Inroads (album)

Inroads is the debut studio album by the American jazz fusion group Weather Report, released in 1967. The album, recorded at Columbia Studios in New York City, features the original lineup of the band: Joe Zawinul (keyboards), Wayne Shorter (saxophone), Miroslav Vitouš (bass), Alphonse Mouzon (drums), and Airto Moreira (percussion).

While often misattributed as Weather Report's debut, Inroads was released significantly before the band officially formed and debuted their self-titled album in 1971. It showcases the burgeoning avant-garde jazz sensibilities of Zawinul, Shorter, and Vitouš, hinting at the direction they would later take with Weather Report, but with a more explicitly acoustic and less electronically driven sound.

The album is characterized by its complex arrangements, intricate improvisations, and a strong emphasis on collective interplay. It represents an important transitional moment for these musicians, bridging their earlier hard bop and modal jazz work with the more experimental and genre-bending approaches they would later pioneer. Tracks often feature open-ended structures, allowing for extended solos and spontaneous musical conversations.