| Mr. Gone | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 1978 | |||
| Recorded | February–June 1978 | |||
| Studio | Devonshire Sound Studios, North Hollywood, California | |||
| Genre | Jazz fusion | |||
| Length | 37:30 | |||
| Label | ARC/Columbia | |||
| Producer | Joe Zawinul, Jaco Pastorius | |||
| Weather Report chronology | ||||
| ||||
Mr. Gone is the eighth studio album by jazz fusion band Weather Report released in 1978 by ARC/Columbia Records. The album reached number one on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. [1]
As the group was still looking for a drummer following the departure of Alex Acuña, outside drummers Tony Williams and Steve Gadd appear along with Peter Erskine, who would become Acuña's replacement. Singers Deniece Williams and Maurice White also appear on the track "And Then." The Pastorius-penned "Punk Jazz" was later the title of a posthumous compilation of Jaco Pastorius's music. [2] [3]
The record became a center of controversy when DownBeat magazine gave it a one-star review. Zawinul went on to deliver a furious response to this review during a later interview. [4]
According to Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul came up with the name "Mr. Gone" as a reference to Shorter who was absent while the band was working on that album. Shorter stated in an interview on the Questlove Supreme podcast, "I stayed another month in Brazil while they were making a record. They were making some music and they named it after me. Joe Zawinul said, 'Let's call this one, Mr. Gone.' [5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [6] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B [7] |
| New York Daily News | (favourable) [8] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |  [9] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [10] |
Frederick I Douglass of The Baltimore Sun proclaimed he tuned in and became "immersed in the electronic space sounds of Weather Report". [11]
Don Heckman of High Fidelity wrote "Still, despite Zawinul's electro-musical genius, despite the astonishing bass playing of Pastorius, despite the consistently rewarding improvisations of Shorter, and despite Pastorius' and Manolo Badrena's attempts to break out into exuberant vocalisms, this is a hard record to like without reservation". [12] With that said the album was still named the Best Contemporary Jazz Album in High Fidelity's 1978 Critics Choice Poll. [12]
Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave a B grade, proclaiming "Like Black Market and Heavy Weather , this is short on rhythmic inspiration (four different drummers, no percussionists) and long on electric ivory. When I'm in the mood I can still get off on its rich colors and compositional flow." [7] Music critic Jon Pareles later placed Mr. Gone in his ballot for The Village Voice's 1978 Pazz and Jop poll. [13]
Bill Milkowski of Jazzwise described Mr. Gone as "a collection of well-crafted confections". [3]
The recording and technical personnel were as follows: [14]
Weather Report
Additional musicians
Production
| Chart (1978) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Top Jazz Albums [1] | 1 |
| Swedish Pop Albums [15] | 47 |
| UK Blues & Soul Top British Soul Albums [16] | 19 |
| UK Pop Albums [17] | 47 |
John Francis "Jaco" Pastorius III was an American jazz bassist, composer, and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report from 1976 to 1981. He also collaborated with numerous artists, including Pat Metheny and Joni Mitchell.
Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer Alphonse Mouzon as well as American percussionists Don Alias and Barbara Burton. The band was initially co-led by co-frontmen Zawinul and Shorter but, subsequently as the 1970s progressed, Zawinul largely became the sole musical leader of the group. Other prominent members at various points in the band's lifespan included Jaco Pastorius, Alphonso Johnson, Victor Bailey, Chester Thompson, Peter Erskine, Airto Moreira, and Alex Acuña. Throughout most of its existence, the band was a quintet consisting of Zawinul, Shorter, a bass guitarist, a drummer, and a percussionist.
Sweetnighter is the third studio album by American jazz fusion band Weather Report, released by Columbia Records in 1973.
Word of Mouth is the second solo studio album by American bassist Jaco Pastorius, released in 1981, while he was still a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report, and also the name of a big band that Pastorius assembled and with which he toured from 1981 to 1983.
8:30 is the second live album from the jazz fusion group Weather Report, issued in 1979 by ARC/Columbia Records. The album rose to No. 3 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart and No. 47 on the Billboard 200 chart. 8:30 also won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance.
Heavy Weather is the seventh album by Weather Report, released in 1977 through Columbia Records. The release sold about 500,000 copies; it would prove to be the band's most commercially successful album and one of the best sellers in the Columbia jazz catalog. DownBeat magazine gave Heavy Weather a 5-star review, and later its readers voted it jazz album of the year.
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter is a 1977 double album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Her ninth album, it is unusual for its experimental style, expanding even further on the jazz-influenced sound of Mitchell's previous recordings. Mitchell has stated that, close to completing her contract with Asylum Records, she allowed this album to be looser than anything she had done previously.
Black Market is the sixth studio album by American jazz fusion band Weather Report. Released in 1976, it was produced by Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter. It was recorded between December 1975 and January 1976 and released in March 1976 through Columbia Records. Columbia released it again as a digitally remastered CD in 1991.
Alejandro Neciosup Acuña, known professionally as Alex Acuña, is a Peruvian–American jazz drummer and percussionist.
Tale Spinnin' is the fifth studio album by Weather Report, recorded and released in 1975, featuring the addition of drummer Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, who was recruited after Josef Zawinul heard him play with Carlos Santana. Weather Report was recording in the studio next door to Ndugu, and asked him to join them for “one session”. That session ended up lasting a week and produced Tale Spinnin'. Ndugu was asked to join as a permanent member, but decided to stay with Santana.
Night Passage is the ninth studio album by Weather Report, released in 1980. The tracks were recorded on July 12 and 13, 1980, at The Complex studios in Los Angeles, except for "Madagascar", recorded live at the Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan on June 29 of the same year.
Holiday for Pans is a posthumous studio album by jazz fusion bassist Jaco Pastorius. Recorded between 1980 and 1982 at several New York City studios, the album was intended to be Pastorius' third solo album.
Weather Report is the tenth studio album by the American jazz fusion band Weather Report, released in January 1982. The band's first album is also self-titled, causing confusion among consumers and retailers upon its release. It is the final album featuring bass guitarist Jaco Pastorius and drummer Peter Erskine in the rhythm section.
Land of the Midnight Sun is the debut album by jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola, released in 1976.
"Birdland" is a jazz/pop song written by Joe Zawinul of the band Weather Report as a tribute to the Birdland nightclub in New York City, which appeared on the band's 1977 album Heavy Weather. The Manhattan Transfer won a Grammy Award with their 1979 version of the song, which had lyrics by Jon Hendricks. Quincy Jones won two Grammy Awards for the version of the piece he included on his 1989 album Back on the Block. The leading Cuban band Los Van Van included an extended interpolation of the piece in their song Tim Pop/Birdland.
Live and Unreleased is a compilation of live recordings of the jazz fusion band Weather Report, released on Legacy Recordings in 2002. The tracks are taken from live performances that took place from November 27, 1975 to June 3, 1983. It is their third official live recording after the Japan-only Live in Tokyo from 1972 and 8:30 from 1979, although previous albums such as Heavy Weather (1977) and Night Passage (1980) also included occasional live tracks.
Forecast: Tomorrow is a 3-CD/1-DVD career-spanning compilation of recordings of Weather Report. The 37 tracks are presented chronologically, beginning with three tracks pre–Weather Report, from ensemble duties with Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley (Zawinul), and from a Shorter solo album. In addition to two previously unreleased tracks, the set closes with DJ Logic's remix of "125th Street Congress".
75 is a live album by Austrian-American jazz musician Joe Zawinul and his band the Zawinul Syndicate. It was recorded in 2007 at two performances in Switzerland and Hungary, among bandleader Joe Zawinul's final performances. The album was produced by Joachim Becker and originally released in 2008 by JVC Compact Discs, with the Zawinul Estate and Becker serving as executive producers. It was later released by BHM Productions and Heads Up International, the BHM release with the alternate title 75th. It peaked at number eighteen on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart and won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. The album received a generally positive critical reception.
Robert Thomas Jr. is an American jazz percussionist and hand drummer. He is known as an innovator in Be-bop and hand drumming, and has been nominated for two Grammy awards. He is also a visual artist, working as a painter.
The Legendary Live Tapes: 1978–1981 is a four-CD live recording of Weather Report on Columbia, Sony, released on November 20, 2015. Discs one and three are quintet recordings from 1980 to 1981, while discs two and four are quartet recordings from 1978. Most of the music was recorded on analog tape by the band's then drummer Peter Erskine and front of house mixing engineer Brian Risner. In the liner notes, Erskine provides insight into Weather Report's live performances and life on tour via a song by song discussion.
