Night Passage (album)

Night Passage is the eleventh album by Weather Report, released in 1980. The tracks were recorded on July 12 and 13, 1980 at The Complex studios in Los Angeles (before a crowd of 250 people who can be heard on a couple of tracks),[5] except for "Madagascar", recorded live at the Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan on June 29 of the same year. The album introduces a new member to the band, percussionist Robert Thomas Jr. Night Passage loses the over-done production layers of some of Weather Report's earlier releases (most notably 1978's Mr. Gone). What is lost in layers of overdubs is made up in solo improvisation in the classic jazz tradition.

Night Passage
Studio album by
Weather Report
ReleasedNovember 1980
RecordedJuly 12/13, 1980 (#1-7)
The Complex studios, Los Angeles
June 29, 1980 (#8)
Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan
GenreJazz fusion
Length48:05
LabelARC/ Columbia
ProducerJoe Zawinul, Jaco Pastorius
Weather Report chronology
8:30
(1979)		 Night Passage
(1980)		 Weather Report
(1982)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert ChristgauC+ [2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide [3]
High Fidelity(favourable)[4]

Trivia

"Three Views of a Secret" would be rerecorded for Jaco's solo album Word of Mouth (1981).

Critical reception

Richard S. Ginell of Allmusic gave a four out of five stars review saying "All things being relative, this is Weather Report's straightahead album, where the elaborate production layers of the late-'70s gave way to sparer textures and more unadorned solo improvisation in the jazz tradition, electric instruments and all."[1] Don Heckman of High Fidelity called Night Passage "one of the finest albums Weather Report has ever made".[4]

As well Night Passage was Grammy nominated in the category of Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental.[6]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Night Passage"Joe Zawinul6:30
2."Dream Clock"Zawinul6:26
3."Port of Entry"Shorter5:09
4."Forlorn"Zawinul3:55
5."Rockin' in Rhythm"Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Harry Carney3:02
6."Fast City"Zawinul6:17
7."Three Views of a Secret"Pastorius5:50
8."Madagascar"Zawinul10:56

Personnel
Technical
  • Brian Risner, George Massenburg, Jerry Hudgins – engineer
  • Joseph Futterer, Richie Powell – art direction
  • Nicholas DeVore III, Pete Turner – cover photography

References
  1. Ginell, Richard S. (2011). "Weather Report - Night Passage (1980) album review, credits & releases | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  2. Christgau, R. (2011). "Robert Christgau: CG: weather report". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  3. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 204. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  4. Heckman, Don (February 1981). "Weather Report: Night Passage". Vol. 31. High Fidelity. p. 102. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  5. Weather Report - Night Passage (1980) album at JazzDisco.org
  6. "Weather Report". grammy.com. The Recording Academy.
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