If one must indulge in categories, My People, featuring the Zawinul Syndicate and a United Nations coterie of guests, probably belongs on the vast world music shelf, the links to so-called jazz now so tenuous as to be nearly, but not quite, invisible.
On the percolating "Slivovitz Trail," "Orient Express," "Many Churches," and the Caribbean-tinged cleverly titled "In an Island Way," the music does suggest earlier versions of the Syndicate, and Joe Zawinul's nostalgic evocations of Wayne Shorter on the Korg Pepe reach back even further.
Otherwise, Zawinul is looking entirely toward ethnic cultures for musical sustenance.
The musical structures are linear, the rhythms full of intricacies welded to Zawinul's love affair with the groove, the synthesizer textures usually sparer than ever.
There are vocals in several languages by Zawinul's longtime colleague Salif Keita (for whom Zawinul produced a great album in 1991), Syndicate percussionist Arto Tuncboyaciyan, a throat vocal specialist from South Siberia named Bolot, Thania Sanchez, Zawinul himself, and several others.
When translated, the lyrics speak of joy and unity among the cultures, and there isn't any doubt that Zawinul's bubbling music feeds the message of uplift.
Hear it; you purists may be jiggling along in spite of yourselves.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WarayaSalif Keita | Joe Zawinul | Play | 06:03 | 13 MB | 40 MB |
| 2 | BimoyaSalif Keita, Joe Zawinul | Joe Zawinul | Play | 06:36 | 15 MB | 45 MB |
| 3 | Slivovitz TrailJoe Zawinul | Joe Zawinul | Play | 04:12 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 4 | Orient ExpressJoe Zawinul | Joe Zawinul | Play | 07:53 | 18 MB | 51 MB |
| 5 | Mi GenteHector "Rudy" Regalado, Thania Sanchez, Joe Zawinul | Joe Zawinul | Play | 06:13 | 14 MB | 39 MB |
| 6 | In an Island WayRobert Thomas, Jr., Joe Zawinul | Joe Zawinul | Play | 04:48 | 11 MB | 31 MB |
| 7 | Many ChurchesJoe Zawinul | Joe Zawinul | Play | 04:15 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 8 | Intro To A Mighty Theme | Joe Zawinul | Play | 01:52 | 4 MB | 10 MB |
| 9 | You Want Some Tea Grandpa | Joe Zawinul | Play | 03:20 | 7 MB | 15 MB |
| 10 | Ochy-Bala-Pazyryk | Joe Zawinul | Play | 02:29 | 5 MB | 11 MB |
| 11 | Erdapfee Blues | Joe Zawinul | Play | 04:53 | 11 MB | 23 MB |
| 52 mins | 120 MB | |||||
| 52 mins | 322 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philippe Abadie | Engineer |
| 2 | Alex Acuña | Guest Artist, Percussion |
| 3 | Lucho Avellaneda | Vocals (Background) |
| 4 | Joachim Becker | Executive Producer |
| 5 | Tal Bergman | Drums, Hi Hat, Percussion |
| 6 | Richard Bona | Bass, Soloist, Vocals |
| 7 | Amit Chatterjee | Guitar |
| 8 | Barron Claiborne | Photography |
| 9 | Jack Delano | Photography |
| 10 | Assitan Dembele | Vocals (Background) |
| 11 | Souleymanne Doumbia | Percussion |
| 12 | Djene Doumbouya | Vocals (Background) |
| 13 | Duke Ellington | Guest Artist, Soloist, Spoken Word, Voices |
| 14 | Paul Ericksen | Engineer |
| 15 | Matthew Garrison | Bass |
| 16 | Reinhard Grube | Vocals (Background) |
| 17 | Trilok Gurtu | Guest Artist, Percussion |
| 18 | Ted Jensen | Mastering |
| 19 | Salif Keita | Composer, Guest Artist, Soloist, Vocals |
| 20 | Osmane Kouyake | Guitar |
| 21 | Dorothea Lange | Photography |
| 22 | Russ Lee | Photography |
| 23 | Bob Malach | Sax (Tenor), Saxophone |
| 24 | Michael Philip Mossman | Piccolo Trumpet, Trombone, Trumpet |
| 25 | Mike Mossman | Guest Artist |
| 26 | Kenny OBrian | Vocals (Background) |
| 27 | Burhan Öçal | Soloist, Vocals |
| 28 | Robert Ponger | Engineer, Overdubs |
| 29 | Gary Poulson | Guitar |
| 30 | Hector "Rudy" Regalado | Composer, Percussion |
| 31 | Kevin Richard | Percussion |
| 32 | Rock Asia | Composer |
| 33 | Arthur Rothstein | Photography |
| 34 | Philipp Rottensteiner | Musician, Vocals (Background) |
| 35 | Michito Sánchez | Percussion |
| 36 | Thania Sanchez | Composer, Soloist, Vocals |
| 37 | Franz Schmuch | Vocals (Background) |
| 38 | Cheick Tidiane Seck | Keyboards |
| 39 | Christian Seitz | Engineer, Overdubs |
| 40 | Paco Sery | Drums, Kalimba, Percussion |
| 41 | Robert Thomas, Jr. | Composer |
| 42 | Traditional | Composer |
| 43 | Arto Tuncboyaciyan | Composer, Drums, Percussion, Soloist, Vocals |
| 44 | Ivan Zawinul | Drum Editing, Drum Programming, Engineer, Mixing, Producer, Programming, Vocal Arrangement |
| 45 | Joe Zawinul | Arranger, Bass, Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Keyboard Bass, Keyboards, Primary Artist, Producer, Programming, Soloist, Synthesizer, Vocals |
| 46 | Reinhard Ziegerhofer | Vocals (Background) |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |