THE ZAWINUL SYNDICATE: LOST TRIBES

The Zawinul Syndicate is definitely one of the primary representatives of World Fusion to me. Certainly, Joe's main focus at this point in time was the combination and inserted distillation of worldly sounds/instrumentation (this latter element secondarily) and Jazz. Sonically, this all makes for interesting material, sure, but for my tastes, it only occasionally hits hard.

Being from the oldschool, what makes Zawinul's Syndicate most interesting to me is their then-new renditions of old standards and Jazzings Past (before listening through this album, I listened to their lively, electric version of Monk's "Little Rootie Tootie"--I'd rather it, certainly, than anything on this album).

Coming as no surprise to me, as I already suggested above, Lost Tribes only satisfies occasionally, if not rarely. The majority of the compositions are largely static and impress most prominently in soft-loud dynamics (for that, I'd rather listen to Weezer lol). Alternatively, its true saving grace is the clear talent and ability of the musicians involved. I'm especially impressed with the drummer, Mike BAKER, as well as the auxiliary percussion elements, performed by Bill SUMMERS and Bobby THOMAS Jr.

Personally, I didn't have a whole lot of time for this album. Got in, got out. Even being just, by this rating system individually, "Good...", personal highlight tracks were T1, T4, T8 and T10.

True Rate: 2.5/5.0