(Chamber Jazz / Adult Alternative / Crossover Jazz) Michael Manring - Unusual Weather - 1986, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

New Age, as a term of some derision in our cultural history, is defined in Merriam Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed. as:
"(1956)
1. Of, relating to, or being a late 20th century social movement drawing on ancient concepts esp. from Eastern and American Indian traditions and incorporating such themes as holism, concern for nature, spirituality, and metaphysics.
2. Of, relating to, or being a soft soothing form of instrumental music often used to promote relaxation."
Prior to the "New Age" label taking on the mantle of meditative music for people with self-esteem issues and marketers wanting to sell candles and coffee, the Windham Hill label wanted to promote a "new age of contemporary instrumental music" far beyond the strains of Mantovani and hymnals to the downtrodden yuppie.
The dictionary doesn’t go far enough into the realm of defining "contemporary instrumental music" and if it does, it never mentions Michael Manring. Manring, a bass player of uncommon ability was an early member of the Windham Hill stable of contemporary instrumentalists along with the late guitarist Michael Hedges. Hedges and Manring, alone and together, account for some of Windham Hill’s best works and serve as reminders that instrumental music can reach far beyond the marketing department when given a real chance at finding an audience.
Manring’s first record for Windham Hill, 1985/86’s Unusual Weather, is an early attempt within the genre to cross some musical boundaries. It is not wholly successful, but still evidences some musical ideas far beyond those who continue to sell a brand of fluffy soft jazz muzak to people who need novocaine enemas.
Unusual Weather boasts a number of instrumental pieces with Manring’s remarkable talent for solo bass compositions attempting to merge within equally involving group works.
Manring and Read play on all tracks with the others intermingling here and there. Manring’s bass is surprisingly not upfront throughout. Much of the other instrumentation takes a leading role with Manring’s bass adding the color.
Manring’s bass lightly opens up Welcoming with Read’s assortment of horns and a fine piano solo. It’s probably the most "new agey" piece on the album, but not without its charms.
Huge Moon features some atmospheric vocals common to the genre but the underlying bass features some inventive exchanges.
Almost April plays up the piano more with Manring’s bass lurking as a shadow to the melody.
The title track Unusual Weather is where the album gets interesting. It is a solo piece with an ephemeral quality to it. Manring’s bass snakes and turns as if seeking out an answer to an unresolved question.
Sung to Sleep has more of Read’s stamp on it with Manring’s bass related to a background role. It is meant as a lullaby of some sort I imagine.
Thunder Tactics seemingly has a weather element with Manring’s bass performing a slow buildup in intensity at the beginning. It has a potential but loses it a bit with a vocal arrangement that detracts from the bass and strikes me as excessive.
Written "in appreciation of Michael Hedges," Longhair Mobile allows Manring’s solo bass to break out of the structured arrangements and give a real indication of what he can do. He is able to tap, pull, and nudge the bass into uncharted territory and return unscathed. It’s a good indication of his developing ability to be solo yet involving.
Homeward returns the listener to another light arrangement with Read’s horns overshadowing the bass structure below. It has some nice interplay between the other instruments and is a soothing track.
A pastoral effect starts to take shape with Not Even the Summer where Manring’s bass is allowed some room to breathe. But the horn track and another vocal exercise fail to involve the listener more.
Sightings works as a meditative track. Manring’s bass adds some needed color and depth to the horn and piano interplay.
More goofy vocal exercise clouds up Big Feelings before it can really take shape.
Finally, Michael Hedges makes an appearance on Manthing where he and Manring (who played together throughout their careers) can do something together. Manthing foreshadows their future interactions on stage and their abilities to marry the bass and guitar together in an equally compelling song structure. It works beautifully and more of this would have benefited Unusual Weather
[Note to Michael Hedges' fans: according to his web site (www.nomadland.com) "The tune 'Rikki’s Shuffle' was originally recorded as a duet with Michael Manring on Manring’s first solo album, Unusual Weather, under the title 'Manthing.'"]
Too much of Unusual Weather is dominated by Read and enters into foo foo/fluff fluff music territory. But as an early look at Manring, it does have its charms. I give it three stars and recommend it to those who want an introduction to his beginnings. It is not a bad addition to an instrumental collection. It's just not a wholly involving album.

In the '80s, Windham Hill Records had a reputation for being a new age label. Windham Hill was the home of major new age artists like Liz Story and George Winston; arguably, the company was to new age what Fania was to salsa, Blue Note was to jazz, and Def Jam was to rap; in other words, it wasn't the only player but was definitely a major player. However, not every instrumentalist who recorded for Windham Hill in the '80s provided new age. Post-bop/fusion keyboardist Billy Childs was never new age, and electric bassist Michael Manring was equally jazz-oriented. Unusual Weather, his first Windham Hill release, isn't straight-ahead bop -- Manring isn't pretending to be Ray Brown or Paul Chambers. It is, however, a fusion/pop-jazz effort that often underscores Manring's appreciation of the late Jaco Pastorius. Manring, who wrote most of the material, favors a very reflective, contemplative approach; Pastorius is a major influence on his playing and composing, and Manring is also influenced by the work of Pat Metheny, the Yellowjackets, Weather Report, and various ECM artists. In fact, this CD would not have been out of place on ECM. So why did Unusual Weather come out on Windham Hill instead of a label that was consistently jazz-oriented? Obviously, Windham Hill didn't want to be a new age only label. Although Windham Hill fared quite well in the new age market of the '80s, it didn't want to put out new age exclusively. And when Windham Hill signed Manring and Childs, the company sent out a message that it wasn't opposed to signing people who weren't new age oriented. This 1986 release isn't Manring's best or most essential album -- at that point, his best work was yet to come. Nonetheless, this decent, if imperfect, effort indicated that Manring was someone to keep an eye on.
~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 5. June 2008, 1:08
Michael Manring / Unusual Weather
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