Zawinul, Joe - 1998 - World Tour (2CD)

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.

		1		Patriots	Zawinul	10:59
		2		Sunday Morning/Sunday Evening	Badrena, Zawinul	4:34
		3		Indiscretions	Zawinul	12:09
		4		Así Trabajamos	Badrena, Sery	2:00
		5		Bimoya	Keita, Zawinul	10:11
		6		Zansa II	Sery, Zawinul	8:11
		7		Bona Fortuna	Bona	1:02
		8		N'Awlins	Zawinul	9:13
		9		Lost Tribes	Zawinul	6:38
		10		Three Postcards	Zawinul	6:29
		11		Slivovitz Trail	Zawinul	10:35
		12		When There Was Royalty	Zawinul	6:02
		13		Success	Fried, Zawinul	3:15
		14		Two Lines	Zawinul	7:19
		15		Caribbean Anecdotes	Bona, Zawinul	1:52
		16		Carnavalito	Zawinul	2:41

¡Aquí!

Garbarek, Jan

Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek's icy tone and liberal use of space and long tones has long been perfect for the ECM sound and, as a result, he is on many recordings for that label, both as a leader and as a sideman. He had won a competition for amateur jazz players back in 1962, leading to his first gigs. Garbarek worked steadily in Norway throughout the remainder of the 1960s, usually as a leader but also for four years with George Russell (who was in Scandinavia for a long stretch). Garbarek began recording for ECM in the early '70s and, although he had opportunities to play with Chick Corea and Don Cherry, his association with Keith Jarrett's European quartet in the mid-'70s made him famous, resulting in the classic recordings My Song and Belonging. In the 1980s, Garbarek's groups included bassist Eberhard Weber and at various times guitarists Bill Frisell and David Torn. Garbarek, whose sound is virtually unchanged since the 1970s, collaborated with the Hilliard Ensemble in 1993 (a vocal quartet singing Renaissance music) and the result was a surprisingly popular recording. Visible World followed in 1995, and four years later he resurfaced with Rites. In April of 1999, Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble returned with Mnemosyne.

2002 - 0705: Live In The Prato (2CD)

Garbarek, Jan - 2002 - 0705-Live In The Prato (2CD)

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