Gazaway

In the '70s, Badrena not only worked for several years with Weather Report, at that point one of the top modern jazz attractions, but also toured with the Rolling Stones as a supplemental percussionist. His credits on Zawinul albums such as Heavy Weather did more toward insuring ongoing employment then the wiggle of Mick Jagger's hips to a bongo, however. The association with so-called classic Weather Report led to sunny days with players such as Steve Khan and unfortunately to participation in the drek of Spyro Gyra as well.

In 1979, jazz was no longer George Duke's primary focus; his albums were emphasizing soul/funk, and many of the R&B fans who knew him for late '70s hits, like "Dukey Stick," "I Want You for Myself," and "Reach for It," knew little or nothing about his work with Cannonball Adderley, Billy Cobham, or Jean-Luc Ponty. But Duke was still producing some jazz albums here and there, although they weren't necessarily straight ahead. Even though Flora Purim's Carry On, which Duke produced, is primarily a Brazilian jazz album, it isn't for jazz purists – rather, Purim provides an eclectic blend of jazz, samba, R&B/funk, rock and pop.