I first came across Joe Zawinul in my teens when a friend lent me a Weather Report album, and certainly wasn't aware of his pedigree in the jazz world, and I doubt I'd have been impressed if I had. But his previous work with Cannonball Adderley, and more famously with Miles Davis meant that Weather Report was a real jazz 'supergroup'.
This is a recent online purchase for a couple of quid. I'm generally dubious about live albums, so my expectations aren't high, but I was comfortable risking it to sample some of Zawinul's later work with his own band.
But, without going through it track by track, it's disappointing. It's not bad, and it's pleasant background, but no more than that. There are some quite funky jazz numbers, (Patriots, Bimoya), slower numbers (Sunday Morning/Sunday Evening, Indiscretions), but little that's exciting, interspersed with some Afro-Caribbean singing (Asi Trabajamos).
On CD2, Slivovitz Trail is interesting, if a bit long, and I'm not sure if the piano is in tune for the solo piece, When There Was Royalty. Success is a soothing piece, as church bells fade into a drone with a spoken piece overlain, while there's a frantic finale in Carnivalito.
But like many live albums, any excitement at the live performance is completely lost in the recording, and none of the pieces are strong enough that they leave an impression.
2* - a disappointing live album. Listenable, but dull.
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