News has just reached me from Austria, of a March European tour by the Zawinul Syndicate. The basic outline is as listed below and I hope to provide further details when known.
| Date | Venue | City | Country |
| March 7 | Stavanger | Norway | |
| March 8 | Marseille | France | |
| March 9 | |||
| March 10 | Montpelier | France | |
| March 11 | Köln | Germany | |
| March 12 | Strasbourg | France | |
| March 13 | Hamburg TV | Germany | |
| March 14 | Gütersloh | Germany | |
| March 15 | New Morning | Paris | France |
| March 16 | Agen | France | |
| March 17 | |||
| March 18 | Melkweg | Amsterdam | Netherlands |
| March 19 | Lille | France | |
| March 20 | Mannheim | Germany | |
| March 21 | Burghausen | Germany | |
| March 22 | Commercy | France | |
The above information is courtesy of INTERMUSIC, WIEN
(Follow this link for The Syndicate's current non European gig schedule)
The current lineup of the Syndicate is as follows:-
Richard Bona: Bass
Paco Sery: Drums
Manolo Badrena: Percussion
Gary Poulson: Guitar
Joe Zawinul: Keyboards
The planned Weather Report reunion, scheduled for the end of this year, now appears to be off due to a lack of time, musical differences and the tragic death of Wayne Shorter's wife and cousin. (Both were passengers on the TWA 800 flight which crashed just prior to the start of the Olympics).
The 4 CD box set retrospective, featuring early Weather Report live performances, is currently on hold due to Wayne Shorter's indisposition (see above) and may be in a different format to what was previously expected. One possibility is that it will consist of 3 CD's of remixed studio material plus one of live recordings. The other option, suggested by the head of Sony Jazz in the UK, is that a single or double set of the live stuff may arrive in October.
The elusive Sweetnighter album is now available on CD as a Columbia mid-price release. This means that in the UK it sells for a relatively reasonable £9.99 as opposed to the extortionate £13.99 they would normally charge. Other previously unavailable albums such as Procession, Sportin Life, and This is This will also be available soon on CD for the first time.
Stories of the Danube - "the world première recording of Joe Zawinul's first symphony" is now available on the Phillips label no. 454 143-2. A booklet is included which offers an introduction to the work, plus an appreciation of Zawinul the musician and composer, by Franz Putz. This latter text provides some amusing moments when the author lapses into his best, jazz-critic muso-speak e.g. "One of the most conspicuous features of his synthesiser registrations, then, is transparency: clear-cut contours, a recurrent predilection for clarinet or flute sounds, diversification of the orchestration, the avoidance of blanket chord accumulations, space for the thematic polyphony to come across." Helpfully, all this is available in German, French and Spanish as well as English. Vielen dank Franz!
My People, the latest album by Joe Zawinul, has now been released on the Escapade Music label no. 03651-2 with performances by Syndicate members, Trilok Gurtu, Salif Keita and a fabulously eclectic mix of musicians from all around the globe. Some are from countries you've never heard of!
Possessing an entirely "World Music" feel to it, the album features several remarkable vocal contributions including a debut for Joe himself, sans vocoder - "just a little effect on it".
*** My People has just been nominated for a Grammy Award as Best World Music Recording, along with Wayne Shorter's High Life (in the Contemporary Jazz category). News of the results will follow as soon as possible.
American Music Information Source Guide