The Legendary Live Tapes: 1978–1981 is a four-CD live recording of Weather Report on Columbia, Sony, released on November 20, 2015. Discs one and three are quintet recordings from 1980 to 1981, while discs two and four are quartet recordings from 1978. Most of the music was recorded on analog tape by the band's then drummer (and producer of this live album) Peter Erskine and front of house mixing engineer Brian Risner. In the liner notes, Erskine provides insight into Weather Report's live performances and life on tour via a song by song discussion.
Track listing + The Legendary Live Tapes: 1978–1981 track listingDisc oneTrack titleComposerTrack lengthDate recordedLineupVenue1) "8:30"Joe Zawinul2:19June, 1980Joe Zawinul, Jaco PastoriusFestival Hall, Osaka, Japan2) "Sightseeing"Wayne Shorter7:34June, 1980Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine, Robert Thomas Jr.Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan3) "Brown Street"Shorter, Zawinul11:171 June 1980Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine, Robert Thomas Jr.Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan4) "The Orphan"Zawinul1:51unknownJoe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine, Robert Thomas Jr.unknown5) "Forlorn"Zawinul4:11June, 1980Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine, Robert Thomas Jr.Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan6) "Three Views of a Secret"Jaco Pastorius7:3324 June 1980Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine, Robert Thomas Jr.Koseinenkin Hall, Tokyo, Japan7) "Badia / Boogie Woogie Waltz"Zawinul10:5814 November 1980Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine, Robert Thomas Jr.Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK8) "Wayne Solo"Shorter7:34June, 1981as on album cover (1 July)Wayne Shorter, Joe ZawinulEastman Theatre, Rochester, New York, USA9) "Jaco Solo (Osaka 1980)"Pastorius7:591 June 1980Jaco PastoriusFestival Hall, Osaka, JapanDisc twoTrack titleComposerTrack lengthDate recordedLineupVenue1) "Joe and Wayne Duet"Duke Ellington8:4028 June 1978Joe Zawinul, Wayne ShorterTokyo, Japan2) "Birdland"Zawinul6:1828 June 1978Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter ErskineTokyo, Japan3) "Peter's Solo ("Drum Solo")"Peter Erskine4:43November, 1978Peter Erskineeither Long Beach, Santa Monica, Berkeley or Phoenix (24, 25, 26, 28 November)4) "A Remark You Made"Zawinul7:3428 June 1978Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter ErskineTokyo, Japan5) "Continuum / River People"Pastorius12:221978 (10 November)Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter ErskineTower Theater, Philadelphia, PA, USA6) "Gibraltar"Zawinul21:0823 June 1978Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter ErskineFestival Hall, Osaka, JapanDisc threeTrack titleComposerTrack lengthDate recordedLineupVenue1) "Fast City"Zawinul8:38June/July 1980Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine, Robert Thomas Jr.Japanas in the liner notes2) "Madagascar"Zawinul17:4414 November 1980Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine, Robert Thomas Jr.Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK3) "Night Passage"Zawinul10:0714 November 1980Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine, Robert Thomas Jr.Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK4) "Dream Clock"Zawinul9:3714 November 1980Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine, Robert Thomas Jr.Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK5) "Rockin' in Rhythm"Ellington, Harry Carney, Irving Mills4:2114 November 1980Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine, Robert Thomas Jr.Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK6) "Port of Entry"Shorter12:35January 1980 (17, 18, 19 or 20th)Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter ErskineDisc fourTrack titleComposerTrack lengthDate recordedLineupVenue1) "Elegant People"Shorter9:1823 June 1978Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter ErskineFestival Hall, Osaka, Japan2) "Scarlet Woman"Zawinul, Shorter, Alphonso Johnson11:5323 June 1978Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter ErskineFestival Hall, Osaka, Japan3) "Black Market"Zawinul13:1428 June 1978Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter ErskineKoseinenkin Hall, Tokyo, Japan4) "Jaco Solo"Pastorius8:1923 June 1978Jaco PastoriusFestival Hall, Osaka, Japan5) "Teen Town"Pastorius8:591978 (29 October)Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter ErskineReading, PA, USA (Astor Theater)6) "Peter's Drum Solo"Erskine3:5923 June 1978Peter ErskineFestival Hall, Osaka, Japan7) "Directions"Zawinul6:5023 June 1978Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter ErskineFestival Hall, Osaka, Japan
Personnel Joe Zawinul – keyboards; ARP Quadra synthesizer bass (Disc 1 / tracks 1, 3); acoustic piano (Disc 2 / track 1); "Chicken Neck" (Disc 1 / track 8) Wayne Shorter – saxophones Jaco Pastorius – fretless bass; drums (Disc 1 / track 1) Peter Erskine – drums, timpani (Disc 2 / track 3) Robert Thomas Jr. – hand drums (Discs 1 and 3)
Technical Peter Erskine – producer Tony Zawinul – executive producer Brian Risner – live engineer / editing Rich Breen – mastering Jim Lane – product direction Tara Master – project direction Jeff Gilligan – art direction, design Shigeru Uchiyama – cover photo
Chart performance + Chart performance for The Legendary Live Tapes: 1978–1981 Chart (2015) Peakposition US Jazz Albums (Billboard) 7 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) 50
References
External links Weather Report - The Legendary Live Tapes: 1978-1981 (2015) album releases & credits at Discogs