Ever since Paco Séry suddenly left the Zawinul Syndicate in the fall of 1998, I’ve been wondering what he’s been up to. Rumor has it he will be releasing an album under his own name sometime this year. Meanwhile, the Paco Séry Group will be playing some gigs around Europe this spring and summer. Dates that I know of are:

• Paris Jazz Festival, June 25
• Tabarka Jazz Festival, July 4
• Montereau Blues Confluences, July 8
• Festival de Jazz à Brignoles, August 12

According to the Altavista French-to-English translator, Séry is “a phenomenon. This beater of the Ivory Coast never took only one course of battery and yet Joe Zawinul regards it as the best in the world!” Imagine the damage he could do if he had been trained to administer beatings.

If anyone else has information about what Paco is doing these days, let me know.