Weather Report-Sweetnighter (1973)

With their third album, Weather Report moved away from the energetic jazz-rock of their early work, embracing the sounds of funk jazz and jazz fusion. Gone were the improvised sounds and experimentation, replaced by a more conventional and structured musical approach. As usual, Joe Zawinul's keyboards and Wayne Shorter's saxophone are the dominant instruments on "Sweetnighter", excellently supported by bassist Miroslav Vitous and percussionists Eric Gravatt, Herschel Dwellingham, and Dom Um Romao. The vibrant jazz fusion of "Boogie Woogie Waltz" and "125th Street Congress", the atmospheric "Adiós", the melodic "Will", and the laid-back funk jazz of "Manolete" are all part of an album that places Weather Report firmly within their own distinctive musical territory, somewhere between avant-garde fusion and the more accessible sounds of mainstream jazz.