Weather Report Live At Molde Jazz Festival, Norway (1972)

The legendary American jazz rock/jazz fusion band Weather Report performed live in Molde, Norway at the 1972 edition of the Molde Jazz Festival. At that time, the band co-led by Josef ‘Joe’ Zawinul (keyboards) and Wayne Shorter (saxophones) was only at the beginning of their activity. As such, the setlist included songs from their early studio material. The line-up for this concert was as follows:

• Josef ‘Joe’ Zawinul – keyboards and piano;
• Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone and soprano saxophone;
• Miroslav Vitouš – bass;
• Eric Gravatt – drums;
• Dom Um Romão – percussion.

The setlist for the concert which took place on 4 August 1972 in Molde, Norway at that year’s edition of the Molde Jazz Festival was as follows (courtesy of ebjazz93, the uploader of the video on Youtube):

1. Vertical Invader (written by Josef ‘Joe’ Zawinul and Miroslav Vitouš);
2. Orange Lady (written by Josef ‘Joe’ Zawinul);
3. Directions (written by Josef ‘Joe’ Zawinul);
4. Milky Way (most likely; written by Wayne Shorter and Josef ‘Joe’ Zawinul);
5. Umbrellas (written by Josef ‘Joe’ Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, and Miroslav Vitouš);
6. Drum solo (by Eric Gravatt);
7. Piano solo (by Josef ‘Joe’ Zawinul);
8. It’s About That Time (Miles Davis cover).

As previously mentioned, the band performed songs from their early studio albums, more specifically their eponymous debut studio album which was released in 1971 and ‘I Sing the Body Electric‘ (which was released in 1972). So it is that their dominant sound at that time was more experimental than it gradually evolved into during the mid and late 1970s (more specifically more groovy and compositional, if you will), regardless of whether they were performing their songs in the studio or live. The concert was broadcasted on the Norwegian television by NRK (Norsk rikskringkasting AS).

Therefore, that being said and without any further needless ado or unwanted spoilers on my behalf, I wholeheartedly recommend integrally listening to and watching the following great concert by Weather Report in Molde, Norway from 1972. All the best and enjoy!

Documentation sources and external links:

• The video description on Youtube