Same (1971)

Tracks:

01. Kwaeli
02. Sunrise
03. Spanish Sun
04. Sunshine
05. Sunbirds
06. Blues For D.S.

Line-Up:

Ferdinand Povel (flutes)
Philip Catherine (guitar)
Fritz Pauer (electric piano, organ)
Jimmy Woode (basses)
Klaus Weiss (drums, cymbals)
+ Juan Romero (percussion)

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Zagara (1972)

Tracks:

01. My Dear Groovin'
02. I Don't Need
03. African Sun
04. Fire Dance
05. Homecoming
06. Ocean Song
07. Still Pointing
08. Zagara

Line-Up:

Ferdinand Povel (flutes)
Fritz Pauer (electric piano, organ)
Jimmy Woode (basses)
Klaus Weiss (drums)
Rafael Weber (guitar)
Ron Carter (bass)
Lucas Costa (guitar)
Leszek Zadlo (flute)
Norman Tolbert (conga)

According to the official "Klaus Weiss" discography, Sunbirds were actually the Klaus Weiss Quintet. However, we tend to think of them as one of the many international Munich based Krautrock fusion bands, and one that amounted to a veritable supergroup. Obviously the marketing people at BASF thought so too!

On their debut SUNBIRDS they made a dreamy, yet powerful fusion with an abundance of solos, extensively featuring Belgian guitarist "Philip Catherine", and smooth jazz keys from "Fritz Pauer", feeling like a spacey Embryo cum Miles Davis. It's one of the great timeless fusion albums of the era that really gets the balance right, even when some of the tunes are so catchy that they linger in the mind long after.

Recorded a year later, the much more obscure ZAGARA is one of those sought after obscurities that doesn't really deliver the goods, although it does contain some excellent tracks. The album, in fact, seems to be by two completely different bands, those tracks in tune with the original album by: Povel, Pauer, Woode and Weiss (with Rafael Weber on guitar), and softer almost schmaltzy numbers by the band Klaus recorded some library LP's with: Carter, Costa and Zadlo. Norman Tolbert would seem to be a guest.