Some visitors to my website have noted that Amazon describes In A Silent Way as softcover, and have wondered how they can obtain the hardback version. I asked a contact at Sanctuary Publishing, and I was told: “Joe Zawinul is only available in hardcover. I will check the details on Amazon, but please tell people that there is no softcover available at present.”

Denmark photographer and Zawinul fan Finn Manford sent me some photographs of a 1986 Weather Update concert he attended. Those photos inspired me to dig into my archives and write a brief article about Weather Update, the short-lived band Zawinul formed between Weather Report and the Zawinul Syndicate. Click the link below to view the photos and read the article:

Weather Update—Zawinul in Transition

Details continue to leak out regarding Joe Zawinul’s concert plans. As of now Zawinul will have two European tours, one this spring and summer, and another one in the fall. At this time there are no plans for North America.

In terms of specific concerts, in addition to the March 31 Cape Town and April 24 MDR concerts previously reported, we know that Zawinul is scheduled to perform with Maria João in Portugal on June 29, at the Coliseu do Porto. (The concert is billed as “Maria João and the Joe Zawinul Quartet”.) And Peter Basler, one of Zawinul’s European booking agents, reported on the Zawinul Fans Mailing List that Zawinul will perform in Cork, Ireland on October 27.

As metioned in a previous item, Etienne M’Bappe will take over the electric bass duties. What of Victor Bailey? Victor is touring Europe this summer with his own group. A friend at az-iz tells me that “Victor is still with the Syndicate. He will juggle between His own band and the Syndicate. As of now the plan is this summer he will be with his band and then in the fall with the Syndicate.” However, Peter Basler indicates that Bailey is not part of the fall plans. So I guess we’ll just have to see…

Certainly no page on this web site has generated as much traffic in such a short period of time as Ken Burns’ JAZZ—The Fusion Transcripts, a collection of interview excerpts in which the JAZZ talking heads speak about fusion in general and Weather Report in particular. Among other things, jazz author and critic Gary Giddins is asked if the Weather Report tune ‘Birdland’ is jazz, to which he responds: “The question about whether ‘Birdland’ is jazz should be changed to, ‘Is it music?'” Needless to say, he thinks not.

In an interesting bit of irony, I recently discovered that Giddins reviewed Weather Report’s second album, I Sing The Body Electric, for Down Beat magazine back in 1972. He gave it a rating of four stars (out of five). Among his comments:

“This isn’t a jazz record but a collection of mood or program pieces, tone drawings to which the listener is expected to provide the captions if not fulsome exigeses… The music is brilliantly played. There are several beautiful and haunting strains; the group interaction is often very exciting, and the use of various sound qualities is inspired. But—something visceral is missing. The music is too cold and metallic, as though much of the substance were tinsel… Despite my mixed feelings, there is no question that Weather Report is into something new and stimulating. I hope that these artists will pass out of what seems to be a gee-whiz attitude to the possibilities of electricity and settle into some more substantial cooking. In any case, I look forward to the next installment eagerly.”

The Zawinul Syndicate official web site lists two concerts for 2001. The first is a Syndicate performance at the African Harvest North Sea Jazz Festival—Cape Town on March 31 in Cape Town, South Africa. According to EMMECI, the line-up for this year’s Syndicate will consist of Zawinul; Maria Joao, vocals; Amit Chatterjee, guitar and vocals; Etienne M’Bappe, electric bass; Manolo Badrena, percussion and vocals; and Nathaniel Townsley, drums.

The second concert is a Zawinul performance with Germany’s MDR Orchestra. If I’m interpretting MDR’s web site correctly, Zawinul and the orchestra will perform Leonard Bernstein’s 1944 ballet suite ‘Fancy Free’, as well as Zawinul’s own seven-part ‘Stories of the Danube’. Guest musicians will include Manolo Badrena, Burhan Öçal, and Paco Sery.

Meanwhile, Victor Bailey, the Syndicate’s most recent bass player, will tour with his own group this summer. According to EMMECI the group will consist of Bailey, Bennie Maupin on sax, Jim Beard on keyboards, Dean Brown on guitar, and a drummer yet to be named.

This week I watched the final episode of JAZZ, the Ken Burns documentary. I was aware that the Weather Report tune ‘Birdland’ is included in the companion CD set. I was also aware that Burns had squashed the last forty years of jazz into the final episode. So I was curious to get his take on the past four decades, wondering if Weather Report would receive at least a passing nod as a noteworthy development in the music. But as those of you who watched know, there was no mention of Weather Report, and little mention of fusion beyond Miles Davis’ supposed sell-out in recording Bitches Brew. In fact, the thing that sticks in my mind is Branford Marsalis’ summation of jazz in the seventies: “Jazz just kind of died. It just kind of went away for a while.”

Nevertheless, thanks to the online transcripts of Burns’ interviews at the PBS web site, we can read what Wynton, Giddins and the rest of the gang had to say about Weather Report in particular, and fusion in general. If you’re interested in how they shaped Burns’ view of the seventies, check out Zawinul Online’s Ken Burns’ JAZZ—The Fusion Transcripts.

Former Syndicate bass player Matthew Garrison has gotten some good write-ups recently, coming on the heals of his excellent debut album. The current issue of Bass Player magazine contains an interview with Garrison, with some references to his tenure with Zawinul. And Innerviews has a nice online interview with Garrison.

I am holding in my hands a copy of Brian Glasser’s Zawinul biography, In A Silent Way. It should be released for retail sale next month. According to the book’s introduction, the idea for In A Silent Way came about sponteneously during one of many interviews Glasser conducted with Zawinul. Originally conceived of as a ghosted autobiography, production plans were put into place only to have Zawinul’s schedule become so hectic that Glasser pushed forward on his own.

I haven’t had a chance to do much more than skim bits and pieces, but it is evident that Glasser did his homework. The bibliography includes several personal interviews with Zawinul, as well as virtually everyone he has worked with that is still alive—more than 70 individuals in all.

More after I’ve had a chance to read it from beginning to end.