WEATHER REPORT "OSSIACH, 1971"

 

Here's another contribution by inamorata. The picture above is from the www and was shot during the concert in Oissach (no name given for the photographer).

Weather Report
3. Internationales Musikforum, Stiftshof
Ossiach
June 27, 1971
 
Source: FM or SBD

The earliest known live recording of WR

01 Firefish  13:57 >
02 Unidentified 2:01 >
03 Early Minor 8:15
04 Morning Lake 4:37 >
05 Waterfall  6:38
06 Umbrellas  7:22
07 Piano intro (Orange Lady theme) > Eurydice 14:36
08 Seventh Arrow 5:35 >
09 Unidentified 2:34
10 Orange Lady 11:03

Joe Zawinul, piano & keyboards
Wayne Shorter, tenor & soprano sax
Miroslav Vitous, bass
Alphonse Mouzon, drums
Dom Um Romao, percussion & flute

This show is relatively well circulated, but in variable sound quality, often with the sequence of compositions mixed up and/or one track missing (Eurydice was officially released) or otherwise incomplete. The date given for most versions, July 27, is also incorrect.

This new and uncirculated version is remastered from the best of several versions I picked up over the years, a trade CD I received from an Austrian collector. It appears to be fairly close to the original source but has the usual issues coming with several generations of cassette copies (pitch slightly sharp, azimuth errors, clicks and other artifacts). I have corrected all of these and remastered the sound, and I doubt you will find a better version of this historic show.

Considered to be the earliest known live recording of Weather Report, this represents what might be called the 'consolidated' first line-up with Dom um Romao having replaced Airto Moreira (and the other percussionists, Don Alias and Barbara Burton, who also contributed to the eponymous first album but remained uncredited). Alphonse Mouzon was still on board.

The venue was the 'Third International Music Forum Ossiach' in Carinthia, initiated by Friedrich Gulda, which brought together such diverse acts as, among others, Paul and Limpe Fuchs, Tangerine Dream, Arvind Parikh, Le groupe liturgique de Tunis, Pink Floyd, The Trio, and Gulda himself playing Mozart. While the audience sounds rather polite and restrained during the Weather Report show, Ossiach was flooded by enthusiastic hippies when Pink Floyd played on July 1st. The natives were shocked and as a consequence Gulda's festival had to move to Viktring, also in Carinthia, for the next editions. Selected recordings from the festival, made by the Austrian radio and TV network, ORF, were released on a three-LP sampler by BASF under the title Ossiach Live. This includes, as mentioned, Eurydice from the Weather Report set, in a very different mix from what we have here. The 2 CD edition from 2008 appears to be unofficial.
 

 

Weather Report and "friends" - Berlin 1971

JThe appearance of a Weather Report recording here may raise some highbrows amongst the more serious-minded of you. I also think that the later WR stuff, after they became successful, left much to be desired, but this early recording, I think, is really special because of the artists guesting on it. If you've enjoyed the recent Surman postings, you'll like this. (and Skids is not bad either !) Details: Weather Report Funkausstellung, Berlin, 3 Sep 1971 Weather Report: Joe Zawinul, piano & electric piano Wayne Shorter, tenor & soprano sax Miroslav Vitous, bass Alphonse Mouzon, drums Dom Um Romao, percussion & flute with Eje Thelin, trombone Alan Skidmore, tenor sax & flute John Surman, bass clarinet, soprano & baritone sax CD1 (65:31): 01 - I Will Tell Him On You / Early Minor / Firefish / Early Minor 24:16 02 - Sunrise 15:29 03 - Moto Grosso Feio 13:45 04 - Directions 12:00 CD2 (47:11): 05 - Morning Lake / Waterfall 9:22 06 - Umbrellas 6:48 07 - Orange Lady 10:58 08 - Dr Honoris Causa 15:39 09 - Eurydice (incomplete) 4:22 NDR Radio Broadcast I think all the tunes are WR's, I'm not familiar with all their repertoire. The distinctive WR sound is still there, but much freer than their later recordings. I would be interested to now how Surman, Thelin and Skidmore came to play this gig, and whether it was a one-off or repeated. Surman went on to play in a quartet led by Vitous some years later. I found this some time ago on a torrent (not dime). It's only ripped at a fairly modest 192kbps. Perhaps, as it comes from a radio show, it was broadcast at 192 digital and this is as good as it gets. If anyone has a genuine higher bit rate copy, please feel free to post it, but to my ears this sounds pretty good.

Circle - Nefertiti - Live Bergamo March 1971

This comes as a liberated track from a bootleg Chick Corea compilation LP, seeded by inamorata (many thanks to him for letting it out). The original lineage is not clear, probably an FM broadcast, good quality. I don't worship at Braxton's shrine, but I do like this.

Details:-

Circle
March 19, 1971
Third International Jazz Parade at Bergamo Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo (Italy)

Anthony Braxton, sss & as
Chick Corea, p
Dave Holland, b & cello
Barry Altschul, dr & perc

01 Nefertiti (Wayne Shorter) 17:42

I guess someone, somewhere has the remainder of this recorded concert. Anyway, it's a track to add to the Hamburg concert recently posted.

As it's only a short recording, I'm posting in Flac only, link in comments.