Weather Report was one of the most influential jazz-fusion groups of their era and outlasted many of its contemporaries such as Herbie Hancock's Headhunters and The Mahavishnu Orchestra. Despite many personnel changes over its 16-year lifespan, they continued to create groundbreaking music under the guidance of Joe Zawinul.
Weather report's seventh album Heavy Weather was released in 1977. It is the band's most successful album and the second album with bassist Jaco Pastorius.
The opening track “Birdland” was a significant commercial success, something not typical of instrumental music. A striking feature of “Birdland” is Pastorius picking harmonics on his fretless bass.
Released just as the jazz-rock or Fusion movement began to run out of steam, this landmark album proved that there was plenty of creative life left in the idiom.