Originally Published on Oct. 16, 2017
Jazz Week!
The Song of the Day is:
Weather Report – “Birdland”
From the album Heavy Weather (1977)
Fittingly, since Miles Davis pretty much invented jazz fusion, most of the big fusion band came from his stable of musicians. There was John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra, Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, Chick Corea’s Return To Forever and Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter’s Weather Report. Of those groups, it could be argued that Weather Report scored the most recognizable hit with “Birdland”. The band had recently added bass player Jaco Pastorius, a young musician who would soon cement his reputation as one of the best bass players who ever lived. “Birdland”, written by Zawinul, was named after a famous NYC jazz club were he met his wife. The club itself was named after Charlie “Bird” Parker.
Hear Today, Grown Tomorrow 