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The
Zawinul Syndicate in Copenhagen Jazzhouse, Denmark November 9,
1999 I
was lucky to get 2 tickets for one of the two concerts in
Copenhagen Jazzhouse in early November. I was almost sure,
that my good old friend, Niels Plaschke, would join me at
this event. And he did. Zawinul
played with the band a year ago on his very own 65'th
birthday during the "Copenhagen Jazz Festival" - and
actually he had played in a smaller town called Vejle in
april this year (1999). He LIKES Denmark (that's what he
said !!). What
we experienced was an extraordinary (but reletively short)
show featuring the grand old man on his toes - keeping the
young guys in the band busy !! Joe was indeed in rare form
that night. I've
got a few records with the band: The Immigrants (88), Lost
tribes (92) and World Tour (98) - and actually I didn't
recognize much of the music. But what the hell !! You can
get more information about the actual set by reading another
review by Dick Koster: "Joe Zawinul Live in Groningen &
Tilburg/Holland 19 & 20 october" (http://www.freeweb.org/musica/zawinul/reviews/eng/jz1920oc.htm)
I
know Zawinul mostly from Weather Report (I've got ALL the
official records), and I've always been a great fan of his
ingenius keyboard-sounds. The
band that we saw this night was: Victor Bailey on bass (when
Joe presented the band he said: "This guy has played with
Madonna … now it's good to see him back in music again
…!!") Manolo Badrena (vocals and percussion), Gary
Poulson (guitar) and the new drummer Kharim Ziad. I
had tears in my eyes when they did "Continnum" (from the
first Jaco album called "Jaco") featuring Victor Bailey (!!)
on high pitched vocals honoring Jaco Pastorius. Only Joe's
gentle sounds, bass-guitar and a little percussion on the
top - that was very great moments !! The words in the song
went "… do you know who Jaco was" and everybody did
!! I've
never seen Manolo live before - but I tell you: HE'S A
MONSTER !! When other percussionists play with their hands
AND feet, Manolo plays with his LEFT hand … and sings
and laughs, too !! My god, he's fantastic and a gift to the
and. No wonder Joe is keeping Manolo close to
him. Gary
Poulson (Poulsen is a danish name !!) played very anonymous
I think. Almost percussive and with very little solo. I saw
him after the show in conversation with some people, and he
really seems like a very nice guy ! Gentle, smiling and a
very human kind. Victor
needs no comments - he just plays fantastic. This very
black, thin guy from Philadelphia simply play anything. If a
bug sits on the music-sheet he plays that, too. He can play
quiet and laid-back and he can play like a machinegun (very
much like Jaco). And he CAN also sing, though I guess he is
better off playing the bass. However his Tribute to Jaco was
indeed heart-shaking and very warm-felt. It was obvious,
that Joe enjoyed this part, too. The
new boy (at least he looks like a young boy) Kharim Ziad
from Algeria played just fantastic, and Joe had very great
words for him. He has a unique technique - he can play
anything so naturally and "easy" no matter how difficult it
is (I'm a drummer myself !! so I know). He's an unknown name
right now (or was) but he will definitely be a serious
musician on the scene in the years to come. This
really was a night to remember … Thanx
for your time ! MAIL:
noahs007@bigfoot.com Go to the Copenhagen Jazzhouse's website
by
Soren
Noah
Søren Noah, Copenhagen 22. december 99