Fusion was seldom as vibrant or as relevant as when keyboardist Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, inspired by old boss Miles Davis, began their bold jazz-rock experiment in 1970, eventually allying with electric-bass wizard Jaco Pastorius and drummer Peter Erskine for the most prominent version of the supergroup.

Kudos to Jason Miles, then, for attempting to introduce the rich textures, vibrant melodies and urgent, worldbeat-influenced rhythms of Weather Report to a new generation. The keyboardist/programmer, a veteran of work with Davis, George Benson and various rock and R&B artists, has gathered a long list of notable mainstream and contemporary jazzers for a set marked by imaginative arrangements and impressive solo work.

Still, there's a certain annoying, downright smooth slickness that pervades much of the proceedings. Miles' keyboards are largely to blame: His sound is far prettier and fluffier than that of Zawinul, whose old-school synthesizers and electric and acoustic pianos churned up a fat, dense, dark, ever-shifting thicket of sound (still prominently displayed in his Zawinul Syndicate band).

That deficiency bugged me right away, on the first track, a rather wimpy version of the classic "Birdland," with Jaco's plucked-harmonics lead replaced by Chuck Loeb's silky guitar lines, and some rather precious vocal samples by Take 6 (think the Manhattan Transfer's shiny, happy version of the tune). The six-stringer also turns the jam-out at the end, originally a slowly unfurling synth improv, into a rock 'n' roll session. Thanks, but I'd rather dig out my copy of "Heavy Weather," or the live "8:30."

The white-bright tone of David Sanborn's showy alto saxophone, too, seems all wrong for the time-shifting "Cannonball," featuring final-edition WR members Victor Bailey on bass and Omar Hakim on drums. Spyro Gyra soprano saxophonist Jay Beckenstein and Joe Sample do little to lift the floaty "Harlequin," and "Man in the Green Shirt," with Andy Narell on steel pans, comes off as a cruise-ship jingle.

It's not all a lost cause, though. Michael Brecker's tenor saxophone adds a classy touch of brawn to "Elegant People," impressively navigating the funky syncopated stops at the end of the piece. "Badia," driven by Miles' exotic percussion programming, John Patitucci's grooving bass and Vinnie Colaiuta's propulsive trap-kit work, benefits from Mary Fahl's ethereal vocals. The percolating "Young and Fine" gets its kicks from a too-brief dialogue between Narell and tenor saxophonist Aaron Heick. Michael's brother Randy adds some choice trumpet work to "Palladium," driven energetically by Patitucci and Hakim.

And I'd pay cold hard cash to see the unit heard on the closing "Cucumber Slumber": Dennis Chambers lays down a might funk thump, with the help of bassist Marcus Miller and percussionist Cyro Baptista, and John Scofield flies over it all with bluesy zig-zag lines. It's an edgy, hard-driving sendoff to a disc that's otherwise far too tame.
- PHILIP BOOTH