Complete List Of Weather Report Songs From A to Z

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Weather Report made jazz fusion feel less like a fixed genre than a constantly changing climate. Across sixteen years, Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter guided the band from collective improvisation and electronic abstraction toward funk, global rhythms, synthesizer orchestration, and the melodic power of recordings such as “Birdland,” while successive rhythm sections repeatedly changed the character of the music around them.

Complete List Of Weather Report Songs From A to Z

Feature Photo: Chris Hakkens, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Weather Report formed in New York in 1970 around keyboardist Joe Zawinul, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and bassist Miroslav Vitouš. Zawinul and Shorter had both contributed to Miles Davis’s electric period, while Vitouš brought an acoustic-bass voice rooted in modern jazz. The musicians surrounding them changed frequently, making flexibility part of the band’s identity from the beginning.

The self-titled Weather Report album appeared in 1971. Its emphasis on ensemble interaction, texture, and continuous development distinguished the group from jazz-rock bands built around extended individual solos. I Sing the Body Electric followed in 1972, combining studio recordings with edited material from a January concert in Tokyo.

The full Tokyo performance was released separately as Live in Tokyo. Its long medleys show how early Weather Report compositions could be reshaped in performance, with themes passing into collective improvisations rather than returning to a predictable head-and-solo format.

Sweetnighter in 1973 brought a stronger rhythmic and funk-based direction through “Boogie Woogie Waltz” and “125th Street Congress.” That change accelerated on Mysterious Traveller and Tale Spinnin’, as synthesizers, electric bass, percussion, and layered studio production became increasingly central to the band’s sound.

Jaco Pastorius joined during the making of Black Market in 1976 and became one of Weather Report’s defining musicians. His fretless bass, composing, harmonics, and stage presence transformed the group, particularly on Heavy Weather, whose opening track, “Birdland,” became the band’s most widely recognized composition.

The primarily live double album 8:30 documented the Pastorius and Peter Erskine lineup while adding four studio recordings on its final side. The album won Weather Report’s only Grammy Award, for Best Jazz Fusion Performance.

After Pastorius’s departure, bassists Victor Bailey and drummers including Omar Hakim helped shape the band’s final period. Procession, Domino Theory, Sportin’ Life, and This Is This! extended Zawinul and Shorter’s interest in electronic technology, vocals, percussion, and music drawn from traditions beyond American jazz.

Weather Report ended in 1986 after fourteen studio albums. Zawinul formed the Zawinul Syndicate, Shorter continued an influential solo and collaborative career, and Pastorius’s work remained foundational for generations of electric bassists.

The list below preserves all 121 supplied catalog entries from the fourteen studio albums, Live in Tokyo, and 8:30. It is organized as a song and composition guide rather than a strict track-by-track release inventory. Medley components are retained as individual entries, while repeated live performances are generally not duplicated when the same composition already appears elsewhere in the catalog.

Complete List Of Weather Report Songs From A to Z

A–E

125th Street Congress – Sweetnighter (1973)
41st Parallel – Weather Report (1982)
8:30 – 8:30 (1979)
A Remark You Made – Heavy Weather (1977)
Adios – Sweetnighter (1973)
American Tango – Mysterious Traveller (1974)
And Then – Mr. Gone (1978)
Badia – Tale Spinnin’ (1975)
Badia / Boogie Woogie Waltz Medley – 8:30 (1979)
Barbary Coast – Black Market (1976)
Between the Thighs – Tale Spinnin’ (1975)
Birdland – Heavy Weather (1977)
Black Market – Black Market (1976)
Blackthorn Rose – Mysterious Traveller (1974)
Blue Sound – Note 3 – Domino Theory (1984)
Boogie Woogie Waltz – Sweetnighter (1973)
Brown Street – 8:30 (1979)
Can It Be Done – Domino Theory (1984)
Cannon Ball – Black Market (1976)
China Blues – This Is This! (1986)
Confians – Sportin’ Life (1985)
Consequently – This Is This! (1986)
Corner Pocket – Sportin’ Life (1985)
Crazy About Jazz – Weather Report (1982)
Crystal – I Sing the Body Electric (1972)
Cucumber Slumber – Mysterious Traveller (1974)
Current Affairs – Weather Report (1982)
Dara Factor One – Weather Report (1982)
Dara Factor Two – Weather Report (1982)
Directions – Live in Tokyo (1972)
Directions – I Sing the Body Electric (1972)
Doctor Honoris Causa – Live in Tokyo (1972)
Domino Theory – Domino Theory (1984)
Dr. Honoris Causa – I Sing the Body Electric (1972)
Dream Clock – Night Passage (1980)
D♭ Waltz – Domino Theory (1984)
Early Minor – Live in Tokyo (1972)
Elegant People – Black Market (1976)
Eurydice – Weather Report (1971)

F–J

Face on the Barroom Floor – Sportin’ Life (1985)
Face the Fire – This Is This! (1986)
Fast City – Night Passage (1980)
Five Short Stories – Tale Spinnin’ (1975)
Forlorn – Night Passage (1980)
Freezing Fire – Tale Spinnin’ (1975)
Gibraltar – Black Market (1976)
Harlequin – Heavy Weather (1977)
Havona – Heavy Weather (1977)
Herandnu – Black Market (1976)
Hot Cargo – Sportin’ Life (1985)
I’ll Never Forget You – This Is This! (1986)
Ice-Pick Willy – Sportin’ Life (1985)
In a Silent Way – 8:30 (1979)
Indiscretions – Sportin’ Life (1985)
Jungle Book – Mysterious Traveller (1974)
Jungle Stuff, Part I – This Is This! (1986)

K–O

Lost – Live in Tokyo (1972)
Lusitanos – Tale Spinnin’ (1975)
Madagascar – Night Passage (1980)
Man in the Green Shirt – Tale Spinnin’ (1975)
Man with the Copper Fingers – This Is This! (1986)
Manolete – Sweetnighter (1973)
Medley: Vertical Invader/T.H./Dr. Honoris Causa – I Sing the Body Electric (1972)
Milky Way – Weather Report (1971)
Molasses Run – Procession (1983)
Morning Lake – Weather Report (1971)
Mr. Gone – Mr. Gone (1978)
Mysterious Traveller – Mysterious Traveller (1974)
N.Y.C. – Weather Report (1982)
Night Passage – Night Passage (1980)
Non-Stop Home – Sweetnighter (1973)
Nubian Sundance – Mysterious Traveller (1974)
Orange Lady – Weather Report (1971)