Night Passage is the ninth studio album by Weather Report, released in 1980. The tracks were recorded on July 12 and 13, 1980, at The Complex studios in Los Angeles (before a crowd of 250 people who can be heard on a couple of tracks), except for "Madagascar", recorded live at the Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan on June 29 of the same year.
The album introduces a new member to the band, percussionist Robert Thomas Jr. Night Passage dials back the elaborate production of some of Weather Report's earlier releases (most notably 1978's Mr. Gone). What is lost in overdubs is made up in solo improvisation in the classic jazz tradition.
Jaco Pastorius re-recorded the seventh track on the album, "Three Views of a Secret", for his second solo studio album, Word of Mouth (1981).
Contents
Critical reception
Richard S. Ginell of AllMusic favourably found that "All things being relative, this is Weather Report's straight-ahead album, where the elaborate production layers of the late-'70s gave way to sparer textures and more unadorned solo improvisation in the jazz tradition, electric instruments and all." Mark Gilbert of Jazz Journal praised the album saying, "With this album, Weather Report restore interest and credibility. Past efforts have been guilty of all manner of vapid redundancy, but this has rich content, imagination, fire and passion."
Don Heckman of High Fidelity called Night Passage "one of the finest albums Weather Report has ever made".
Night Passage was Grammy-nominated in the category of Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental.
Personnel
Weather Report
Joe Zawinul – keyboards and synthesizers
Wayne Shorter – saxophones
Jaco Pastorius – fretless bass
Peter Erskine – drums
Robert Thomas Jr. – percussion
Production
Brian Risner – engineer
George Massenburg – engineer
Jerry Hudgins – engineer
Joseph Futterer – art direction
Richie Powell – art direction
Nicholas DeVore III – cover photography
Pete Turner – cover photography