Weather Report
"Heavy Weather" (Vinyl)

Released in 1977, this was the Weather Report's eighth full-length album.  Considered a milestone of jazz-rock fusion in the 70's, this was the first album to feature bassist Jaco Pastorius as a full-fledged member.  His playing is prominently featured throughout this record.

Fusion groups became quite popular for off-the-beaten path music-lovers in the 1970's.  Whether it was Herbie Hancock's genre-blurring albums or the Mahavishnu Orchestra, there was a vibrant, logical exploration of the many forms of music that had found each other in the decades immediately following rock n' roll's explosion of popularity in the 1950's.

Maybe this kind of music was as off-the-radar in the 70's as it is today, but I'd like to think that the Weather Report could have found a more willing audience to their music than the stranglehold radio and music television is in today where only a few artists of "redeeming" quality are paid attention to.