Night Passage (album)
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 (before a crowd of 250 people who can be heard on a couple of tracks),[7] except for "Madagascar", recorded live at the Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan on June 29 of the same year.
| Night Passage | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album with a live track by | ||||
| Released | November 1980 | |||
| Recorded | June 29, 1980 (#8) July 12/13, 1980 (#1-7) | |||
| Venue | Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan | |||
| Studio | The Complex (Los Angeles) | |||
| Genre | Jazz fusion | |||
| Length | 48:05 | |||
| Label | ARC/Columbia | |||
| Producer | Joe Zawinul, Jaco Pastorius | |||
| Weather Report chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Robert Christgau | C+ [2] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [3] |
| High Fidelity | (favourable)[4] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [5] |
| Jazz Journal | (favourable)[6] |
The album introduces a new member to the band, namely percussionist Robert Thomas Jr. Night Passage dials back the elaborate production of some of Weather Report's earlier releases (most notably 1978's Mr. Gone). What is lost in overdubs is made up in solo improvisation in the classic jazz tradition.
Trivia
The 7th track on the album "Three Views of a Secret" would be re-recorded for Jaco Pastorius' second solo studio album entitled 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 straight-ahead 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]
Night Passage was Grammy-nominated in the category of Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental.[8]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Night Passage" | Joe Zawinul | 6:30 |
| 2. | "Dream Clock" | Zawinul | 6:26 |
| 3. | "Port of Entry" | Wayne Shorter | 5:09 |
| 4. | "Forlorn" | Zawinul | 3:55 |
| 5. | "Rockin' in Rhythm" | Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Harry Carney | 3:02 |
| 6. | "Fast City" | Zawinul | 6:17 |
| 7. | "Three Views of a Secret" | Jaco Pastorius | 5:50 |
| 8. | "Madagascar" (live) | Zawinul | 10:56 |
Personnel
Weather Report
- Josef Zawinul – keyboards and synthesizers
- Wayne Shorter – saxophones
- Jaco Pastorius – fretless bass
- Peter Erskine – drums
- Robert Thomas Jr. – percussion
Production
- Brian Risner – engineer
- George Massenburg – engineer
- Jerry Hudgins – engineer
- Joseph Futterer – art direction
- Richie Powell – art direction
- Nicholas DeVore III – cover photography
- Pete Turner – cover photography
References
- Ginell, Richard S. (2011). "Weather Report - Night Passage (1980) album review, credits & releases | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
- Christgau, R. (2011). "Robert Christgau: CG: weather report". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
- Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 204. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- Heckman, Don (February 1981). "Weather Report: Night Passage" (PDF). High Fidelity. p. 102. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
- Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1475. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
- Gilbert, Mark (March 1981). "JJ 03/81: Weather Report – Night Passage". Jazz Journal. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
- Weather Report - Night Passage (1980) album at JazzDisco.org
- "Weather Report". grammy.com. The Recording Academy.