Sportin' Life is the twelfth studio album by 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...

, released in 1985. Although featuring many more vocal performances than any of their previous albums, words are rare and most vocals are chants from Bobby McFerrin

Bobby McFerrin

Robert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. is an American vocalist and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". He is a ten-time Grammy Award winner.-Life:...

 or Carl Anderson

Carl Anderson

Carl Anderson may refer to:*Carl Anderson , American college football coach*Carl Anderson , American art director*Carl Anderson , North Dakota State Treasurer...

. The album is named after a character from Porgy and Bess

Porgy and Bess

Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...

.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Joe Zawinul; except where indicated

1. "Corner Pocket" – 5:46
2. "Indiscretions" – 4:05
3. "Hot Cargo" – 4:41
4. "Confians" (Cinelu) – 5:07
5. "Pearl On the Half Shell" (Shorter) – 4:06
6. "What's Going On" (Renaldo Benson, Alfred Cleveland, Marvin Gaye
   Marvin Gaye
   Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
   
   ) – 6:29
7. "Face on the Barroom Floor" (Shorter) – 3:59
8. "Ice-Pick Willy" – 5:00

Personnel

Weather Report

• Josef Zawinul - Keyboards
• 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...
  
   - Saxophones
• Omar Hakim
  Omar Hakim
  Omar Hakim is an American jazz, jazz fusion and pop music drummer.Hakim credits jazz vibraphonist Mike Mainieri with giving him his first break in 1980; Hakim appeared in a video with Mainieri called The Jazz Life and began working with singer Carly Simon through Mainieri...
  
   - Drums, background vocals on Confians
• Victor Bailey - Bass, background vocals on Confians
• Mino Cinélu
  Mino Cinelu
  Mino Cinelu is a French musician. He plays multiple instruments. He is a composer, programmer and producer; and is most often associated primarily for his work as a jazz percussionist.-Biography:Cinelu was born in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine...
  
   - Percussion, lead vocal and acoustic guitar on Confians

Guests

• Bobby McFerrin
  Bobby McFerrin
  Robert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. is an American vocalist and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". He is a ten-time Grammy Award winner.-Life:...
  
   - Vocalist (tracks 1, 3, 5, and 8)
• Carl Anderson
  Carl Anderson
  Carl Anderson may refer to:*Carl Anderson , American college football coach*Carl Anderson , American art director*Carl Anderson , North Dakota State Treasurer...
  
   - Vocalist (tracks 1, 3, and 8)
• Dee Dee Bellson - Vocalist (tracks 1, 3, and 8)
• Alfie Silas - Voice (tracks 1, 3, and 8)