Joe Zawinul Albums (18)
What The Critics Say
Joe Zawinul's final edition of his Zawinul Syndicate band was a terrific ensemble that was perfect for any jazz festival. The multi-ethnic content, driving funky pulse, and Zawinul's colorful keyboard foundation kept listeners on their toes and rapt with attention. Using percussion and guitar with no other solo instruments, Zawinul was fully able to carry the proceedings with support from very talented performers who always complemented the music, but never got in the way, or dared to. This live double-CD set perfectly exemplifies Zawinul's personalized direction before he suddenly passed away, and exudes all of the energy the group produced in concert. For Weather Report fans, there are many direct or implied signposts that remind us why that band was so unique under the Austrian-born keyboardist's direction. But at the core is Zawinul's expanded sound, based in technological advances, conjuring up any number of folk based motifs from around the globe. "Orient Express" and "Madagascar" start the voyage in good form, reminiscent of Weather Report's "Black Market" phase, as electric bass guitarist Linley Marthe channels Jaco Pastorius as Mediterranean music is contemporized with an American backbeat. Late period Miles Davis simplicity is employed during "Scarlet Woman," perhaps a cousin of "Back Seat Betty" in its slow and mysterious but eventually composed strut. The mbira or thumb piano is played by Paco Serv alongside Zawinul's vocoder and synths on the sparse "Zanza II," and "Cafe Andalusia" concludes the first CD in a straight rock-funk beat with wordless vocals from the impressive Sabine Kabongo driving an unstoppable forward motion and kinetic energy. Seems like the band can't wait to dive into "Fast City/Two Lines," a speedy bullet train combo tune, fueled by the stinging Santana-like guitar of Alegre Correa, inspiring fine solos from Marthe and drummer Serv. -"Clario" is all Correa's, a spotlight on Brazilian Jobim-styled sounds, induced by his toned down guitar, ramped up scats, and yells. The Weather Report touch returns in "Badia/Boogie Woogie Waltz," a seamless transition between free time and 3/4 where Zawinul's understated synth and Correa's berimbau identify the universal global village as welcome to all. Wayne Shorter joins the group for a thinly veiled version of the Miles Davis groundbreaker "In a Silent Way," reuniting the old mates in a body of improvisation featuring small, clipped notes and phrases on soprano sax, returning after a respite to briefly state the riff on which a thousand stately, elegant and wistful counter harmonies were built upon. When the Zawinul Syndicate performed, they left nothing on the stage, extracting every ounce of their souls for all to hear. The leader demanded this commitment, and when you listen closely to his layers of pure sound and merging cultures altogether wrapped up, one wishes he could have had a prominent position in the United Nations. Our world was a better place with Joe Zawinul in it. ~ Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide
'To You with Love'
Release Date 12/10/2007
Tracks 10
Label Fresh Sound
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What The Critics Say
Like his friend and onetime collaborator Miles Davis, Joe Zawinul was not one to look back on his past and savor the view. Yet as in the case of Miles (his parting concert in Montreux), Zawinul finally took the plunge in central Europe late in life by revisiting his old Weather Report repertoire -- live at his Vienna nightclub, Joe Zawinul's Birdland. The significant difference is that while Miles doubled back to a re-creation of the original Gil Evans charts, Zawinul retrofitted his tunes with new big-band arrangements by Vince Mendoza, read with gusto and heft by the crack visiting WDR Big Band of Cologne, Germany. To this, Zawinul added his own synthesizer virtuosity and some overdubs from his Malibu studio, two distinguished WR alumni who still play with him off and on -- bassist Victor Bailey and percussionist Alex Acuña -- and drummer Nathaniel Townsley. In just about every case, Mendoza's charts replicate and flesh out every twist and turn in the Weather Report originals, paying off big-time with "Brown Street," an overlooked swinger from the WR 8:30 album that gets the remake album off to a percolating start. Occasionally he piles on additional harmonic tissue, as in the Miles-period "In a Silent Way." Some of the writing seems a bit redundant, yet things never become too overloaded thanks to the ceaseless drive of the rhythm section, and there is plenty of room for solos. Only on "Procession" does Zawinul write his own big-band chart; though tied tightly to the original recording, it sounds looser than most of the Mendoza charts as it works out over the drone. A few of the song choices are unexpected: the frantic "Fast City" and the strutting title tune from the Night Passage album; the former features some liquid synth solos by Zawinul and stimulating tenor sax by Paul Heller, and the latter some relaxed flügelhorn from Kenny Rampton. Others aren't from the WR catalog at all; "Silent Way" predates it, of course, though WR did play the tune in concert, and "March of the Lost Children" and the perennial "Carnavalito" are from the post-WR solo years. Unlike most jazz tribute projects -- including a fairly bloodless, multi-artist 1999 salute to Weather Report on Telarc -- this double-CD set isn't burdened with artificial nostalgia, and it benefits a lot from the presence of one of the two founding co-leaders (the other being the absent Wayne Shorter). And Zawinul is the crucial one, because the crusty Austrian keyboardist sees to it that the swing is the thing and that the groove is deep. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
'Vienna Nights: Live at Joe Zawinul's Birdland'
Release Date 1/1/2005
Tracks 16
Label BHM
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What The Critics Say
Considering the stunning array of jazz fusion talent that legendary composer and keyboardist Joe Zawinul has employed as leader of the pioneering Weather Report and his ever-evolving Zawinul Syndicate, our expectations should be raised when he says of his current multi-national lineup, "It's the best band I've ever had." Recorded at his Birdland Club in his hometown of Vienna over two engagements in 2003, this explosive, multi-faceted disc is a wonderful showcase for the largely African-leaning sounds of the current Syndicate. The most fascinating aspect of Zawinul over his decades in the spotlight has been his desire to play it cool in the shadows as he showcases brilliant young talent; he does this immediately here, as African vocal pop star Salif Keita shines on the rumbling, heavy grooving "Y'elena" (which Zawinul originally produced in 1991) and which features an irrepressible groove by drummer Nathaniel Townsley and Linley Marthe, a native of Mauritius who is the latest of the leader's post-Jaco Pastorius bass discoveries. The African express continues on the bubbly "Two Lines," which blends the exotic drumming of Algerian native Karim Ziad and frenetic soloing by the familiar electric guitar genius Scott Henderson. The joyful moodswinging spirit of the rest of the set is summed up in wacky, locomotive jams like "Rooftops of Vienna" contrasted by more mystical, rhythmically varied excursions like "Do You Want Some Tea, Grandpa?" and "Café Andalusia." Zawinul eventually takes more of a spotlight on the Argentine-flavored "Borges Buenos Aires," and pays homage to his jazz roots on a dreamy, impressionistic Ellington classic, "Come Sunday." Zawinul fans will eat this dual set up instantly, but lovers of fusion and world music will come around quickly thereafter. ~ Jonathan Widran, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Keyboardist/composer Joe Zawinul's accomplishments with Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, and Weather Report, amid his revolutionary approach to synths, cannot be undermined. In some instances, artists such as Zawinul set paradigms of excellence and inventiveness that might seem difficult to repeat. Naturally, the listener shouldn't expect any performer to continually rest on his or her laurels, or abide by a proven or perhaps unwavering formula. To that end, Zawinul's 2002 solo effort seems to be a summarization of his recent jazz/fusion/world music stylizations, witnessed by his Zawinul Syndicate band. As this solo effort offers more of the same. Here, the keyboardist enlists a multinational cast of percussionists (including ex-Weather Report personnel), vocalists, and soloists for an album that more or less mirrors his recent output. Regrettably, few if any of these works impart a permanent impression. Many of these arrangements feature Zawinul's wily synth passages and otherworldly Vocoder (digital EFX) based vocalese. He pays homage to his former employer, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, on the piece titled "The Spirit of Julian "C" Adderley." The basis for this production entails an array of rather predictable worldbeat-style discourses consisting of shifting percussion vamps, North African modalities, and quaint Austrian folk melodies. There are some touching moments to complement a few rousing opuses. Overall, there are some compelling musical events to coincide with what appears to be a hodgepodge of contrasting notions stitched together. ~ Glenn Astarita, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
A little-known anomaly in the Joe Zawinul discography, Mauthausen was a multimedia event in which the Austrian-born composer/keyboardist tried to come to terms with some of the darkest hours in his country's history. It is a troubling, at times eloquent electronic tone poem that depicts life within the concentration camp near the small Austrian town of Mauthausen, where approximately 120,000 people lost their lives between the years 1938 and 1945. Anticipating limited appeal for such a project, ESC released the album only in Austria and a handful of other Central European countries. Originally presented in the camp itself in 1998 with holograms, lighting effects, and 50 speakers placed around the audience, Mauthausen is mostly a one-man show on CD; Zawinul commanding his symphonic arsenal of keyboards, with occasional narrations in German by actor Frank Hoffmann. As have a number of recent Zawinul albums, this one opens with a deep, moody pedal point in the bass, but the mood stays dark and threatening most of the way through -- a stark contrast to the bubbly, life-affirming rhythms that Zawinul had been pumping out on his jazz/world music recordings of this time. Once in a great while, a semblance of the Zawinul groove breaks out, but always in a subdued way. Mixed in are collages of storm-troopers, trains carrying the prisoners to the camp, prison doors slamming, commands of the guards, and other sound effects from wartime. As in Zawinul's symphonic poem Stories of the Danube, echoes from his jazz past turn up; this time, we hear spliced-in recordings of "Walking on a Nile" from Zawinul's Dialects. and "The Orphan" from Weather Report's 8:30 album. The latter insert is particularly appropriate, with Wayne Shorter's tenor sax and a children's chorus shouting "No More! No More!" contributing beacons of hope before Zawinul's final hymn of benediction. Obviously, for non-German speakers, some of the meaning of the piece will be lost; the booklet contains no English translations other than a brief history of the camp and the titles of the selections. But the inhumane, brooding atmosphere of the camp comes through powerfully enough in the music via a stereo CD. Although Mauthausen is not something one is likely to pull off the shelf too often, it is essential for those who want to understand all of Zawinul's long musical odyssey, and it deserves a wider release. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
'The Rise & Fall of the Third Stream'
Release Date 6/8/1999
Tracks 6
Label 32 Jazz
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What The Critics Say
This transitional recording sees Joe Zawinul moving from the role of jazz pianist to that of a synthesist in the broad sense of the word. The recording, made up of advanced hard bop and post bop themes, includes -- with varying degrees of cohesion -- passages for cello and violas. The strings never completely meld with the jazz instrumentation, but they also don't get in the way. The title suggests Zawinul sees little value in partitioning music under such headings as "third stream" (a rubric for the fusion of jazz and classical music). This view would be famously exemplified in the influential projects with which Zawinul would soon be involved. Zawinul sticks with acoustic piano except for "Soul of a Village", where he improvises in a soul jazz vein on Fender Rhodes over the tamboura-like droning of a prepared piano. On other tracks, his playing is similar to the sweeping grandeur of McCoy Tyner. Elsewhere, he is in more of a Keith Jarrett or Bill Evans space. There's good work from Jimmy Owens on trumpet and William Fischer on tenor sax, along with a top-flight rhythm section: bassist Richard Davis and either Freddie Waits or Roy McCurdy on drums.What's interesting about this music is the insight it provides on directions Zawinul would soon take with Miles Davis on the ethereal In a Silent Way, on the impressionistic 1971 eponymous release Zawinul, and then with the borderless fusioneering of Weather Report. These later projects are the realization of ideas that Zawinul was beginning to form on this 1967 session. ~ Jim Todd, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This version of the Zawinul Syndicate could swing harder than any Zawinul-led unit since the heyday of Weather Report, as this two-CD set -- taken from three concerts in Berlin and Trier, Germany -- triumphantly illustrates. Small wonder, for the lineup of the Syndicate looks almost like a Weather Report alumni gathering, with Zawinul, the brilliant percussionist Manolo Badrena from the 1977 Heavy Weather band, and bassist Victor Bailey, from the great '80s global-funk edition forming a quorum, with Paco Sery on drums and Gary Poulson on guitar filling out the ranks. Zawinul remains a marvel at 65, always in touch with the idea and feel of the groove, weaving spare, enigmatic electronic comments and spangled layers of synthesizers into the mix, creating a touching dialogue in "Zansa II" with Sery's kalimba. Some of the material stems from the early years of the Syndicate, and "Indiscretions" and "Two Lines" date all the way back to Weather Report. Among the greatest groovathons -- at last presented in full glorious concert length on CD -- are "Indiscretions," which gets the voodoo going in an insinuating manner, and "N'awlins," which manages to evoke the Crescent City R&B feeling in a swingingly original way. The set's two anomalies are "When There Was Royalty," a curious intermezzo consisting of Zawinul's polystylistic solo piano musings poorly recorded in his home studio on a Walkman, and "Success," a spoken poem by Erich Fried set against the stunning blend of Berlin church bells and electronics. For a souvenir of the state of Zawinul's art in the 1990s, this is the album to get. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
If Joe Zawinul was out to prove that he didn't need Weather Report anymore, he succeeded spectacularly in this virtual one-man show. Zawinul recorded many of the vocals (assisted now and then by Bobby McFerrin and a vocal trio) and all of the synthesizer and rhythm machine tracks himself in his Pasadena home studio, yet the results are anything but mechanical. Zawinul in fact achieves a rare thing: He manages to get his stacks of electronics to swing like mad in these pan-global grooves that pick up where WR was about to leave off. "Waiting for the Rain" generates a ribbon of tension and anticipation, while "Zeebop" is a noisy rush of pure adrenaline. And "Carnivalito" is a total gas, a percolating, outrageously joyous evocation of a carnival that would put the world's best percussion players out of business if Zawinul's swinging talent could be bottled and sold. This is an important, overlooked album because it proves that electronic instruments can reach your emotions and shake your body when played by someone who has bothered to learn how to master them. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
