but this seems like an immersive experience of another level.”

A friend called this album “savage” Weather Report. And I always liked what Joe said later, “Let’s hit ’em hard, right from the first note.” Indeed, they did.

Check Solis’ article for the other live albums he chose.