Zawinul is the remarkable Austrian pianist with quite a CV: he pioneered soul-jazz with Cannonball Adderley, invented fusion with Miles Davis, took jazz-rock into arenas with Weather Report, and wrote some of jazz’s biggest hits (‘Mercy Mercy Me’, ‘Blackmarket’, ‘Birdland’). This double CD, recorded live in Vienna, catches the septuagenarian keyboard wizard in familiar territory, with sampled voices and sprightly percussion giving way to jaunty African themes, propelled by the massed horns of Germany’s crack WDR big band. The majority of tunes come from Jaco Pastorius-period Weather Report – even the beautifully scored version of Zawinul’s ‘In A Silent Way’ nods to the Weather Report version rather than the Miles Davis original. The trouble is we know these tunes already and Vince Mendoza’s arrangements (though beautifully played) are altogether too conservative. You’re crying out for the incisive beauty of a Wayne Shorter to add depth to all the bluster.
Still, if you’re a fan, you’ll want it. But then if you’re a fan what you really want is Sony’s recent Weather Report box-set which, though stingy on new audio stuff, does contain a magnificent two-hour concert DVD, featuring Jaco in all his bare-chested glory and cracking versions of all their greatest hits. Oh hell, buy ’em both!
