Few groups have made music better than Weather Report high voltage jazz with rock excitement and lush, adventurous exoticism. Telarc marks the 30th anniversary of this visionary supergroup formation with the release of Celebrating the Music of Weather Report. Produced by Miles Davis veteran Jason Miles, this highly anticipated studio recording features updated arrangements, creative new sounds and a superlative lineup, with a jazz-funk Hall of Fame that includes Weather Report alumni Victor Bailey and Omar Hakim.

Josef Zawinul and Wayne Shorter formed Weather Report in 1970, both having been part of Miles Davis jazz-rock experiments, and the highly successful fusion band remained active for 15 years. Neither nostalgic nor clichщ, the 11 tracks on Celebrating the Music of Weather Report highlight all the important phases in the groups evolution, including the chart-topping Birdland, Elegant People, Badia Young and Fine, Cannonball, Pursuit of the Woman with the Feathered Hat, Mysterious Traveller, Harlequin, Man in the Green Shirt, Palladium and Cucumber Slumber.

Superstar teamings are so common in jazz these days that some of them are barely worth noticing. But producer/arranger Jason Miles, a multi-talented musician with top session and production credits, solo albums and award-winning film music, has been working behind the scenes on all-star projects since the mid 80s. He was the number one programmer and keyboard player for Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Kiss and others. He created most of the synth sounds on Miles Davis classic Tutu, and even contributed to Michael Jackson`s History album. His main focus over the last few years has been writing, arranging and producing.

Jazz was at one time a great adventure, Jason Miles states. The artists in Weather Report used their imaginations to create music to take us on a journey. These days, with jazz categorized for marketing and promotional reasons, I felt to go back and explore their music could be an important statement. This project brings together the best contemporary musicians and shows the world how important Weather Report was to their development and the effect it had on the development of music. It`s also important to introduce Weather Report to a new generation.

Thirty years ago, Weather Report ushered in a new era of jazz, achieving critical respect and mainstream commercial success. Celebrating the Music of Weather Report has everything that made the original Weather Report great: first-rate musicianship, creative interplay and hip arrangements with a sense of the modern. Now that`s something to celebrate!

DVD-Audio Featured Content:

DVD-Audio layer:
DVD-Audio high resolution (44.1kHz, 24-bit) discrete surround (5.1)
DVD-Audio high resolution (96 kHz, 24-bit) stereo

DVD-Video layer:
DTS discrete surround (5.1)
Dolby Digital Stereo Program (48k PCM)