Weather Report – Mr. Gone (1978)

Also in the late 70s, I watched a concert on Rockpalast (WDR, Germany 3) by the, until then, unknown (to me) jazz-rock band Weather Report.

I was completely blown away. I’d never really listened to jazz before and mostly associated it with figures like Willem Duys and Pim Jacobs (or, the AVRO and TROS networks), which wasn’t exactly considered cool by my generation at the time.

The surprise Weather Report had in store for me was all the greater—something I had never heard before, let alone enjoyed. And a band without a guitarist, no less (although bassist Jaco Pastorius filled that role effortlessly).

My first album was the recently released Mr. Gone. It might not be their very best, but it was the one that, along with the Rockpalast concert, opened the door to jazz for me.