The story behind puzzle No. 20
Weather Report · Heavy Weather · Columbia · 1977
An instrumental jazz tune that turned into a hit. Birdland opens Weather Report's best-selling album.
Weather Report released Heavy Weather on Columbia in March 1977. Birdland opens the album, and it was written by the band's keyboardist and co-founder, Joe Zawinul. The title honors Birdland, the famous New York jazz club.
The band was co-led by Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, with Jaco Pastorius on bass. Heavy Weather went platinum and became one of the best sellers in Columbia's jazz catalog.
The track was an unexpected commercial success for an instrumental. The vocal group the Manhattan Transfer later recorded Birdland as a single in 1980.
Who's on it
Keep listening
Play Teen Town from the same album to hear why Jaco Pastorius changed the electric bass.
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