Joe Zawinul and Syndicate

Trained at the Vienna Conservatoire, pianist Joe Zawinul was a catalysing figure in Austrian jazz fusion, drawing together some of the biggest personalities in postwar jazz for series of electrifying, freewheeling large-scale projects. This 1989 Munich set from Zawinul's then-new Syndicate lives up to the group's name, with a line-up that includes Scott Henderson (guitar and vocals), Bill Summers (percussion) and vocalist Leata Galloway. Powerful talents in their own right, they're audibly inspired by their colleagues' personalities and musicianship – each giving their all to a programme that ranges from Thelonious Monk to something altogether more Latin.