A Robert Collins Master Recording.

Artist / Title: Weather Report
Date June 1, 1982
Location: Starlight Bowl, San Diego, CA
Seats: Center section, 5th row, on the aisle (see photos)
Deck: Nakamichi 350
Mics: Nakamichi CM-300 (L, R)
Source: A:C Master Tape, 2-Mic Stereo
Sample Rate 44.1Khz, 16-bit (CD) (FLAC)
Rating: A
Length: 149 Minutes

Also Available:
* DVD-Audio, 96 Khz, 24-bit version of this show is also available.

Extras:
* Seating Chart

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Musicians:
Josef Zawinul Keyboards
Wayne Shorter Saxophones
Victor Bailey Bass Guitar
Omar Hakim Drums
Jose Rossy Percussion, Concertina

Guest Artist:
Alison Mills (Newman) Vocals

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About this recording:
I'm going to say this right at the beginning: this is probably the best
Weather Report show you don't have. If fact, even after you get it, it
may still be the best Weather Report show you own.

Only three weeks prior to this show, a rumor was going around Los Angeles
that Weather Report was looking for a new bass player and drummer. They
were auditions somewhere in Los Angeles. A drummer friend of mine called
me and asked if I knew where to find it, or where he could go audition.
He never found it. By this time, I already had the concert tickets and
few people knew there would be a new band. I suspected there would, but
even I didn't know for sure until the musicians walked out on stage.
Joe and Wayne were also keeping another secret: they were going to play
a lot of new material with this new band.

The concert was one of those things we all enjoyed, but it wasn't until
we got home and could listen to the recording that we realized we got
something really special. Not only is this the very first public
performance of the new band, but it's also the very first public
performance of the new material -- material that won't appear on a
Weather Report album until the following year. The more we listened,
the more we realized this band barely knew the new material. That may
sound like a band thing, but it isn't. So many parts of this show are
so raw and so unrehearsed that the band literally jams to fill the time.
It's an absolutely amazing performance.

The recording seats were so close, that the hooping, hollering, screaming
between the musicians on the stage is clearly audible on the recording.
Listen closely, and you can hear them really energized by each other and
yelling across the stage in excitement. I suggest listening to
Dara Factor One to figure out what the musicians voices sound like.
One you have it memorized, then you'll hear these same interplay at
various places throughout the performance.

The Starlight Bowl was directly under the San Diego International Airport
flight path. There are many times jets can be heard flying overhead.
During some of the quiet sections, Zawinul seemed a little irritated.
Finally when a jet interrupted the most intimate moment of music, Zawinul
dialed up the sound of a jet on his synthesizer, and fired back!

The concert was nearly three hours long. For the first and only time
in my memory, I ran out of batteries while recording. The batteries
ran down, drained, and the recording started cutting out during Badia.
Three weeks later at the Playboy Jazz Festival, this same band played
the same encore using the same sequence of songs. For this recording,
once the batteries run out, I back fill the remainder of the concert
with the Playboy Jazz Festival recording. I did it in a way that you
can get the full effect of the batteries draining, but don't actually
lose a single beat of music.

Lastly, I hope this isn't a recording anybody just puts on their shelf
and adds to their collection. This recording is meant to be played,
played repeatedly, and played loud. Instead of the ubiquitous "thanks
for uploading" messages, I'm really hoping people will listen to this
recording after downloading and offer their thoughts and opinions. I hope
everybody enjoys it as much as I have.

I strongly recommend downloading this concert in 96Khz, 24-bit as well.


Notes:
Weather Report Memorial Concert Series
This has been long overdue, and will still take a while to complete.
I wanted to release all of my Weather Report, Wayne Shorter, and Jaco
Pastorius recordings as part of a "Memorial" to Weather Report and its
members. Some of these recordings were given to friends many years ago, but
most have never had a proper mastering or released. So to most people, I
think these will be completely new recordings. And when you see how many of
them and how good the recording quality and show quality is, then you'll
probably ask: WTF...why haven't these ever been released? Answer is
simple: time. I knew releasing this many previously unreleased recordings
was going to take a lot of time.

Some people may have copies of these one or more generations down from the
master. All of these will be coming to you directly from the master
recordings.

Here's what to expect in the series, and in the order to be released:

Date Artist Venue Recording Show Release status
1980-02-29 Weather Report Perkins Palace, Pasadena California B A- Previously unreleased
1981-06-21 Weather Report Playboy Jazz Festival, Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood California A- A Previously unreleased
1982-06-01 Weather Report Starlight Bowl, San Diago California A A+ Previously unreleased
1982-06-19 Weather Report Playboy Jazz Festival, Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood California B TBD Previously unreleased
1983-04-15 Weather Report Universal Amphitheatre, Universal City California A TBD Previously unreleased
1984-06-16 Weather Report Playboy Jazz Festival, Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood California A- TBD Remastered
1988-07-08 Zawinul Syndicate Hollywood Palace, Hollywood California A TBD Previously unreleased
1990-08/25 Zawinul Syndicate Concord Pavilion, Concord California A- TBD Previously unreleased
1997-08-31 Zawinul Syndicate Yoshi's, Oakland California A+ A Previously unreleased
1998-09-12 Zawinul Syndicate Yoshi's, Oakland California A+ TBD Previously unreleased
1999-09-02 Zawinul Syndicate Yoshi's, Oakland California A+ TBD Previously unreleased
2000-05-06 Zawinul Syndicate Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco California A- TBD Previously unreleased
1979-09-16 Joni Mitchell Greek Theatre, Los Angeles California B+ A Remastered
1982-01-10 Jaco Pastorius Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles California A- A- Remastered
1982-04-15 Jaco Pastorius Rissmiller Country Club, Reseda California B+ A- Previously unreleased
1983-11-20 Jaco Pastorius Beverly Theatre, Los Angeles, California A TBD Previously unreleased
1984-06-17 Jaco Pastorius Playboy Jazz Festival, Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood California A Note* Previously unreleased
1997-09-04 Hancock / Shorter Villa Montalvo Mountain Winery, Saratoga California A- A- Re-seed

Note: This is the "rumored" Jaco recording written about in a Jaco biography.
The author writes about a "rumored" recording made at the Playboy Jazz Festival
when Jaco tore the stage apart and his own musicians eventually refused to play
for him. Playboy Jazz promoters eventually turned the stage on Jaco to put an
end to his set. This is the recording referenced in the book. It's
depressing.

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Lineage:
AUD> Nakamichi 350
---> Nakamichi Dragon (playback)
---> Korg MR1000 (5.6 Mhz, 1-bit master tape)
---> Down sample to 96Khz, 32-bit using Korg Audiogate
---> iZotope RX-Advanced (noise reduction, spectral editing)
---> Melodyne pitch detection
---> Time Factory pitch correction
---> Sound Forge (put the concert back together)
---> iZotope RX-Advanced (downsample, dither)
---> CD Architect (CD Audio)
---> EAC
---> FLAC

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Sound Samples:
Sample-1 (Where The Moon Goes):
http://www.rcollins.org/concerts/mp3/WR-19820601-Sample-1.mp3

Sample-2 (Two Lines):
http://www.rcollins.org/concerts/mp3/WR-19820601-Sample-2.mp3

Sample-3 (Solo Spot):
http://www.rcollins.org/concerts/mp3/WR-19820601-Sample-3.mp3

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