Weather Report

Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was initially co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul, the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter and Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš. Other prominent members at various points in the band's lifespan included bassists Alphonso Johnson, Jaco Pastorius and Victor Bailey; and drummers/percussionists Peter Erskine, Alex Acuña, Airto Moreira, and Chester Thompson. Throughout most of its existence, the band was a quintet of keyboards, saxophone, bass, drums and percussion. The band began as an avant-garde jazz group; when Vitouš left Weather Report after a few years (due to creative and financial disagreements), Zawinul increasingly took control and steered the band towards a more funk and R&B-oriented jazz sound incorporating elements of world music and the latest developments in synthesizer technology. During the mid-1970s Weather Report remained one of the defining acts within the jazz form, winning the DownBeat best album award five times in a row. Alongside Miles Davis's electric bands, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, and the Headhunters, Weather Report is considered to be one of the pre-eminent early jazz fusion bands.