Harlequin is Wayne Shorter’s melodic ballad performed by Weather Report on their 1977 jazz-fusion classic Heavy Weather. The tune sits between Teen Town and Palladium on the album and was reportedly the first track recorded for Heavy Weather. Composed by Shorter, it features Joe Zawinul on acoustic and electric piano with ARP/Oberheim synths, Wayne Shorter on soprano sax, Jaco Pastorius on bass, Alex Acuña on drums, and Manolo Badrena on percussion. Zawinul asked Acuña to avoid a backbeat, steering the groove toward a bolero or bachata feel, while the arrangement rewards with lush chord changes and a hypnotic, spacey atmosphere created in part by the Devonshire Sound echo chamber. A faint air-raid siren opens the piece, and the recording includes triplet figures in Shorter’s chart. Though Weather Report and Shorter rarely played it live, Harlequin has grown in stature for its quiet beauty and dramatic harmonic sense. Notable later versions include Jason Miles’ 2000 Weather Report tribute featuring Joe Sample on piano, and Shawn McGowan’s strong live take. The title nods to the Harlequin figure of Renaissance Italian theatre, a detail Shorter has seldom commented on.
