''Procession'' is the eleventh studio album by the

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

band

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer Alphonse Mouzon a ...

. It was released in 1983 through

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. Although several previous Weather Report tracks included wordless singing, and "And Then" from '' Mr. Gone'' included brief lyrics, "Where the Moon Goes" was the band's first track including lyrics throughout, sung by members of

the Manhattan Transfer The Manhattan Transfer was an American vocal group founded in 1969 in New York City, performing music genres like a cappella, Brazilian jazz, Swing music, swing, vocalese, rhythm and blues, Pop music, pop, and standards. They have won eleven G ...

. The band would continue to feature vocals on the next three studio albums.

Critical reception

Richard S. Ginell of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, wrote "contrary to the conventional wisdom which claims that WR went downhill after the departure of Pastorius/

Erskine Erskine may refer to: Places * Erskine, Renfrewshire Erskine (, , ) is a town in the council areas of Scotland, council area of Renfrewshire, and Renfrewshire (historic), historic county of counties of Scotland, the same name, situated in th ...

, the new lineup actually recharged WR's creative batteries; the material here is superior to that of the previous two albums at least. Bailey, while not Jaco's technical equal, is mobile enough to project through the texture, and Hakim has the versatility and swinging Third World rhythmic influences that must have appealed to Zawinul...This is an unjustly overlooked Weather Report treasure." Reviewing the album in ''Record'', Steve Futterman dismissed ''Procession'' as being competently crafted but too similar to Weather Report's previous albums to be of any interest. Noting the band's change in lineup, he stated, "Integrating new members, finding what they can offer and letting them stir things up can give an established band a welcome jolt of creativity, of fresh ideas. But in Weather Report's case, the overwhelming control of co-leaders Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter has reined in the skills of bassist Victor Bailey, drummer Omar Hakim and percussionist José Rossy in service of highly crafted but essentially petrified music." Charles McCollum of the

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is advertised as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven and ...

declared "The best part of any Weather Report effort is the interaction between Zawinul's multi-toned synthesizers and Shorter's blazing work on alto and tenor saxophones...Departures have done little to alter the consistent excellence of Weather Report's music and, if anything, Procession is one of the best albums the group has offered during its time together."

Track listing

#"Procession" (

Josef Zawinul Josef Erich Zawinul ( '; 7 July 1932 – 11 September 2007) was an Austrian jazz and jazz fusion keyboardist and composer. First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with Miles Davis and to bec ...

) – 8:42 #"Plaza Real" (

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (August 25, 1933 – March 2, 2023) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Shorter came to mainstream prominence in 1959 upon joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, for whom he eventually became the primary comp ...

) – 5:30 #"Two Lines" (Zawinul) – 7:43 #"Where the Moon Goes" (Zawinul, lyrics by Nan O'Byrne and Zawinul) – 7:50 #"The Well" (Shorter, Zawinul) – 4:00 #"Molasses Run" (

Omar Hakim Omar Hakim (born February 12, 1959) is an American drummer, producer, arranger and composer. His session work covers jazz, jazz fusion, and pop music. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Chic, Sting, Madonna, Dire S ...

) – 5:49

Personnel

Weather Report *

Joe Zawinul Josef Erich Zawinul ( '; 7 July 1932 – 11 September 2007) was an Austrian jazz and jazz fusion keyboardist and composer. First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with Miles Davis and to bec ...

– keyboards *

– tenor and soprano saxophones *

– drums, guitar, vocals * Victor Bailey – bass *José Rossy – percussion, concertina Additional musician *

The Manhattan Transfer The Manhattan Transfer was an American vocal group founded in 1969 in New York City, performing music genres like a cappella, Brazilian jazz, Swing music, swing, vocalese, rhythm and blues, Pop music, pop, and standards. They have won eleven G ...

– vocals (track 4) Production *

Neil Dorfsman Neil Dorfsman (born May 31, 1952) is an American sound engineer and record producer, best known for his work with Dire Straits, Bruce Hornsby, Mark Knopfler, Paul McCartney and Sting. He won Grammy Awards for Best Producer for Bruce Hornsby's '' ...

– engineer * Tom Fouce – engineer * Mitch Gibson – engineer * Tom Miller – engineer * John Lykes – cover artwork * Bruce Talamon – photography

References

External links

Weather Report Annotated Discography: Procession
{{Authority control 1983 albums Columbia Records albums Weather Report albums