‘Austrian Syndicate’… the phrase immediately brings to mind the best-known and most influential of all Austrians in jazz, Joe Zawinul. And yet David Helbock’s project is much more than just a homage to his compatriot. It is a return to the roots of fusion jazz and how things developed from then on. It is also a new direction stylistically for Helbock, who has harnessed a panoply of inspiration with a refreshing openness to new sounds from far and wide. As Helbock himself puts it: “This is close to my heart.”

Helbock has been able to enlist the best rhythm section in Austria for the Syndicate: Raphael Preuschl on bass and bass ukulele, drummer Herbert Pirker and percussionist Claudio Spieler. The quintet also has an American in it, one for whom becoming Austrian was a matter of choice: pianist Peter Madsen. This Austrian supergroup is also a place where Helbock’s stellar international guests shine brightly: Maria João, Fred Wesley, Dhafer Youssef, Alex Acuña and Lakecia Benjamin.

All are global stars, giving the album both international glamour and the colourful exoticism: the great voice of Maria João from Portugal, Peruvian percussionist Alex Acuña (a member of Weather Report alongside Zawinul in the late 1970s), Tunisian singer and oud virtuoso Dhafer Youssef, who is having huge success with his album, ‘Streets of Minarets’, playing to sold-out houses; funk mastermind and James Brown acolyte Fred Wesley; and saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, one of the brightest sparks in the American jazz sky right now.

This band has a way of communicating energy, surprise, variety and – perhaps above all – fun. Helbock has a way of finding all kinds of outlandish sounds from his synthesisers and keyboard pads and uses them to kick up sudden thunderstorms. But we also hear subtle jazz improvisation, irrepressible interplay, funk and Latin rhythms, and no shortage of Afro-Caribbean flair.

David Helbock’s ‘Austrian Syndicate’ welcomes the world into boundless fusion jazz with irresistible grooves. ‘Austrian Syndicate’ might prove to be one of the feelgood / feel great albums of the year.