Scott Kinsey / Luniwaz - Live: The Music Of Joe Zawinul

Scott Kinsey’s connection to the music of Joe Zawinul and Weather Report is undeniable and hardly new to even casual partakers of the keyboardist’s work. As Kinsey explains, the pull was there from the beginning: “Joe was an innovative improviser, composer, and conceptualist but for me, especially so as the first jazz synthesist I had ever encountered. His electric keyboard work was showing us the future, note by note.”

But even if Kinsey garnered Zawinul comparisons, listeners weren’t listening closely if that’s all they heard in his work. In an admirable career, Kinsey has long demonstrated he is no mere Joe Z clone. Still, such a game-changing heavy’s influence can be a gravity not easily escaped. So it’s not without irony that Kinsey made greater strides toward that end with 2019’s We Speak Luniwaz: The Music of Joe Zawinul. In commandeering his mentor’s material, Kinsey’s individuality became even more apparent, while reaffirming that he is among the few capable of furthering the Zawinul ethos, comparisons be damned.

But why another Zawinul / Weather Report-focused album? Why Luniwaz LIVE? “Because we love it!” Kinsey enthuses. “Also, one must never forget who came before them or be ashamed to admit what it meant to them. We tip the hat to Joe hoping to remind people of his importance as one of the great heroes of jazz and all music.”

But Luniwaz LIVE is more than a “hat tip.” The album takes the success of WSL and adds another essential from the Zawinul legacy the music manifested as a living and personalized entity. “Focusing on Joe’s highly improvisational approach on Weather Report’s Night Passage album was key in keeping our personality solidly at the core,” Kinsey explains. “That’s where we’re coming from and, from my perspective, this band took on its own identity every night from note one.”

For accomplices, Kinsey chose his ace rhythm section from WSL bassist Hadrien Feraud and drummer Gergo Borlai and a bold newcomer named Patrick Bartley Jr. on alto saxophone. Kinsey speaks of his group: Gergo and Hadrien are one of the finest, most in-demand rhythm sections playing today. They also have a deep understanding of this music since they both grew up with it Gergo since he was just five! Patrick is a brilliant improviser who has a deep knowledge and love of straight-ahead jazz but is just as into Japanese video game music. He’s what it means to be a musician in 2023 taking everything you like and allowing it all to unabashedly flow out.”

Kinsey augments the core band with guests Meredith Salimbeni (vocals), Pedro Martins (guitar) and Bobby Thomas Jr. (percussion) on two tracks each. According to Kinsey, “Meredith came to this music recently but she’s such a great musician and contributes important melodic ideas. Pedro has a deep love and knowledge of all things Zawinul and plays some remarkable stuff on the two studio tracks. Bobby was a member of both the Zawinul Syndicate and Weather Report, and his additions are wonderful too.” Most palpable on Luniwaz LIVE (recorded at Jazz Dock in Prague) is that, even for a group of A-listers, this was an especially happening gig. Bartley elaborates:

“Jazz Dock was special. Playing in that unique, intimate space let us really connect with the audience. Also, by this point of the tour, we knew the music and each other so well that things started popping off unexpectedly and organically. I was even having kind of a rough day, but the music that night pulled me up and lifted me out. It says a lot about the power of that gig."

Unbelievably, some might still think that Kinsey has somehow chosen an easy path playing this material but interpreting what Zawinul did requires abilities beyond most musicians. Honoring it with originality and fire requires something extraordinary. Scott Kinsey’s group did that nightly, but the fire was especially hot one night in Prague and we are fortunate it’s been captured on Luniwaz LIVE!

- Mike Jacobs (Journalist and Contributor to All About Jazz)