Customer Reviews

Dialects

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album DROVE ME NUTS when I first listened to it on
headphones!It's loud,synth-drenched world beat music with little to know funk,pop or jazz elements and DON'T let anyone fool you
into thinking it's anything otherwise.Even the SLOW songs punch you out."The Harvest" and "Zeebop" are very rousing numbers but
this will be an aquired taste,even if it is a extremely well
played and performed album by a specacular musician.Check it out
and see what YOU think!

Joe Zawinul's self expression of 'dialects of the world' are truly dealt from his personal travels. Almost a solo album Joe expands on his unique rhythms and melodies with the vocal crew from 'Sportin' Life'. Bobby McFerrin's improv's are some of the best of his career. Almost as good as on Andreas'-Cosmopoly. The only thing keeping this effort from getting 5 stars is the very dated sounding drum programming(Dialects was first released in 1986). Joe could have made this as good as 'My People' with the help of a Peter Erskine, Omar Hakim orTrilok Gurtu. Each song, with lots of vocals and no lyrics, weaves the tale of the emotions each people must have experienced in each scenario. Highly recommended.

Tight, vivid, energizing fusion of world sounds. The pace is alternately frenetic and contemplative, and the prevailing mood is one of joy. Worth checking out if you like fusion or synth-laced alternative rock.

This is truly a solo project, as Joe Zawinul produced the soundscapes for the seven numbers in his home studio with the only additional artists being several vocalists, including Bobby McFerrin.

The world music is driven by synthesizers and rhythm-machine tracks, but have an organic quality and oftentimes swing with style. Zeebop simply cooks, while Carnavalito is a celebration of sound and Peace is a worthy culmination of the intriguing classy vision presented by Zawinul.

The 1986 release came out several months before the final Weather Report album, This is This!, and is a better representation of the concepts that were shaping Zawinul's vision. Change was in the air and this weather included sunshine from the soul.

This is Zawinul's solo album; he wrote everything and plays all the instruments. He also gets some assistance from Bobby Mcferrin and a handful of other singers on a few tracks. The liner notes title states, "Music for Solo Synthesizers and Voices". The singers, however stay in the background being part of the whole texture.

I felt unsure about ordering the CD because I was used to him being surrounded by other geniuses; after a few listens I feel this work is at the level of the best Weather Report. The music is all about rythmic texture, loops, grooves, world music and african rythms; it all flows incredibly well and doesn't sound mechanical at all as some people might expect from an all-synth music.

The keyboard work is tremendous. Lest we forget, Zawinul has won the "best keyboardist" in Down Beat 28 times. His biography states that he "...is one of a bare handful of synthesizer players who actually learned how to play the instrument, to make it an expressive, swinging part of his arsenal." This album is the finest example of his mastery.