1974 Weather Reports MysteriousTravler.It is amazing how good this still sounds. And the cover perfectly capture the strange nature of the beautiful yet slightly alien sounds captured in the grooves. This album is if not a crossing of the Rubicon, clearly a turning point in the group’s career, largely reflected/thanks to the recent enlistment of Alphonso Johnson for the bass slot; Al’s determinant in the increase of that groove factor, his input amply felt on the Funky drenched writing, or jamming, of the infectious “Cucumber Slumber” – where it also shows he’s an adept of stepping out front stage either as the third participant of a conversation involving keys and sax or when standing out by means of effects-device’s altered tone shaping; however that doesn’t sum up his tastes and talents, as “Scarlet Woman” reveals; although Zawinul and Shorter contributed to its completion, it was Al who conceived the basic skeleton of the delicate and narrative piece, which unfolds with an atmospheric tension, always on the verge of being solved.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 21:23:28 +0000