Birdland by Weather Report - How Alex Acuña played it - Full Drum Transcription & Performance

In this video, I present a complete transcription and performance of Alex Acuña's drum part from Weather Report's legendary track Birdland. The song was released in 1977 on the album Heavy Weather and is one of keyboardist Joe Zawinul's most famous compositions. Zawinul wrote Birdland as a tribute to the famous Birdland club in Manhattan, named after Charlie “Bird” Parker. The club was a popular meeting place for all the jazz greats and had a lasting influence on Zawinul's musical development. Zawinul described it as the “most important place in his life.”

Weather Report was a pioneering jazz fusion band that was active from 1970 to 1986. The band, known for its ever-changing lineup and genre-spanning sound, significantly expanded the jazz genre with elements of rock, funk, ambient, and world music. In 1977, they released the album Heavy Weather, which featured the legendary track Birdland. Known for its constantly changing lineup and cross-genre sound, the band significantly expanded the jazz genre with elements of rock, funk, ambient, and world music. In 1977, the band released its seventh studio album, Heavy Weather, which marked its commercial peak and sold over a million copies worldwide. At the time of recording Birdland, the lineup consisted of Joe Zawinul on keys, Wayne Shorter on saxophone, Jaco Pastorius on bass, Mandocello on percussion, Alex Acuña on drums, and Manolo Badrena on percussion. The album was produced by Zawinul, Shorter, and Pastorius.

The song Birdland combines jazz and fusion elements with catchy melodies, complex harmonies, and synthesizer sounds that were novel at the time. The original tempo is approximately 157 BPM, but it was often played faster live. The continuous groove is characteristic. Alex Acuña plays mostly constant eighth notes on the hi-hat with hi-hat openings on the off-beats and rim clicks on 1, 2, 3, 4, but repeatedly picks up accents from the melody and integrates them into his playing. He refrains from extended fill-ins and lets the groove pulsate uninterrupted, which supports the catchy character of the piece. His bass drum figures are very variable and do not follow a fixed pattern; they are also based on melodic fragments and, of course, Pastorius' bass lines.

The recordings of “Birdland” for the album “Heavy Weather” were made at Devonshire Sound Studios in North Hollywood in California between December 1976 until January 1977. According to Jaco Pastorius, the studio recording of Birdland was recorded in a single take. Manolo Badrena's tambourine was most likely overdubbed separately later.

Let me know in the comments:

– What’s your favorite performance of Birdland?
– Who is your favorite drummer of Weather Report?

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Song Info:

Band/Artist: Weather Report
Album: HeavyWeather
Songwriter: Joe Zawinul
Release date: March 1977
Label: Columbia

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Attribution: Freebird from Madrid, Spain, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons