So compared to last Tuesday I did not like the start of "In A Silent Way", and "Brown Street". (Still great, no misunderstandings please, but on Tuesday it was perfect. On the other hand: "Badia / Boogie Woogie Waltz" this time was perfect. I mean PERFECT, even compared to the Weather Report version on 8:30!!!
I do hope THIS version will make it onto the upcoming CD.
This time they played for almost three hours!
Big Fun: Zawinul demanding solos from unsuspecting musicians (The did not anticipate he would gesture for a second trombone solo while the first was still in progress.) Or Joe telling Shigihara he would have to start Carnavalito. ("Away with the charts!!") And then Paul and Alex improvising along and Joe definitely NOT willing to start the full song for a long time, even when Paul started to comp for a second or two twice with the typical guitar figure.
BTW: Shigihara San played a great solo on top of B Flat Waltz. Simple, powerful and SLOW. And when he thought he was done with it Zawinul with a gesture literally pulled him back up from his seat for some more, a quick and slow duet interplay with the Joe. Absolutely awesome. In fact I got goosebumps on a few occasions this night. This was one of them.
Another one was "A Remark You Made". No Piano intro this time. But this beautiful melody by a masterfully played sax and bass.
This night they had the camera following a lot of Zawinuls work, projecting it on the wall overhead. (or maybe I could not see it that well last time because I was too near to the stage.) So you could see that he was working his ass off, or his fingers. Great fast solos, space where needed and using his four keyboards to full effect. Indeed there was a moment during "D Flat Waltz" when the Big Band was sounding so perfectly in sync and powerful that I needed a few seconds to realize why they were all holding their instruments very relaxed and watching Joe: He was playing it alone for a time.
Overall it was even better than last Tuesday. It is not possible to compare it to a Syndicate concert. But if I had to choose I`d go for this Band. Even if you do not care for a Big Band, there was still a lot of Weather Report (Bailey, Acuna!!!!) and Syndicate (Townsley in great form).
A few days ago Joe said " with a broad grin at the end of a song: "A few As in there" (where they evidently did not belong).
Last night he said: "These have been the best 8 days for a very long time."
No doubt about that.
Did I hear the best band in the world last night?
No doubt about that.
Gerhard Hauer
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