Details continue to emerge regarding the upcoming Sony release, Weather Report Live & Unreleased. The tracks come from seven concerts, spanning the years 1975-1983. The 1975 recordings with Alphonso Johnson, Chester Thompson and Alex Acuna are particularly noteworthy because there are no official live recordings of this version of the band.

Here is a more complete list of tracks, recording dates, and personnel. (By the way, the release date is supposed to be October 1.)

Date: November 27, 1975, The New Victoria Theater, London
Personnel: Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Alphonso Johnson, Chester Thompson, Alex Acuna

“Freezing Fire,” 9:17
“Cucumber Slumber,” 11:39
“Man In The Green Shirt,” 10:48
“Cigano,” 3:58
“Directions/Dr.Honoris Causa,” 8:37

Date: September 10, 1977, The Rainbow, London
Personnel: Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Alex Acuna, Manolo Badrena

“Teen Town,” 6:30
“Black Market,” 9:26
“Rumba Mama,” 1:06

Date: November 30, 1977, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Personnel: Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Alex Acuna, Manolo Badrena

“Portrait Of Tracy,” 5:57
“Elegant People,” 5:07

Date: November 28, 1978, Phoenix, Arizona
Personnel: Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine

“River People,” 6:57
“In A Silent Way/Waterfall,” 5:46

Date: July 12, 1980, The Complex, Santa Monica, California
Personnel: Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine

“Fast City,” 6:49

Date: July 13, 1980, The Complex, Santa Monica, California
Personnel: Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine

“Night Passage,” 5:53
“Port Of Entry,” 8:08

Date: June 3, 1983, Hammersmith Odeon, London
Personnel: Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter,Victor Bailey, Omar Hakim, Jose Rossy

“Plaza Real,” 7:04
“Where The Moon Goes,” 12:04
“Two Lines,” 8:15

According to various posts on the Internet, there are some prerelease copies in of the new Sony Weather Report two-CD set in circulation, including one such package for auction on Ebay. The new set, Weather Report Live & Unreleased, is said to be slated for a fall release. Tracks span the years 1975-1983, and include:

1. Freezing Fire
2. Plaza Real
3. Fast City
4. Portrait of Tracy
5. Elegant People
6. Cucumber Slumber
7. Teen Town
8. Man in the Green Shirt

Disc Two:

1. Black Market
2. Where the Moon Goes
3. River People
4. Two Lines
5. Cigano
6. In A Silent Way/Waterfall
7. Night Passage
8. Port of Entry
9. Rumba Mama
10. Directions

The North Sea Jazz Festival organizers announced that Joe Zawinul is the winner of this year’s “Special Appreciation” Bird Award. The Zawinul Syndicate performed at the festival last night. Incidentally, Zawinul’s Weather Report cofounder Wayne Shorter was the recipient of the festival’s other major award, the Edison Jazz Oeuvre Award.

In an interview on BBC Radio, Zawinul confirmed that the long-awaited set of live Weather Report material is due to be released from Sony "in a month or two." He says it will be a two-CD set consisting of 18 tracks, including the Chester Thompson-Alphonso Johnson rhythm section of Black Market, the quartet with Jaco Pastorius and Peter Erskine, and the last band with Omar Hakim and Victor Bailey. [The interview is no longer online.]

ESC Records sends word that Zawinul’s new album, Faces And Places, will be released on September 2 in “G/A/S” (is that Germany, Austria and…?), and September 16 in the rest of Europe. No word on the United States release. Meanwhile, ESC has added a lot of new information about the album on their web site, including audio clips, musician and track listings, and liner notes by Bill Milkowski.

An early birthday party—Zawinul turns 70 on July 7—was held on June 30 at Jazzfest Wien in Joe’s hometown of Vienna, Austria. Pictures and video clips can be found at the Jazzfest Wien web site. (The direct link to the pictures and video clips is here.) According to my friend Thomas Kober, who said a television broadcast of the concert, the women on stage with the Syndicate are Sabine Kabongo and Mavana (Lucile, Eliane, Annie Andriamanana and Monique Raoiliarimalala).

Meanwhile, Zawinul’s record label, ESC Records, promises that this month’s news on their web site will be dedicated to Zawinul. So far two updates in four days, so check it out.

The Lugano Estival Jazz festival will be broadcasting performances live on the web, including the Zawinul Syndicate performance on July 6. For more information, visit the festival web site.