Live in Berlin 1975

Firstly, GREAT concert and GREAT recording. And very moderately priced to say that a dvd is inculded. Basically its a MUST HAVE !! i think any of the more recent 'previously unissued' recordings are appreciated and gratefully received by WR fans.Its a shame the concert is only one (fairly short) set. i much prefer this to the 'Live In Tokyo' double cd (which often meanders and lacks direction).i have just spent a couple of hours listening to this cd (have not watched the dvd at all). Personally, i find that the grooves do not sit quite as well as they could. What i mean is that in my opinion Alex Acuna playing drums is far superior to Chester Thompson (who is a great groove merchant in his own right) who to me does not add to the music in the same way that Erskine/Gavant/Acuna might. To be somewhat critical, in places the 'TIME' loses its accuracy and i would say this is due to Chester not being quite assertive enough (esp. between ' bridges').Alphonso is an excellent player and i recently learned that he left WR because of the inconsistency with its many drummers. He really pays homage to his predecessor Miroslav Vitous with his creative use of distortion and emulation of double-bass. Very effective !!!Zawinul and Shorter LEAD the gig (as always !!) and are faultless. A beautiful interlude into 'Boogie Woogie 3/4' which sounds almost ECM and at times reminds me of Corea/Farrell on 'Crystal Silence' (RTF - ECM) is worth the price of the cd alone !!!21-03-2013 (RE : Paragraph 3 - Since spending a few months listening to this cd, i have come to enjoy and appreciate Chester Thompsons drumming on this album. He really does groove and is powerful in many places).

This is the best of the recent live Weather Report releases. The numbers are taken from 'Tale Spinnin' and 'Mysterious Traveller' with a nod to the earlier 'Sweetnighter' when they play 'Boogie Woogie Waltz'.The CD performance is short and concise and you hear the leaders at their best. Shorter sounds engaged throughout and Zawinul's playing is inventive and incisive without too much intrusive noodling or loony keyboard effects. The rhythm section of Al Johnson and Chester Thompson cope easily with the shifts in tempo and mood and the bassist improvises with a rich tone as he holds down a groove. Alez Acuna contributes percussive colour that adds another dimension to the fatback playing around him.Overall The sound is fine, though the keyboard textures (especially the electric piano) are sometimes quite abrasive, but that was always a feature of Weather Report gigs.This is album features by far the more intersting and rewarding version of live Weather Report. It does not have the stern, harsh, serious sound of the Vitous years or the overbearing 'virtuosity' of their live work with Pastorius. What you hear is a band playing together (rather than competing with each other) to make exceptional music. They actually sound like a modern jazz band. The DVD is a nice bonus and worth watchimg for the glimpses of Joe's trousers. Man they are hip.

excellent live album

This is a fine and currently bargain-priced 40+ minutes on CD and DVD; high-quality sound and video from 1975. There are 4 numbers here and the DVD conveys some of the excitement and tension; Chester Thompson seems to perhaps be feeling some pressure from the 2 principals, as he looks grimly serious throughout and plays like the devil is on his tail, absolutely smoking. Johnson is attentive and responsive and Alex Acuna plays very strongly and fits in perfectly. It's furious from the outset and has a magnificent, jagged rough edge to it which was polished out in later lineups.The video is IMHO better shot than the later performance released in the 'Forecast Tomorrow' box; and we even see Wayne Shorter playing piano on 'Mysterious Traveller'. This particular track is truncated compared to the studio version, probably as even they couldn't reproduce all the parts. 'Scarlet Woman' is excellent, without the countdown nonsense that was introduced in later live shows, and the ending medley includes a brilliant Zawinul piano section, behind which Johnson plays some Vitous-like figures that almost sound like a bowed upright. Shorter introduces the melody of 'Boogie Woogie Waltz' in an incredible way, like a ballad, then Thompson hits the groove and Zawinul snaps into it like a robot. Unique.Later WR performances and tours did not include an acoustic piano, as by then the sound could be got from an electronic box which was much easier to amplify. With the arrival of Pastorius, they crossed over into bigger venues, eventually playing much, much louder and dividing the show into a series of ultimately very self-indulgent solo sections bookended by the current tunes and greatest hits.But at the time of this recording they were still on the way up and had a lot to prove, and the music of the lineup with Alphonso Johnson has a dark, brutal urgency which is reflected in this set and the live tracks on 'Live and Unreleased' and 'Forecast Tomorrow'.Magnificent. Even though my computer DVD drive won't read the DVD.Well worth your attention at the current low price.

The fusion jazz super-group had a habit of recording their live shows on their world-wide tours and this is the one of their 1975 concert in Berlin. I have another of the CDs produced from a live recording called 8:30 and dates from the 1979 world tour. The band are in great form on both records. The two shows contain similar material. Which may indicate they are the pieces that work best live, and that they think they can do well. The 8:30 line-up is probably the better band, as it contains Jaco Pastorius and Peter Erkine, which was probably their best rhythm section. The main difference between the two records is that 8:30 is just two CDs, whereas the Berlin package has one CD and one DVD. I suppose it depends on whether you need to actually see them or want to just hear the music.