323. David Hirschfelder on Weather Report 'Heavy Weather' (1977)

Today I’m joined by composer David Hirschfelder (Australia, Strictly Ballroom, Sliding Doors) to take the show’s first cautious steps into the world of jazz fusion, with Weather Report’s 1977 classic ‘Heavy Weather’.
After a brief discussion of David’s majestic 80s mullet, we dive into all of it - fusing electronic sounds and rock attitude into celebrations of trad jazz, the surprising hit status of ‘Birdland’, how it inspired David to fuse electronic and acoustic sounds and influenced his scores for films like ‘Strictly Ballroom’, how the album has dated in a positive way, seeing the band live in their heyday and the genius of bass legend Jaco Pastorius.