Editing Weather Report (section)

===1980–1982: A tighter arrangement===
[[File:Bobby Thomas jr. and Wayne Shorter.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Drummer Thomas, left, and Shorter, performing in Amsterdam, in 1980]]
At the beginning of 1980, Pastorius recruited hand-drummer [[Robert Thomas Jr.]] (a fellow Floridan, with whom he had jammed previously) into the band. Thomas featured on the 1980 album ''[[Night Passage (album)|Night Passage]]''. A tighter and more traditional recording than previous releases, the record featured a more prominent role for Shorter, a strong element of [[bebop]], and a nod to jazz's golden age via a high-speed cover of [[Duke Ellington]]'s "[[Rockin' in Rhythm]]" (showing off Zawinul's pioneering and ever-increasing ability to create synthetic big-band sounds on his synthesizers).

By now, Pastorius was displaying signs of the mental instability and substance abuse problems that ultimately wrecked his career; the close relationship he'd previously shared with Zawinul was becoming strained as Zawinul lost patience with Pastorius' showmanship onstage (beginning to feel that it detracted from the music). Towards the end of the year, Pastorius began working on his long-delayed second solo album (''[[Word of Mouth (Jaco Pastorius album)|Word of Mouth]]'') (1981) in New York, while Zawinul worked on new Weather Report material in California.

Weather Report's next album ''[[Weather Report (1982 album)|Weather Report]]'' (1982) (their second eponymous release, following their 1971 debut) was recorded in 1981, although it was not released for another year. Zawinul's dominance as instrumentalist and composer (as well as group director) was even more pronounced on this album. Increasingly, the band's music was written out rather than improvised. At the same time, Pastorius was spending more of his creative attention on his ''Word of Mouth'' project: his only writing for the Weather Report album was his contribution to a single group-composed piece. Shorter (who only contributed one composition to the 1982 album, beyond group-written work) was already taking a less active approach. He later commented, philosophically, "For a long time in Weather Report, I abstained. I elected not to do things."

Erskine's own commitment to ''Word of Mouth'' (and his summer commitment to ''[[Steps Ahead]]'') meant that his part also needed to be replaced; at the same time, Robert Thomas Jr. left the band. Reduced to a duo, and with tour commitments looming, Zawinul and Shorter were obliged to quickly assemble a new band.