Mysterious Traveller
| Mysterious Traveller | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Studio album by Weather Report | ||||
| Released | March 24, 1974 | |||
| Recorded | November 1973 - March 1974 Devonshire Sound, Los Angeles |
|||
| Genre | Jazz fusion | |||
| Length | 48:17 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Josef Zawinul, Wayne Shorter | |||
| Weather Report chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Robert Christgau | (B) |
| Sputnikmusic |  |
| All About Jazz | (favorable) |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | |
Mysterious Traveller is the fifth album of Weather Report released in 1974. This album marked the end of bassist Miroslav Vitouš's tenure with the band. Vitouš was replaced by Alphonso Johnson. Another addition to the line-up is drummer Ishmael Wilburn. Greg Errico was the drummer for the tour between the previously released Sweetnighter and this album, but declined an invitation to be a permanent member of the band.
The record is the band's first that predominantly uses electric bass and incorporates liberal uses of funk, R&B grooves, and rock that would later be hallmarked as the band's "signature" sound. Also, the more restricted compositional format became evident on this album, replacing the more "open improvisation" formats used on the first three albums. It was voted as the album of the year by the readers of Down Beat for 1974, garnering their 2nd overall win in that category, also garnering a five-star review from that publication along the way.
The album peaked at #2 in the Billboard Jazz album chart, #31 in the R&B album chart, and #46 in the Billboard 200 chart.
Early copies of the album do not list "Cucumber Slumber" on the back cover or inner sleeve, and list "Jungle Book" as the final track of side one rather than side two. However, most known copies of the album include the seven tracks in the order listed above. One exception is the cassette release, with "Blackthorn Rose" as the second track of side one and "American Tango" as the second track of side two.
The Mastersound SBM edition of Mysterious Traveller includes a previously unreleased song, "Miroslav's Tune", as a bonus track at the end of the album.
...
Wikipedia