Joe Zawinul
CONCERTO RETITLED

BEFORE WEATHER REPORT, THERE'S ANOTHER ZAWINUL

Surprise: in 1976, Weather Report is at the peak of success with their boisterous jazz-rock offering, and right in that year - solo, against the current and the then-dominant fusion sounds - comes out this album by one of the two founding fathers of the group, the other being Wayne Shorter. The (commercial) play of the producer becomes clear upon reading the album notes: with Weather Report under contract with Columbia, Atlantic capitalizes on the leader's success by assembling some pieces already released a few years earlier (1966-1971) under its own label or the Vortex subsidiary. Be that as it may, CONCERTO RETITLED is a very interesting album and - above all - a very pleasant listen.

For those who do not know him, Joe Zawinul in his pre-weathereportian version reveals himself as a versatile and varied pianist, capable of moving from an impressionistic touch ala Bill Evans («My One And Only Love»; «Sharon’s Waltz») to the somewhat acrobatic virtuosity of Oscar Peterson («Del Sasser»); from the mainstream soul-jazz of «Riverbed» to the vaguely Chopin-like romanticism of the title track, as well as, of course, the electric openings with «His Last Journey» and the seminal «In A Silent Way» that closes the album. Meanwhile, it opens with the neo-classical gem «From Vienna With Love», delicate and captivating: the author is Friedrich Gulda, another Austrian, with an eclectic artistic path, between jazz and classical music.

Therefore, a varied and heterogeneous album that still deserves its place in every enthusiast's discography. Everything in order regarding technical information and supporting musicians, while the cover design is rather anonymous. The photo on the back - taken from the Zawinul album, 1971 - is a curious and somewhat ghostly image of good Joe without his iconic head-covering hat, which indeed doesn’t do justice to his then-forty years, but it hardly matters!