The Zawinul Syndicate — North Sea Jazz Festival, The Hague, 1997

Full concert by The Zawinul Syndicate at the North Sea Jazz Festival 1997, filmed in The Hague, Netherlands, on 13 July 1997 on the Statenhal stage. Led by Austrian keyboardist and composer Joe Zawinul, co-founder of Weather Report, the Zawinul Syndicate carried his vision of a jazz fusion rooted in African, Latin and electronic rhythms into the 1990s. For this period the band assembled a remarkable line-up: rising Cameroonian bassist Richard Bona, guitarist Gary Poulson, Puerto Rican percussionist Manolo Badrena and Senegalese drummer Paco Séry, all built around Zawinul’s banks of keyboards and synthesizers. This live concert captures the group’s polyrhythmic energy, moving between world grooves, open improvisation and Zawinul’s signature electronic textures. The set features Waraya, Patriots, Eyala, Indiscretions, My People and Carnavalito. A valuable full concert for hearing the Zawinul Syndicate at its peak, with a young Richard Bona in full flight. This filmed live performance documents one of the great fusion ensembles to grace the Dutch festival’s stage in the late 1990s.