The Zawinul Syndicate Live In Hamburg, Germany (1996)

The Zawinul Syndicate was the main continuator of the legendary American jazz fusion band Weather Report fronted by the one and only fantastic and innovative Austrian-born keyboardist and bandleader Josef ‘Joe’ Erich Zawinul from 1970 up until 1986. After a short-lived spin-off project which was represented by Weather Update in 1986, Joe Zawinul continued the great musical legacy of the jazz fusion genre which he had co-pioneered with Weather Report along several other legendary names of the genre during the early 1970s (such as Mahavishnu Orchestra, led by the great John McLaughlin, Return to Forever, fronted by Chick Corea, The Headhunters, fronted by Herbie Hancock, or The Crusaders) in 1988 with The Zawinul Syndicate.

Just like with Weather Report, Zawinul continued to tour internationally with his second band project, The Zawinul Syndicate. He did so during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s as well, leaving behind a series of great live performances which had been recorded. One such amazing live performance is the following one which represents a concert of The Syndicate from 1996 at the then annual anniversary of the Hamburg Jazz Festival in Hamburg, Germany. The title of the concert is ‘My People‘ bearing reference to his namesake solo studio album released during 1996. Most of the songs performed live at this edition of the Hamburg Jazz Festival are indeed from the aforementioned album with additional exceptions from Di•a•lects (1986) and other solo studio albums by Zawinul.

The line-up of the band was the following one:

• Josef ‘Joe’ Erich Zawinul – keyboards;
• Amit Chatterjee – guitar and vocals;
• Richard Bona – electric bass guitar;
• Mokhtar Samba – drums;
• Abdou Mboup – percussion.

The complete setlist of the concert was the following one (courtesy of Samuel Crispim, Youtube user in the comments’ section of the video):

• Introduction To A Mighty Theme;
• Amit solo;
• Waraya;
• Lost Tribes;
• Dina Lam;
• Indiscretions;
• Mi Gente;
• Three Postcards;
• Percussion solo by Abdou;
• Bimoya;
• You Want Some Tea, Grandpa?;
• Carnavalito.

Therefore, that being said and without any further needles ado, here’s the entire concert. Enjoy and all the best!

Documentation source:

• Youtube video description