When writing an overview of a band’s career, it’s tempting to focus on its best-known era. An author discussing the Rolling Stones’ history is often drawn to the Mick Taylor years; few fans long to hear stories of their Steel Wheels tour. When reading about Bruce Springsteen, chapters on his Seeger Sessions are tolerated but rarely embraced.
So it is with the jazz-fusion group Weather Report: It would be easy for author Curt Bianchi to focus on the Jaco Pastorious and “Birdland” era of the band. But his new Elegant People history of Weather Report is evenhanded in exploring each incarnation of this group, using co-leaders Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter as the constant touchstone.
Bianchi presents a complete portrait, and his narrative starts before the band’s beginning. He discusses Zawinul’s time with Cannonball Adderley’s popular band and Shorter’s lengthy stint with Miles Davis. Once Zawinul and Shorter form their own group in 1970, the book is meticulous in walking the reader through the records, the live performances, and the personnel changes of the band – which were many.
Undaunted, Bianchi has tracked down and interviewed nearly every living member of Weather Report’s many line-ups. Some of the musicians’ stories are happier than others, but each sounds proud of the time spent with Weather Report. Drummer Peter Erskine gives Elegant People: A History of the Band Weather Report his blessing by providing the book’s foreward.
Bianchi’s conversations with Joe Zawinul, of course, prove especially useful. We learn of his composition methods – piano improvisations, from which completed tunes emerge. Zawinul is a harsh critic of his own writing, and he sometimes sounds ruthless when truncating Wayne Shorter’s lengthier musical ideas. Shorter’s cryptic method of verbal communication is described, making one think that he prefers to speak through his saxophone.
Curt Bianchi is not a newcomer to his topic. He has spent most of his life as a fan of the group and has created the well-respected website Weather Report: The Annotated Discography. A depth of knowledge that comes from long-term research, and the author’s passion for the music, is evident on every page. Read this book and rediscover the music.
Tom Wilmeth is a freelance writer who lives in Grafton, Wisconsin – former home of the Paramount Records label. He has a podcast called The Vinyl Approach, available on Spotify, and is the author of the book ‘Sound Bites: A Lifetime of Listening‘ (Muleshoe Press, 2016), available on Amazon.
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