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* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: This band is proof that jazz fusion isn't all noodling.
** "Havona", the final track on ''Heavy Weather'', is the ultimate piece of evidence in favour of jazz fusion as a genre. It couldn't have been realised in any other format (exploiting as it does on the sonorities of Zawinul's keyboards and Pastorius's bass) but besides being a beautiful tune, it's an amazing showcase for the players, giving solo space to everyone except drummer Alex Acuña, and that's only because he basically solos the entire way through the track as well as keeping the beat. It's also one of the best arguments for Pastorius as a composer.
* EpicRiff: Jaco Pastorius' basslines:
** "Barbary Coast" has a particularly good one.
** "Teen Town" is a combined riff/solo that is only intruded upon by a drum beat and some short blips from saxophone and synthesizer.
** "Black Market" is insanely catchy.
* FirstInstallmentWins: At least according to Allmusic. The site recommends the band's first album as its "Album Pick" over the later more popular albums after Jaco Pastorius joined.
* ItsPopularNowItSucks: Some fans don't like the more accessible direction the band went in later in the '70s.
* SignatureSong: "Birdland".
* TearJerker: Everything about Jaco Pastorius' mental illness and death.
* ToughActToFollow: ''Heavy Weather'' is a fully realized landmark of jazz fusion, and one of the most important albums in the genre. Its follow-up, ''Mr. Gone'', was considered a swerve into left field for its boxy sound, lack of playing from Shorter and the rest of the performances sounding robotic and slaved to Zawinul's synth lines. Well-respected jazz magazine ''Down Beat'' famously gave the album a 1-star review, calling the album "overly-orchestrated" and noting that the band "made experimentation sound processed." The band rebounded with live album ''8:30'' and studio album ''Night Passage'', both of which contained non-overdubbed performances.
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