Zawinul Syndicate show in Vancouver
Alex
Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, B.C. Zawinul is a living legend, who
helped change the face of contemporary music, so him being in town was
definitely a 'must see'.
My wife and I prepped ourselves by listening to the old Weather Report
albums. I also gave out what I think is the selection of the best WR
CDs to the friends who were going out with us to see Mr. Zawinul. His
gorgeous playing, as recorded on tracks such as "Boogie Woogie Waltz",
"125th Street Congress", "Nubian Sundance", "Cucumber Slumber", "Man
In The Green Shirt" and so on, is simply unmatched in taste, fire,
inventiveness, melodiousness. We couldn't wait to hear him play live.
The actual experience was one of a severe disappointment. Nothing even
closely resembling the sweet, groundbreaking sounds that came from
Zawinul's keyboards during his 1970s period was to be heard during the
concert. Here is what I think was wrong with the music they played in
Vancouver:
- it sounded like one giant, constant spasm. The music didn't breathe
at all (save for the few short moments when everyone vacated the stage
and Mr. Badrena took over)
- Zawinul's keyboard lines were illegible. Again, constant blowing
without any spaces in between. His playing sounded like a blur. I
couldn't detect any phrasing nor dynamics in his lines.
- the worst offender was the bass player, who seemed to have played
unrelenting barrage of mindless licks for the entire evening. He never
managed to let up. His solo, in the middle of the set, was one of the
most tense, meaningless solos I've ever heard. It absolutely lacked
any dynamics.
- the entire performance felt like a particularly bad and frenetic
soundcheck, or a warmup session. Sort of like "let's all run up and
down our instruments in the quickest manner possible, just so that we
can test the limits of the sound equipment."
- speaking of the sound, it was so muddy, I couldn't even hear Badrena
half of the time. Everyone was buried in the mix, resulting in one
brownish mess of a dirty sound.
- I wouldn't say that the music they played was formulaic. I wish it
was, though, because this was beneath formulaic. Each number sounded
pretty much like the previous one, with a frenetic pace, and spasmatic
soloing.
- the only Weather Report tune they played was (very appropriately, in
a way) "Fast City". Was that some kind of a joke? It was almost as if
they said "let's show these suckers how fast can we REALLY play! And
let's keep up the impossible pace for the entire show."
I'm sorry, Joe, but that show didn't do it for me (nor for my
friends). We came to the concert expecting to witness some spectacular
music, in the best Zawinul tradition (I mean, the man IS a genius,
after all), but were instead bombarded by the circus-like bravados. I
want my money back!
The only positive thing I have been able to muster out of it was the
guitarist/singer, who played some interesting licks (very briefly,
though), and sang several arresting passages. All in all, less than 30
seconds of something musical in the entire show.
I'm extremely sorry to come off so negative, but these are my honest
impressions (you may have been able to detect that I'm a big Zawinul
aficionado, have been since the seventies). I'd be curious to hear
other people's experiences from this tour. I may have simply expected
too much (but the same goes for my friends as well).
res0hura
"Alex" <ale...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
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Sounds disappointing..too bad, I'm a huge Zawinul fan as well, not only
for his playing, but for his composing, some of my favorites being the
some of the titles you mention above.
I'll have to admit being a little let down by "Faces and Places",
according to Joe, he had over 500 compositions to choose from for this
record, and to my ears, what he released were tunes that were little
more than groove vehicles. Does anyone know how "Faces.." fared
saleswise? I really miss the melodic/harmonic richness, challenging
rhythms, and unique song structure/arranging of his earlier works. I
would be curious to hear more about his new band members.
I spent Wed. night hearing Little Feat at the Roseland, here in
Portland, Or.,and although the band played well (inc. covers of
'Milestones' and 'Killer Joe'), they were also victims of poor acoustics
and lack of clarity in the PA.
Les
ACT
surprised by your review. I have never caught them on a bad night, and I
have witnessed shows by them for the last 13 years.
ACT
"Alex" <ale...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
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JazzLuva
>> closely resembling the sweet, groundbreaking sounds that came from
>> Zawinul's keyboards during his 1970s period was to be heard during the
>> concert.
hi there,
Well i must say that to me Joe Zawinul is not what he used to be :(
I saw Weather Report/Zawinul Syndicate at least 6 times over the last 15
years (the last show being some 4 years ago), and it was always exiting.
But after hearing his latest album in a record store i feel sorry for the
guy, i dunno why he choose the music he did for his latest album , but it
was "smooth jazz" to me, which i hate with all my heart ! :). There was
nothing exiting/challenging on the record, as if he was on "autopilot". I'm
sure the so called "smooth jazz" radio stations who still seem to think
they actually play jazz will play his album to death, along with the rest
of the Dave Coss and Kenny G's. But the point is Joe Zawinul doesn't have
to make music like that IMHO, 'cauze i'm sure people will still buy his
albums if he's making more challenging music.
greetings
JazzLuva
DSTOL
respectfully disagree.
As the liner notes of that cd explain in his own words, the compositions
recorded are all personal musical snapshots which Zawinul rendered as a current
reference to his own life. I would suggest that listening to this cd without
any categorical bias or expectation will make it a more enjoyable listening
experience.
Whether or not one enjoys the music of Zawinul, he is at least honest to
himself as a composer, and not trying to record music which hides behind a
stylistic category (smooth jazz, fusion, whatever...)
Greg
> impressions (you may have been able to detect that I'm a big Zawinul
> aficionado, have been since the seventies).
Curious then as to why you and your wife "prepped" yourselves by listening
to his music from 30 years ago.... if you were expecting a "Weather Report's
Greatest Hits Live" type of thing I can believe that you would be
disappointed by his recent work.
As you mentioned, he is inventive, and as such I'm sure he would rather
retire than spend the evening rehashing old ground.
Greg
Alex
> As someone who has seen a LOT of Zawinul shows, I am more than highly
> surprised by your review. I have never caught them on a bad night, and I
> have witnessed shows by them for the last 13 years.
I agree with you. I would've been highly surprised by my own review,
have I read it before I saw the show. That's why my disappointment is
so great. The last thing I've expected from Zawinul was to make me
wish he would at least reach out for a formula. The show I saw wasn't
even formulaic, which I think says a lot.
Alex
> Curious then as to why you and your wife "prepped" yourselves by listening
> to his music from 30 years ago.... if you were expecting a "Weather Report's
> Greatest Hits Live" type of thing I can believe that you would be
> disappointed by his recent work.
>
> As you mentioned, he is inventive, and as such I'm sure he would rather
> retire than spend the evening rehashing old ground.
>
> Greg
As it turned out, he did spend the evening trying to rehash some old
stuff. Most notably, the majority of the evening was spent in the
"Fast City" (from the "Night Passage" album) mode (but make that "Fast
City" on prozac). The rest of the night (about 10 - 15% of the show)
had Joe ad libbing in the "In A Silent Way" mood from his "8:30" live
album, while the female vocalist was doing a pretty pale hotel lounge
balladeering. But, by now, that vibe is getting real tired.
We listened in anticipation to his 30 years old stuff because it
contains his most lucid playing. Later on (from the early eighties
onward) he grew into this real macho posturing on the keyboards,
playing million notes per minute and so on. But we hoped he'll go back
to his original inventive self as was recorded in the early to mid
seventies. In other words, we hoped he'd relax and play music. But we
definitelly haven't hoped he'll play Weather Report material (I also
hoped with all my might he won't launch into "In A Silent Way", or
"Mercy Mercy Mercy", as these tunes are beginning to wear pretty thin
by now).
Joe used to do phenomenal stuff on stage in the late seventies. I
remember one show where he would just sit on the floor with some
exotic African instrument and pluck it away while Wayne played
soprano. Spectacular!
Alas, he doesn't seem interested in doing those exploratory,
inspirational things anymore.
Alex
still...@webtv.net
hit the web exclusives, up now they have Joe talking about the tunes in
3 Weather Report classics. Myself, I'm not familiar, just enjoy playing
In a Silent Way in different keys. Would there be something similiar I
could look for to play on my horn?
Cambo
player) for over 30 years, I can personally attest to the fact that it
was truly magnificent. I have loved Weather Report since the early
70's, since before my great hero Jaco Pastorius joined the band. 'I
Sing The Body Electric' was my first album by Zawinul's band, with
Miroslav Vitous on bass, and I have bought every recording as it came
out ever since, including the magnificent 'Heavy Weather' and '8:30',
seminal recordings in the history of jazz. Zawinul has and continues
to be a major driving force in this music, and is a transcendent
master of the keyboards in every jazz idiom that he has touched.
The warm-up band in Vancouver was OK, basically a bunch of hippies
with little discipline or technique, jamming. They were OK, they tried
to be sincere, kind of musical, but I personally have a great deal of
difficulty with musicians with barely enough technique to play
mainstream attempting to be 'avant-guard'. Even though they were
severely lacking in the technique department, and even though the bass
player was a bit of a ham-handed Neanderthal (he could barely play a 1
octave arpeggio, actually), they were OK as a group thing. Were they
all world class musicians, capable of sitting in on a moments notice
in a bebop gig playing at 300 on the metronome all night, or a rock
gig, or a commercial jingle like every member of Zawinul's band was?
Er, ah, no. They had their schtick, and some less knowledgeable people
probably liked it, but they were totally out of their league in
comparison to the main act. Pretty good for Victoria, but definitely
not ready for the big time.
Zawinul's group was in a totally different league. In his work he
manages to evoked images of many types of world music, folksong, and
jazz, masterfully blended into coherent and beautiful compositions,
with magnificent complex harmonies, intricate world-fusion melodies,
and heavy African grooves courtesy of the magnificent bass player
Linley Marthe, who is the definitive new bass god as far as I am
concerned. I have seen pretty much every great bass player to come
down the pipe for the last 30 years, and I firmly believe Linley is in
a league of his own. Heavy African grooves, with chops that go beyond
anything I have heard, even my great hero Jaco. He was simply
astounding, astonishing, and inspirational, and if I were the bass
player in Lapp Electro, I would have been totally demoralized; that
guy needs to spend about 20 years doing three octave scales and
arpeggios, and learn how to really play the instrument like Linley so
obviously has. There is no artistry without discipline: with
Lapp-Electro, it was pretense, masquerading as art; with Zawinul's
band, it was artistry of the highest calibre.
The rest of Z's band was similarly astonishing. The guitarist, Amit
Chatterjee, was magnificent, and was a superb singer in the Indian
Classical tradition, as well. The female vocalist Sabine Kabongo was
also absolutely amazing, and when backed up by probably the greatest
accompanist ever, Zawinul, it produced some profoundly moving moments
which I shall remember for the rest of my life. And if you think I am
overstating the case with Zawinul, you haven't heard enough of him:
remember his Cannonball recordings in the 60's? Have you heard
Cannonball live with Nancy Wilson? That piano solo of Zawinul's on the
ballad, whose name presently escapes me, that goes on and on for
chorus after chorus, and gets better and better with each passing
phrase, is arguably one of the best piano solos in the recorded
history of jazz. Zawinul was a profound musical individual in the
1960's, and has done nothing but deepen his perspective and become
better with age. He has created entire genres of music, and leaves a
legacy beyond anything heard previously. He is, in my opinion, THE
MOST UNDERRATED AND MISUNDERSTOOD KEYBOARDIST IN THE HISTORY OF JAZZ.
His influence will perhaps finally start to blossom as people finally
review his life and career. I think his genious has been too much for
some to understand; perhaps they will catch up in 15 or 20 years, like
they did with Hendrix and even Coltrane.
Zawinul's awe-inspiring technical proficiency was also amply
demonstrated by his magnificent sounds on his sophisticated and
complex synth setup, which included no fewer than 10 (!) volume pedals
to control the various synths and modules he uses. This technical
proficiency in synthesis is highly underrated by the jazz community;
getting a good, UNIQUE sound on modern sythns is a daunting task,
every bit as difficult as getting a good sound out of a saxophone or a
trumpet, only it is not a physical challenge, but an extremely complex
mental (and financial) one, and one which is constantly changing every
few months as each new generation of synths come out. His choice of
sounds was absolutely awe-inspiring, monsterous, wonderful, and
overwhelming, especially his magnificent pad patch when backing up the
vocalist during her soulful rubato ballad. I stood for Zawinul's
entire set no further than 10 feet away from him, right at the front
of the stage on the floor, and inspite of the AWFUL SOUND PROVIDED BY
THE STAGE MONITORING SYSTEM, which was wreaking havoc with the band
all night, Zawinul's choice of sounds were luscious, juicy, rich, and
with a deep spiritual underpinning that only a transcendent master can
provide. And yes, jazz and acoustic snobs, there is a LOT more to
synth programming than just pressing a button. Give it a try sometime;
the possibilities are endless.
I was personally appalled at the choice of venues for this event. A
musician of Zawinul's status deserves the finest concert hall we can
provide him with, not a glorified beer-parlour like the Commodore,
notorious for bad sound. The trademark bad sound was present that
night, of course, and the WORST of it was the musicians' on-stage
monitors. Running through a 40 channel Rane board (the electronic
equivalent of a very luxurious, leather-lined, air-conditioned
fully-optioned 1985 Hyundai Pony), the sound that I heard from the
monitors (I was right beside them) was simply awful; it is a miracle
that they could play ANYTHING hearing what they heard that night, and
I personally do not blame them for not doing an encore with a
Gawd-awful sound like they had to put up with all night. They should
have been at the Centre Theatre, a much more suitable venue for this
magnificent ensemble. I hope the powers that be understand this, and
put them in a suitable venue with suitable sound equipment next time.
At 71 [Zawinul's 71st birthday is tomorrow, July 7], an age when
many of us will be drooling on ourselves and incontinent, Zawinul
continues to be a profound and inspirational voice in modern music,
and one which we can only hope will be with us for many years to come.
Meeman
a classic piano solo pick up the Capitol LP "Live" and listen to the very
long Zawinul solo on the Charles Lloyd ballad composition "The Song My Lady
Sings". Simply stunning and one of the great recorded piano solos
ever.....and overlooked!!
Mike
"Cambo" <hood...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
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