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"Birdland" is a jazz-fusion instrumental composition written by keyboardist Joe Zawinul, of Weather Report. The song made its first debut on Weather Report’s 7th studio album, Heavy Weather, in 1977 shortly after the addition of virtuoso bassist, Jaco Pastorius. In previous years, the Weather Report had received a moderate amount of commercial success and achievement, however after the release of Heavy Weather, with Birdland at the helm of the album, the band gained an unearthly amount of media success. Birdland gained a number of awards, as well as a few top rankings on the Billboard 200 Music Chart. Briskly after the fusion piece reached the top of the charts, it became known as a Jazz Standard, and soon entered the set lists of other aspiring artists including Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson’s big band, The Manhattan Transfer, Quincy Jones, and The String Cheese Incident.

History
It was 1977 when Zawinul composed Birdland, right around the dying age of pure jazz, and the new wave of Fusion. Miles Davis led the fusion revolution to a musical age of jazz, rock, and the Avant Garde. However, with the advent of such elaborate musical technology, like Zawinul’s Polyphonic synthesizer and other forms of amplification, the music took off electronically into a new form with only stems of jazz leftover.

Birdland essentially marked the peak of Weather Report career with the release of Heavy Weather. With the addition of Jaco Pastorious, the band was able to push its music to the “height of its popularity”, and with that came Birdland. It was Zawinul’s pride and joy, and his tribute to jazz, but more importantly his everlasting contribution to Music. Categorized as his most famous composition, Birdland served as a tribute to the New York jazz club on 52nd street that housed a countless amount of famous jazz musicians before him. However, not only was the song named in honor of the legendary jazz club, but also after the man whom the club was named after, Charlie Parker, the ‘Bird’ himself. It was this club, that he frequented almost daily, that inspired Zawinul to write the song. Looking back Zawinul claimed, “The old Birdland was the most important place in my life.” And according to Pastorius in a 1978 interview, the studio version featured on Heavy Weather was recorded in just one take.

Popularity
Following the release of Heavy Weather, the Weather Report gained a number of awards and honors in recognition of their musical achievements related to Birdland. These include

▪ Grammy Nomination, Best Instrumental Composition, "Birdland"

▪ Grammy Nomination, Best Jazz Soloist, Jaco Pastorius, Heavy Weather

▪ Grammy Award, Manhattan Transfer version of "Birdland"

▪ #1 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart (1977)

▪ #30 on The Billboard 200 chart (1977)

▪ #33 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart (1977)

▪ Jazz Album of the Year and Jazz Group of the Year at the 42nd Down Beat Readers Poll

▪ Record of the Year at the Jazz Forum People's Poll

▪ Swing Journal's Silver Disc Award

▪ Playboy's Jazz Record and Jazz Band of the Year

▪ Record World's Instrumental Group of the Year

▪ Cash Box's Record of the Year''

Musical Schematic
'Weather Report: “Birdland” (Zawinul), from Heavy Weather''. Columbia PC 34418. North Hollywood, California, 1977. Josef Zawinul, keyboards; Wayne Shorter, soprano and tenor saxophone; Jaco Pastorious, bass, mandocello, vocals; Alejandro Acuna, drums; Manalo Badrena, tambourine.'''

Although this unorthodox fusion composition displays almost no conventional AABA or ABAA from, it still follows a pattern of choruses and interludes. At the peak of Weather Report’s career, Zawinul unleashed the piece, with the hope that it would be categorized as one of the most uniquely pushed jazz standards of the fusion era. Weather Report takes us through this brilliant song on a peculiar track of synthesized sound, layered horns, and “snappy” bass rifts.

0:00—Segment 1, Joe Zawinul begins a simple bass line on his Polyphonic synthesizer (x 3). Soon accompanied by quick repetitive splashes on the hi-hat and snare, subtle piano chords that echo the melody, and a virtuoso sequence of artificial harmonics on the electric bass guitar, which soon leads into the main theme (12 bars + another 24 bars).

0:43—Main theme (chorus), The chorus erupts into a roller coaster of horns led by the staccato bass notes in the back. Large collective splashes dictate a change in chords, which are toned down and then brought to the next switch. Together, the band moves through the vibrant chorus, eventually settling down into the interlude.

0:55—Interlude/Bridge, Upon entering the interlude, the collective dynamics reach a mezzo-piano range while the improvisational rifts reach a static state with the occasional background wave of the synthesizer (24 measures).

2:00—Main theme (chorus 2), The chorus returns for a second time with a reinforcement on the big band sound and with the help of the layering of the horns.

2:37—Interlude 2 (synthesizer solo) Once again, the track drops down to the interlude but this time, the group rags the melody, or moreover breaks into a jam of the previous rifts displayed in the last bridge. This portion features an abundance of synthesizer effects.

3:07— (Saxophone solo) the group as a whole begins dropping down a chromatic staircase, descending in a chromatic scale to fall into a deeper jam-oriented interlude. (18 measures)

3:35—Reoccurrence of the parts of the intro, including the artificial harmonics on the bass and the same swift splashes on the hi-hat.

3:59—Main theme 3

4:13—Interlude (8 measures)

4:24—Main theme 4, the chorus is repeated over a 40+ bar segment with the inclusion of peak vocals harmonized against the melody. After the fortissimo plateau of horns and vocals, the synthesizer breaks into a piercing arpeggio-dominated solo to conclude the piece.

Appears on
•Discotheque Ideale: 25 Original Jazz Albums

•Jazz Fusion, Vol. 2 [Nectar]

•Heavy Weather

•Jazzrock-Anthology, Vol. 2: Crossover

•Live in Offenbach 1978

•Young and Fine Live!

•8:30[Japan 2CD]

•Jazz Rocks

•Classic Jazz-Funk, Vol. 4 [Mastercuts]

•Jazz on a Summers Day [Castle] •That's Jazz [EMI Classics] •Je N'Aime Pas le Jazz: Mais Ça J'Aime Bien! •This Is Jazz, Vol. 10 •Jazziz: December 1997 •Jazz: The Definitive Performances •Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack for a Century •Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of America's Music •Harmony Jazz: Le Chant Des Rêves •Jazz Collection •Smooth Jazz [Sony] •The Best of Weather Report •Punk Jazz: The Jaco Pastorius Anthology •Capital Gold Jazz Legends •Cool Summer Jazz •Guitar & Bass •Very Best of Smooth Jazz, Vol. 1 •Funky Fusion •Music: Its Role and Importance in Our Lives •Forecast: Tomorrow •Jazz [Apace] •The Essential Jaco Pastorius •Jazz Funk •Collections •101 Running Songs, Vol.1 •Feel the Difference of the Blu-Spec CD: Jazz Selection •Playlist: The Very Best of Weather Report •Jazz Roots: The Music of the Americas •Jazz: The Smithsonian Anthology •The Perfect Jazz Collection, Vol. 2: 25 Original Albums •Pure... Jazz