8:30
Encyclopedia
8:30 is an album
by the jazz fusion
group Weather Report
. It was recorded live except for tracks 10-13, which were studio recorded. Among other titles, it features a live version of the group's signature piece "Birdland". The album won a Grammy Award
for Best Jazz Fusion Performance
.
sometimes plays percussion instead of saxophone on stage, and on one of the studio tracks, the calypso
inspired "Brown Street", Joe Zawinul's son Erich plays percussion along with Erskine and Pastorius.
The 8:30 tour saw Weather Report at the height of their commercial success, and the playlist leant heavily on the recent successes, "Black Market", "Birdland" and "Teen Town".
Jaco Pastorius
played a notable solo, "Slang", which melded a multi-part bass solo using tape loop
s, leading into references to "Third Stone from the Sun
" by Jimi Hendrix
, "Portrait of Tracy
" from his own solo work, then onto "(The Hills are Alive with) The Sound of Music". He finished off playing his bass with its own strap.
The album was originally a double gatefold
LP but the reissue on CD dropped a track, "Scarlet Woman", and was released as a single CD. In Japan, the album has been released as a 2-CD set with all the tracks of the original.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by the jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
group Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
. It was recorded live except for tracks 10-13, which were studio recorded. Among other titles, it features a live version of the group's signature piece "Birdland". The album won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Jazz Fusion Performance
Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality jazz fusion performances...
.
History
The album takes its name from the band's habit of starting their performance at 8:30 pm. At the time of the tour, the band were a four piece who would take the stage continuously for around two and a half hours, each of the members taking a solo spot to give not just a virtuoso performance, but to give the others a break. Wayne ShorterWayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
sometimes plays percussion instead of saxophone on stage, and on one of the studio tracks, the calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
inspired "Brown Street", Joe Zawinul's son Erich plays percussion along with Erskine and Pastorius.
The 8:30 tour saw Weather Report at the height of their commercial success, and the playlist leant heavily on the recent successes, "Black Market", "Birdland" and "Teen Town".
Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player....
played a notable solo, "Slang", which melded a multi-part bass solo using tape loop
Tape loop
In music, tape loops are loops of prerecorded magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound. Contemporary composers such as Steve Reich and Karlheinz Stockhausen used tape loops to create phase patterns and rhythms...
s, leading into references to "Third Stone from the Sun
Third Stone from the Sun
"Third Stone From the Sun" is a song written and originally recorded by Jimi Hendrix and released as "3rd Stone From The Sun" on the 1967 Are You Experienced album by Jimi Hendrix Experience...
" by Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, "Portrait of Tracy
Portrait of Tracy
is a composition by bassist Jaco Pastorius. It appears on his landmark self-titled debut album, and is widely recorded as a tribute by bassists such as Joe Ferry, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten, Brian Bromberg, and others...
" from his own solo work, then onto "(The Hills are Alive with) The Sound of Music". He finished off playing his bass with its own strap.
The album was originally a double gatefold
Gatefold
A gatefold is a type of fold used for advertising around a magazine or section, and for packaging of media such as vinyl records.- LP covers :...
LP but the reissue on CD dropped a track, "Scarlet Woman", and was released as a single CD. In Japan, the album has been released as a 2-CD set with all the tracks of the original.
Track listing
Personnel
- Peter ErskinePeter ErskinePeter Erskine is an American jazz drummer and composer. He has enjoyed a long and successful career as a session drummer, recording and touring with many famous jazz and rock artists, including Steely Dan and Weather Report...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Jaco PastoriusJaco PastoriusJohn Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player....
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, drums on "8:30" & "Brown Street" - Wayne ShorterWayne ShorterWayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
– tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, soprano saxophoneSoprano saxophoneThe soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in... - Erich Zawinul – percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
on "Brown Street" - Joe ZawinulJoe ZawinulJosef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
– bassSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, vocoderVocoderA vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder... - The West Los Angeles Christian Academy Children's Choir – vocals on "The Orphan"