Tale Spinnin': Weather Report: Amazon.co.uk: Music

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Audio CD (3 Jun 2002)
Number of Discs: 1
Format: Original recording remastered
Label: Columbia / Legacy
ASIN: B000065BXQ
Other Editions: MP3 Download

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 90,098 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

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Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.

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Song Title Time Price

1. Man In The Green Shirt 6:28 �0.89

2. Lusitanos 7:25 �0.89

3. Between The Thighs 9:33 �0.89

4. Badia 5:20 �0.89

5. Freezing Fire 7:29 �0.89

6. Five Short Stories 6:56 �0.89

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Released in 1975, and here offered in 24-bit digitally remastered form, Tale Spinnin' was either a transitional mid-period album for Weather Report or time out, depending on your perspective. It's a breezy and attractive album, but without the substance or staying power of their best efforts. The band's ever-changing line-up now included drummer Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, who deepened the funk lines provided by bassist Alphonso Johnson, while Joe Zawinul delved further into African rhythms and otherwise widened his global concerns and co-leader Wayne Shorter pared down his sound on soprano saxophone. There are melodic hints of the Heavy Weather to follow, but the Zawinul-Shorter duet on "Five Short Stories" (featuring the former on keyboards and the latter on tenor) falls short of their lyrical achievement on "Blackthorn Rose", one of the highlights of 1974's Mysterious Traveller. --Lloyd Sachs

Review

Of all the 'fusion' bands formed by ex employees of Miles Davis, Weather Report were a breed apart. Less flashy than Mahavishnu or Return to Forever, more worldly than Mwandishi, Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter created music that was tuneful, accessible yet (in their early years) blurred and pushed boundaries in a way that few others did.

Tale Spinnin' was their fifth album and as Hal Miller points out in his sleevenote, is the overlooked gem in the Weather Report back catalogue. As it came between the classic Mysterious Traveller and the arrival of bass hero Jaco Pastorius on the follow up Black Market, maybe that's not too surprising, but it's an album that marks a turning point for the band and (more importantly) contains some stunning music.

While Mysterious Traveller took the juicy funk pileups of Sweetnighter and took them on a journey to some uncharted rain-forested planet, Tale Spinnin' is content to hover in the upper reaches of the stratosphere. Zawinul's use of the synthesizer is more pronounced; while bootlegs from the same period find him whipping up electric storms Sun Ra style, here the electronics areorchestrally placed,doubling Shorter's soprano or describing arcs of sweeped bass. The usual Fender Rhodes/wah wah pedal combination provides the trademark Zawinul vamps; funkier than a box of frogs, constantly tickling the ear yet never overplaying.

Drummer Ndugu Chancellor comes across as the first Weather Report drummer to really engage with the music (in the studio at any rate). While previous albums had backgrounded the drums or swamped them in reverb, here they'reupfront in the mix. Chancellor's drive and flair coupled with Alphonso Johnson's fleet, bubbling bass and Alryio Lima's percussion powers proceedings with a joyous, grin inducing elan, from the opening high altitude latin groove of "Man with the Green Shirt" to the furiously funked "Freezing Fire" or the humid Fourth World soundscapes of "Badia".

Despite the more through composed approach showcased on this album, there's no shortage of exploratory, improvisational playing; as usual Shorter is utterly distinctive on both tenor and soprano, firing off solos that are equal part inspiration and consideration."Five Short Stories", his closing duet with Zawinul, is a tour de force of restraint, lyricism and precision; each phrase built with architectural logic, each note articulated with a sculptor's care.

Life affirming, joyous, tender stuff from some of the finest musicians on the planet; essential. --Peter Marsh

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

Master piece 13 Jun 2010

By Mr. Donvad

Format:Audio CD

This is their fifth album released in 1975. I have always loved their music, which was a huge inspiration and I almost grew up with the group, exploring each new album as they came along one by one. And I do believe that Tale Spinnin' is somehow a bit overlooked - well in many ways it is my personal favorite in their whole discography, because it somehow stands precisely in the middle of the "old" and "new" Weather Report. It contain the looseness of the older albums (Sweetnighter and Mysterious Traveler), but also predicts the tightness and more arranged sound found in albums like "Black Marked" and "Heavy Weather". In other words the album still posses the mysterious and spiritual quality found in the earlier releases, but parred with a more arranged style and production - which moreover mean that they still improvise a lot with a freedom that somehow got lost about the time "Heavy Weather" was released (this doesn't mean that Heavy Weather is bad - just different).

The rhythm section is fantastic, Alphonso Johnson and N'dugu Chandler - I've never heard N'dugu play as great as this and the interplay is formidable - and this is THE album where Wayne Shorter is seriously let loose - he really plays his heart out on this album - amazing. It's fantastic to hear this album today and to experience how timeless it somehow is - take the song Badia for instance, it is almost like hearing a kind of world-music released only yesterday, beautiful!!! Zawinul paints the pictures with his fantastic keyboard sounds and he also deliver the majority of the compositions. This album is a true gem - highly recommended!

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

Upbeat funk, with patches of calm 26 July 2005

By Brownie

Format:Audio CD

I bought this album purely on the basis that I enjoy Weather Report's sound, so I took a gamble and explored one of their lesser hyped albums, and from the opening track, I knew I was going to be in for a treat.
Joe Zwainful is yet again a major writer on this album, and "Man in The Green Shirt", is a riveting opener with classic upbeat WR material. Wayne Shorter writes the latin/african styled "Lusitanos" and the astonishing "Freezing Fire", a marvellously pulsating song, accompanied by Al Johnsons sturdy basslines and Ndugu's pulsating beat, which really completes the song. The majority of the album carries on the funk feel, which slowly calms throughout and at the end, Zwainful ends with "Five Short Stories", a complete change of tone from the start of the album, with this calming and relflective piece.
All in all, a WR classic and a must buy for any jazz enthusiasts.

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