Mysterious Traveller is the fourth release of 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...

. This album marked the end of bassist Miroslav Vitous

Miroslav Vitouš

Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš , is a Czech jazz bassist.-Biography:Born in Prague, he began the violin at age six, and started playing the piano at age ten, and bass at fourteen. As a young man in Europe, Vitouš was a competitive swimmer. One of his early music groups was the Junior Trio with his...

's tenure with the band. Vitous was replaced by Alphonso Johnson

Alphonso Johnson

Alphonso Johnson is an American jazz bassist who has been influential since the early 1970s.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Johnson started off as an upright bass player, but switched to the electric bass in his late teens. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, Johnson showed...

. Another addition to the line-up is drummer Ishmael Wilburn. Greg Errico

Greg Errico

Greg Errico, sometimes missspelled as Gregg Errico, is an Italian American musician/record producer, best known for being the drummer for the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band, Sly & the Family Stone...

 was the drummer for the tour between the previously released Sweetnighter

Sweetnighter

Sweetnighter is Weather Report's third studio album, released on Columbia Records in 1973. The group had recorded the songs in a five day stretch during February of the same year. It was to be the last album to feature founding member Miroslav Vitous as the primary bassist.-Track listing:#"Boogie...

and this album, but declined an invitation to be a permanent member of the band.

Track listing

1. "Nubian Sundance" (Zawinul) – 10:40
2. "American Tango" (Vitous, Zawinul) – 3:40
3. "Cucumber Slumber" (Johnson, Zawinul) – 8:22
4. "Mysterious Traveller" (Shorter) – 7:21
5. "Blackthorn Rose" (Shorter) – 5:03
6. "Scarlet Woman" (Johnson, Shorter, Zawinul) – 5:46
7. "Jungle Book" (Zawinul) – 7:25

The Mastersound SBM edition of Mysterious Traveller includes a previously unreleased song, Miroslav's Tune, as a bonus track at the end of the album.

Personnel

Weather Report:

• Josef Zawinul - Electric and acoustic piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , synthesizer, guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , kalimba, organ, tamboura, clay drum
  Clay drum
  A clay drum is a variety of percussion instrument found in various parts of the world. It may refer to:-Membranophones:*Goblet drum, from the Middle East*Khol, from India*Kus, from Iran*Madal, from Nepal*Mrdanga, from India...
  
  , tack piano
  Tack piano
  In music, the tack piano is a permanently altered version of an ordinary piano, in which tacks or nails are placed on the hammers of the instrument at the point where the hammers hit the strings, giving the instrument a tinny, more percussive sound...
  
  , melodica
  Melodica
  The melodica, also known as the "blow-organ" or "key-flute", is a free-reed instrument similar to the melodeon and harmonica. It has a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. Pressing a key opens a hole,...
  
  
• Wayne Shorter
  Wayne 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...
  
   - Soprano and tenor saxophone
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
  , tack piano
• Miroslav Vitouš
  Miroslav Vitouš
  Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš , is a Czech jazz bassist.-Biography:Born in Prague, he began the violin at age six, and started playing the piano at age ten, and bass at fourteen. As a young man in Europe, Vitouš was a competitive swimmer. One of his early music groups was the Junior Trio with his...
  
   - Bass (track 2 only)
• Alphonso Johnson
  Alphonso Johnson
  Alphonso Johnson is an American jazz bassist who has been influential since the early 1970s.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Johnson started off as an upright bass player, but switched to the electric bass in his late teens. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, Johnson showed...
  
   - Bass
• Ishmael Wilburn - Drums
• Skip Hadden - Drums (tracks 1 and 4 only)
• Dom Um Romão
  Dom Um Romão
  Dom Um Romão was a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. Noted for his expressive stylings with the fusion band Weather Report, Romão recorded with varied artists such as Cannonball Adderley, Paul Simon, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 and Tony Bennett...
  
   - Percussion, drums

Guests:

• Ray Barretto
  Ray Barretto
  Ray Barretto was a Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican jazz musician.-Early years:Barretto was born in New York City of Puerto Rican descent...
  
   - Percussion (track 3 only)
• Meruga - Percussion (track 1 only)
• Steve Little - Timpani
  Timpani
  Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
  
   (track 6 only)
• Don Ashworth - Ocarina
  Ocarina
  The ocarina is an ancient flute-like wind instrument. Variations do exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body...
  
  s and woodwinds (track 7 only)
• Isacoff - Tabla
  Tabla
  The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
  
  , finger cymbals (track 7 only)
• Edna Wright - Vocalists (track 1 only)
• Marti McCall - Vocalists (track 1 only)
• Jessica Smith - Vocalists (track 1 only)
• James Gilstrad - Vocalists (track 1 only)
• Billie Barnum - Vocalists (track 1 only)