Zawinul Online

Former Syndicate bassplayer Richard Bona’s new album, Reverence, is due out on Columbia Records on September 18. Meanwhile, Bona has become a member of the Pat Metheny Group. Not on bass—Metheny still has Steve Rodby on acoustic bass—but as a vocalist and percussionist. Read about it at the Pat Metheny Group web site.

Victor Bailey also has a new album out on ESC records. Called That’s Right, it is due for U.S. release on September 21. More info can be found at the ESC web site.

Marco Piretti has posted his interview with Joe Zawinul conducted during the Zawinul Syndicate’s summer tour. He also has recent interviews with Victor Bailey, Alex Acuna and Alphonso Johnson.

Joe Zawinul Unofficial Italian Fan Site

With August here, the Zawinul Syndicate has concluded its summer European tour. My friend Finn Manford (see our Weather Update page) caught the July 20 Syndicate concert in Denmark and reports, “I can tell you that it’s the best Syndicate band I have heard in many years. Their new bass player, Etienne M’Bappe, is incredible. I have never heard anything like him. And Amit Chatterjee did some exellent singing and played some very delicate guitar solos. Zawinul himself was like a 25 year old. He was in peak form, smiling his famous smile all the time, conducting his players, and talking to the audience without a mike. The first set was totally new material, and that sounds promising for the new CD.”

We are told that Zawinul will be recording a new album this fall. No United States concert dates are planned, and it is doubtful the Syndicate will play in the U.S. this year.