Waether Report: The Legendary Live Tapes 78-81

Disc: 1 1. 8:30 2. Sightseeing 3. Brown Street 4. The Orphan 5. Forlon 6. Three Views of A Secret 7. Badia/Boogie Waltz 8. Wayne Solo 9. Jaco Solo (Osaka 1980) Disc: 2 1. Joe and Wayne Duet (Toyko 1978) 2. Birdland 3. Peter's Solo 4. A Remark You Made 5. Continuum/River People 6. Gibraltar Disc: 3 1. Fast City 2. Madagascar 3. Night Passage 4. Dream Clock 5. Rockin' In Rhythm 6. Port of Entry Disc: 4 1. Elegant People 2. Scarlet Women 3. Black Market 4. Jaco Solo (Osaka 1978) 5. Teen Town 6. Peter's Solo (Osaka 1978) 7. Directions

In his essay that stretches across the 16-page booklet, Peter Erskine explains that, although WR usually wouldn't make professional recordings of their live shows, either Erskine himself or live engineer Brian Risner would occasionally record some of the shows on a high quality cassette recorder. These soundboard recordings, which Erskine has preserved all these years and has now decided to share, represent the bulk of the set. The sound is good, possibly not audiophile of course dynamics-wise, and there’s some hiss here and there, but very good nonetheless. There are also a couple of recordings made by “someone in the audience”, which are included because unusual in the WR canon, or of particular interest anyhow. The audio quality here is slightly inferior of course, but not to the extent of detracting from the performance. Mr. Erskine provides a track-by-track discussion, plus insight about WR’s rehearsal and recording process, as well as their approach to the live sets. His essay is a wonderful reading. This release comes through as a labour of love from Mr. Erskine and Tony Zawinul (Joe’s son), who curated and produced the set. From Erskine’s words you can clearly detect the fondness and the affection for his old band and his old bandmates. The set is also a testament to the work of engineer Brian Risner, “the person who enjoyed the longest association in the band outside of Joe & Wayne”. Great recordings.

Price: $49.98