WEATHER Report reaches the part in “D Waltz” where they bring it down real low. The drummer is smoothly and effortlessly executing a feather-light roll pattern between the hi-hat and snare, catching all the synth and sax accents with his kick. In the expectant hush, someone in the crowd yells, “Ommaaarrr!” A moment later the drummer slams a resounding fill and the band heats up for a wild finish. Both of the drummer’s long, gangly arms rise high over his rack of toms, the left crashing with equal fervor to the right. His head swings up and down, nod- ding a big ”Yeah.” As Weather Report leader Joe Zawinul told Keyboard magazine in March ’84, it was getting perilously close to the start of a tour in 1982 when he called jazz violinist Michael Urbaniak in New York, asking about musicians to fill the spots vacated by Peter Erskine and […]

December 1984 Issue