01. Procession 00:18
02. Fast City 09:44
03. The Peasant 20:51
04. dB Waltz 32:45
05. Blue Sound Note 3 50:36
06. Molasses Run 1:02:24
07. Two Lines 1:10:02
08. Plaza Real 1:32:23
09. Where the Moon Goes 1:40:00
10. Zawinul Shorter Duet 1:54:08
11. Medley: Night Passage/Black Market/Badia/A Remark You Made/Rockin’ in Rhythm/Birdland 2:05:38

Weather Report
Orpheum Theatre
Boston
March 20, 1983

Weather Report is:
Victor Bailey - bass
Omar Hakim - drums
José Rossy - percussion
Wayne Shorter - saxophones
Joe Zawinul - keyboards

"best audience capture of WR's '83 tour!"

Original comments: ""So, where do I possibly begin about WRB83? First and foremost, once more, you have worked your magic on the record, not only are the separate instruments clearly discernible, but I can actually hear subtleties such as the mallets striking the vibraphone, the buzz of the reeds on the tenor and soprano saxes, the rivets on the crash cymbals, etc.Nuances of lower frequencies are present as well, how the bass would actually sound as amplified in the acoustics of the venue. Rarely can I just close my eyes and, to state what I feel may be an over-used phrase, be instantly placed at the performance. As usual, the dynamic range easily surpasses the best commercial releases (but then, your work on Barry’s ARs has no equal).My utmost appreciation for the privilege of another thrilling musical journey."A FEW WORDS ON THE WEATHER REPORT PERFORMANCE:"We would've really been in trouble if [Omar Hakim and Victor Bailey] couldn't play." -- Joe Zawinul, 1984When Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine and Bobby Thomas Jr. all left Weather Report at once it came as a shock to me akin to my favorite ‘rock fusion’ band, Yes, losing its defining and unique vocalist a year or so earlier. I just didn’t think there was any way it could work any more after a personnel upheaval like that. The PROCESSION album seemed nice enough, but like many I still managed to drift away.Decades later, as has happened more than once already when setting to work on a project like this, I now fully realize how shortsighted I was and what I’d been missing.It must be said the new lineup was a bit more ‘clinical’ sounding, but also every bit as inspired in its own way and creatively brilliant as any earlier one. My approach to audio work includes a great deal of listening and re-listening to raw master, work in progress and tentative final product, over a period of weeks and often months before release. On the first listen I already liked what I heard a great deal more than I expected to. The more I listened the more hooked I became, both on the playing and the new music. To me, a ‘purist’ by definition, this was still Weather Report in every way.What Joe Zawinul was going through at the time trying to keep his band alive and find the right new musicians to replace so much of it overnight makes the performance even more remarkable. Perhaps most impressive of all, apparently PROCESSION hadn’t even been recorded yet and its material was still being developed, during this and other Spring ’83 concerts!How Zawinul found his new band mates is storybook material and toward the end of this document you will find a more complete narrative from a fan Website, much of it in his own words. It’s a fascinating read.In the meantime, I hope this effort helps many others find the same new joy in PROCESSION-era Weather Report and their music. Given the stunning recording quality - best by far I’ve heard from the ‘83 tour and rivaling the best analog AR I had ever heard until now - fans already appreciative of it will no doubt be ecstatic.SOURCE AND AUDIO WORK AT GREATER LENGTH:It’s important to note first off that A-D conversion equipment and methods vary considerably, and naturally quality varies with them. In WRB83 as in all BLG projects you have the assurance of the best possible A-D conversions short of what studios using equipment costing hundreds of thousands of dollars can do.The WRB83 source meanwhile is a top shelf pre-1990s AR rivaling any other both for unbelievable sound capture, and for its own unique remastering challenges. It offers AR detail across the spectrum comparable to many from the present era, but had some weird properties requiring a few changes in approach to get it fully on display without being ‘harshed’ or otherwise distorted.Its one major wart: a mike cable connection problem on the night caused considerable left-channel dropout with static, but thankfully it’s almost completely confined to the second track ["Fast City"]. It presents in just a few other places, and in them is only a second to a few seconds in length. In this package we have a 'repaired' version I'm not exactly thrilled with either, but the dropout was truly awful and something had to be done or the track left out completely."

[Some interesting original info was omitted for the limit of this field.

Thanks to: Gromek, Barry, Balrog, Lestat.

Footage and production by bigfootpegrande.

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