Kurt Elling & Yellowjackets at Zagreb Jazz Festival 2025: A Weather Report Celebration Reimagined
Zagreb, November 16, 2025 — Kino SC
By The Concert Witness
When an artist celebrates music, the result can feel ceremonial. When a whole band does it, it becomes communal. Kurt Elling and Yellowjackets stepped onto the stage of Kino SC for the final concert of their European tour with a very specific purpose: to honor the legacy of Weather Report — the visionary sound-world of Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, and Jaco Pastorius.
Elling introduced the evening with a quick joke — “We rehearsed for a month and a half for this concert” — and the next ninety minutes proved that he was hardly exaggerating. This was a performance built on mastery, trust, and the joyful rigor of collective music-making.
Pastorius Revisited — A Lyric Journey in Motion
Elling framed the next segment by dedicating the evening to “the miracles” of Zawinul, Shorter, and Pastorius: “They were broken-hearted and broken-minded like all of us… but they transformed it into beauty. They chose joy.” What followed was a triptych of Pastorius works, each reshaped through Elling’s lyric writing and the band’s collective imagination. They began with “The Fanfold Hawk,” presented as an intimate voice–bass duo. Alderson, on fretless, shaped soft slides and controlled vibrato beneath Elling’s line, creating an invocation that set the emotional tone for the sequence.
The atmosphere broadened as the full band entered “A Certain Continuum,” and a warm acoustic blend filled the room. Ferrante’s piano solo unfolded with crystalline detail and deliberate pacing. When Elling arrived at the final chorus — the modulation landing with precision — the lyrics emerged with clarity and expressive weight:
“There’s a ribbon in the river,
That is running through your heart.
There’s a whisper in the water
May the wisdom to impart
Restart
Be your own work of art.”
Placed within the band’s subtle arrangement, the passage came through not as ornamentation but as the emotional core of the piece.
The momentum eased naturally into “A Secret in Three Views,” anchored by Kennedy’s laid-back 6/8 pocket. Elling floated above the groove with ease, while Mintzer, now on tenor for the first time that evening, delivered a soulful solo that gently recalled his Word of Mouth Big Band years and his work with Pastorius. A return to another bass–vocal duo displayed the ensemble’s refined control of dynamics before the group rebuilt the texture, closing with taut unison lines. Together, the three arrangements formed a seamless arc — a thoughtful Pastorius homage filtered through the Yellowjackets’ ensemble language and Elling’s lyrical vision.
Yellowjackets in Full Voice
Elling stepped offstage — “I give you Yellowjackets” — inviting the band to introduce themselves through music rather than talk. And this was Yellowjackets at their core: a collective that prioritizes group identity over individual ego.
Ferrante, Mintzer, Kennedy, and Alderson navigated their long-established chemistry with effortless communication: solo exchanges, shared smiles, and a rhythmic clarity that can only come from decades of collaboration. Mintzer’s EWI solo opened with a patch resembling fretless bass, prompting Alderson to lift his hands in mock protest — a moment of genuine onstage humor.
Downtown — Swing, Scat, and Shared Momentum
Elling returned for “Downtown” from Yellowjackets’ Politics (1988), vocalizing along the melody with the band — and jokingly invited the audience to join in, though it was obviously impossible to sing along with such intricate lines.
The groove swung with a light snap. Ferrante held down the bass line on synth while Alderson took an extended bass solo that transitioned seamlessly into Elling’s scat solo. His triplet runs and rapid-fire phrasing were locked in and effortless — a highlight of the set. Mintzer followed with a tenor solo that spanned his range, combining full-bodied low and mid-register lines with expressive upper-register passages, while weaving in overtones to enrich the texture.
Current Affairs — Space, Shape, and Sound
Their reading of Zawinul’s “Current Affairs” offered one of the evening’s most atmospheric moments. The opening piano–vocals pairing highlighted Ferrante’s touch, while Mintzer’s tenor phrasing carried the clarity and space reminiscent of the Weather Report palette, without slipping into imitation.
Throughout the night, it was clear: this project was not about recreating Weather Report. It was about honoring the language through their own dialect.
Palladium — A Ritual of Groove
They closed the set with Shorter’s classic “Palladium” from Heavy Weather.
Kennedy’s groove was once again the driving engine, and the ensemble’s cohesion reached its peak. Ferrante delivered another sharp-edged piano solo, Mintzer shined with emphatic tenor phrasing, and Elling traded rhythmic figures with Kennedy — percussive vocal hits answered by drum responses.
A moment of pure musical play, grounded in decades of craft.
Encore: Time to Say Goodbye (A Remark You Made)
For the encore, they chose one of Zawinul’s most beloved compositions, “A Remark You Made”, retitled “Time To Say Goodbye” with Elling’s lyrics — previously featured on Man in the Air.
Mintzer and Alderson shared the iconic bass role, creating a dual texture that honored Pastorius without replicating him. Elling’s vocal delivery brought an emotional transparency to the arrangement, especially as he repeated “Time to say goodbye.”
A fitting close to a night rooted in gratitude.
Conclusion: The Enduring Genius of Weather Report
Kurt Elling and Yellowjackets’ appearance at Zagreb Jazz Festival 2025 was a genuine celebration of lineage — not just of Weather Report’s influence, but of the living continuum of jazz.
Good music is timeless. It withstands shifting trends, transcends generations, and continues to resonate. Elling and Yellowjackets reminded us that honoring this music is not an act of nostalgia, but one of renewal. By reinterpreting these works with respect, imagination, and joy, they kept the Weather Report legacy alive — not as museum pieces, but as living, breathing art.
