Search - Joe Zawinul :: Dialects

Zawinul says: Best album he ever made

M. Detko | Scarborough, Ontario Canada | 09/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was reading an interview with the Master, and he says this is the best album he ever made. Hm. I've had this ever since it came out and it's pretty cool. I was interested because it was kind of the first project after Weather Report ended. It is a fast-moving album full of Zawinul's speedy playing and melodic, lyrical and sophisticated music. None of Joe's albums has ever disappointed. I think you can hear a bit of this direction on the WR albums that came after Jaco Pastorius left. Some of the music is very dense, in that there is a lot going on. Every tune contains examples of the man's enormous virtuosity and genius. I think there's some piano here and there, but there's a lot of synths and some vocals, many-voice choruses plus Bobby McFerrin (ok I just tolerate him for the most part). The mood to me is evocative of tropical places."

Great solo album

Harold Smith | USA | 12/04/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is Zawinul's solo album; he wrote everything and plays all the instruments. He also gets some assistance from Bobby Mcferrin and a handful of other singers on a few tracks. The liner notes title states, "Music for Solo Synthesizers and Voices". The singers, however stay in the background being part of the whole texture.



I felt unsure about ordering the CD because I was used to him being surrounded by other geniuses; after a few listens I feel this work is at the level of the best Weather Report. The music is all about rythmic texture, loops, grooves, world music and african rythms; it all flows incredibly well and doesn't sound mechanical at all as some people might expect from an all-synth music.



The keyboard work is tremendous. Lest we forget, Zawinul has won the "best keyboardist" in Down Beat 28 times. His biography states that he "...is one of a bare handful of synthesizer players who actually learned how to play the instrument, to make it an expressive, swinging part of his arsenal." This album is the finest example of his mastery.

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