I Sing The Body Electric [Original recording remastered]

Miles Davis' electric albums In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew and A Tribute to Jack Johnson stand in themselves as one of the finest canons in the history of modern music. Their innovative sound influenced many style from funk to (especially) post-rock and the density of the playing amazes the aware listener. Moreover, though Davis became harder with every album, his guitarist John McLaughlin showed with The Inner Mounting Flame that jazz could be pushed even heavier and louder without losing the least sophistication.

On "I Sing the Body Electric", pianist Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter shows they could be just as much a force as Miles himself or John McLaughlin with the Mahavishnus. Instead of simply using mainly-rock instrumentation combined with totally jazzy structures, "I Sing the Body Electric" uses modern influences in a very different yet equally unique and startling manner. There is no electric guitar, but there is some very fiery bass playing from the lesser-known Miroslav Vitous and acoustic guitar from Ralph Towner on "The Moors" that reminds you he recorded for Buffy Sainte-Marie's label. Both "The Moors" and opener "Unknown Soldier" capture the intensity of rock without truly "rocking" in a manner one expects of only a few singer/songwriters like Laura Nyro or in modern times Björk. The fierce groove in the later part of "The Moors" is particularly startling. Third track "Crystal" is nearly as good, being as quiet as "In a Silent Way" but much denser, surpassing Can in its ability to produce near-ambient grooves before a burst of bass ups the tempo. "Second Sunday in August" is even funkier and slower at the same time, and there is no denying many wanted to copy the percussion groove with makes one want to dance to a piece that has no "boom" beats whatsoever.

The last three track on "I Sing the Body Electric" were recorded live in Tokyo and are edited versions of the band's later album of that name. They are if anything even more eccentric and unique in their rhythms than the first four songs, and also much harder in spite of the extraordinarily melodic character of the drumming throughout. The fifth track medley has a bass solo that makes lead guitar look superfluous, and the ambient opening of "Surucucú" shows Weather Report pioneers if not masters in using ethnic instruments in a rock setting.

All in all, "I Sing the Body Electric" is further proof of the amazing talent in Miles Davis' early fusion bands and just as good as his work, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, or Ornette Coleman's forays into jazz-funk later in the decade. A genuine masterpiece that sound different from any of those and features some of the most unique grooves in twentieth century music.

2.5 not because it's a bad album, it's not - it's a very good album. For one thing, live and studio combo does not work for me - it destroys the continuity. Second, it's not really the sound of Weather Report, there is nothing here that reminds me even remotely of Weather Report. Just very generic abstract, experimental, free-jazz-ish mudic (yes, mudic). Sort of like the Soft Machine at their most noodle-icious. To me the first album that sounds like Weather Report is Tail Spinnin'.

In 2007, the main 16 Weather Report Columbia titles were re-released in Japan with new DSD remastering in mini-sleeve format. From an audio quality standpoint, the DSD versions now supercede all the earlier standard-CD-audio U.S. releases (some of the WR catalog are available as SACD's).

Additionally, the Japan editions feature a welcome 2CD restoration of "8:30" to the original 13-track double-LP album configuration, with the proper inclusion of "Scarlet Woman", which had been edited off all domestic editions to allow for a cheaper, single-disc release.

So far, the WR DSD catalog is only available in mini-sleeve format, and all `sleeves are limited edition. If it is your desire to own the latest/greatest audio, then don't delay in picking these up, although it is always possible that Sony Japan will release them again as less expensive jewel case editions somewhere down the road. However, for the true WR fan and vinyl nut, it's great to have the wonderful mini-LP replicas of the original LP covers!

I wanted to provide links for each 2007 `sleeve edition, but unfortunately, Amazon only allows 10 per review. But, by linking to the 2007 DSD remaster of the first Weather Report album, you should be able to use the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" tool to locate the rest of the 2007 DSD titles (just make sure you verify the release date and Product Description).

Also, of note: In this same release were updated DSD remasters of the following WR-member solo albums, also as mini-sleeves:

Jaco Pastorius (1st album)
Wayne Shorter "Native Dancer"
Joe Zawinul "Di-a-lects"

And, the two Havana Jam albums, both where WR appeared live, also as `sleeves:

Havana Jam 1
Havana Jam 2

And, FINALLY: 2007 witnessed John McLaughlin finally relenting to release the full Trio Of Doom studio & live recordings, the awesome line-up of McLaughlin, Pastorius and Tony Williams, which could only be found previously on the Havana Jam albums, albeit in edited form.

WHAT IS A JAPAN "MINI-LP-SLEEVE" CD?

Have you ever lamented the loss of one of the 20th Century's great art forms, the 12" vinyl LP jacket? Then "mini-LP-sleeve" CD's may be for you.

Mini-sleeve CDs are manufactured in Japan under license. The disc is packaged inside a 135MM X 135MM cardboard precision-miniature replica of the original classic vinyl-LP album. Also, anything contained in the original LP, such as gatefolds, booklets, lyric sheets, posters, printed LP sleeves, stickers, embosses, special LP cover paper/inks/textures and/or die cuts, are precisely replicated and included. An English-language lyric sheet is always included, even if the original LP did not have printed lyrics.

Then, there's the sonic quality: Often (but not always), mini-sleeves have dedicated remastering (20-Bit, 24-Bit, DSD, K2/K2HD, and/or HDCD), and can often (but not always) be superior to the audio on the same title anywhere else in the world. There also may be bonus tracks unavailable elsewhere.

Each Japan mini-sleeve has an "obi" ("oh-bee"), a removable Japan-language promotional strip. The obi lists the Japan street date of that particular release, the catalog number, the mastering info, and often the original album's release date. Bonus tracks are only listed on the obi, maintaining the integrity of the original LP artwork. The obi's are collectable, and should not be discarded.

All mini-sleeve releases are limited edition, but re-pressings/re-issues are becoming more common (again, not always). The enthusiasm of mini-sleeve collecting must be tempered, however, with avoiding fake mini-sleeves manufactured in Russia and distributed throughout the world, primarily on eBay. They are inferior in quality, worthless in collectable value, a total waste of money, and should be avoided at all costs.