RIP Joe Zawinul

http://news.aol.com/entertainment/music/story/ar/_a/jazz-keyboard-great-zawinul-dies-at-75/20070911065009990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

A few weeks ago on a drum forum I frequent I'd read that he'd been hospitalized . Very sad to hear that he has left us .

One of the great pioneers of jazz fusion ...His work on Miles Davis' In A Silent Way ( he wrote the title track ) and Bitches Brew , and with his and Wayne Shorter's group Weather Report broke so much new ground . His tunes Mercy , Mercy , Mercy and Birdland classics . One of my fave albums of all time in any genre is Weather Report's Mysterious Traveller .

R.I.P. Joe .

I have an LP of Cannonball Adderley, "Country Preacher," with a foreword by Jesse Jackson. Some of the most soulful playing I've ever heard from him.

I also know his son, Anthony, who lives in Italy; also very talented, involved in managing Zawinul Syndicate.

A tragic loss for music, especially on the heels of Max Roach's passing. Almost too much to bear.

Yeah it's always sad to see the passing of the old jazz guard. RIP Joe and Max.

I guess the only good of that is he & Jaco can now play Birdland in the heavens

Does Black Market almost qualify as exotica? Cause that LP really TRANSPORTS you to the tropics

WEIRD.

Yesterday I was going through some old boxes, and I came across a 1980s back issue of Electronic Musician magazine, with Joe on the cover.

Today, I read that he died yesterday.

I was never much of a fan, but the coinicidence is striking...

Joe's music was imaginative, brilliant, intellectual, funky, and he had an amazing yet understated piano technique. He was the first guy who really mastered the analog synthesizer as an instrument of jazz orchestration. Improvisationally, he always sacrificed his chops for musicality. As a composer of electric jazz his only real peer was his bandmate Wayne Shorter.

He was a visionary. Some of the earliest (if not the earliest) jazz/world fusion hybrid music was his.

I love his quote about his band Weather Report: "We always solo, we never solo." If you've never heard them, this won't make any sense...if you have, you know exactly what he meant!

On 2007-09-12 09:28, tikibars wrote:
WEIRD.

Yesterday I was going through some old boxes, and I came across a 1980s back issue of Electronic Musician magazine, with Joe on the cover.

Today, I read that he died yesterday.

I was never much of a fan, but the coinicidence is striking...

You mean this one................

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

On 2007-09-11 18:20, sushiman wrote:
A few weeks ago on a drum forum I frequent I'd read that he'd been hospitalized . Very sad to hear that he has left us .

One of the great pioneers of jazz fusion ...His work on Miles Davis' In A Silent Way (he wrote the title track) and Bitches Brew , and with his and Wayne Shorter's group Weather Report broke so much new ground . His tunes Mercy , Mercy , Mercy and Birdland classics . One of my fave albums of all time in any genre is Weather Report's Mysterious Traveller.

R.I.P. Joe .

Gosh... we've lost some of musics most loved sons just recently. 1st Michael Brecker, then Max Roach, now Joe Zawinal.

Was at my friends house last week (Brian Bromberg) when he was doing some tracking with Alex Acuna. Alex told me about Joe being sick and I thought to myself......"oh no.... not another one".

But I guess that's the case. The guys that I've always been comfortable knowing were going to be around for a while are getting older now. It seems just like yesterday when I was buying their albums and spinning them for the 1st time. Well.. all we can do now is remember all the great stuff they brought to the table and keep the spirit of this avante guard music alive by supporting it. Shamefully it's a dying venue here in the states with the status of pop music and Rap.

Some classic Weather Report with Joes, Jaco and Alex Acuna.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRsq7YZhRrg

Weather Report with Joes, Jaco and Peter Erskine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5c3H6LpLZI

Max Roach, Elvin Jones and Art Blakey drum off
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vA5dt9QT4Ms
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dNpDQztqWQw

Some burning "Skunk Funk" from the Brecker Brothers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIGsSLCoIhM

To the greats!!
John (aka JoesMechanic)
http://www.houseofdrumming.com

On 2007-09-12 19:28, Jeff Central wrote:
You mean this one................

Yup. That was the one!

I'm downsizing some of my archives. If anyone wants the mag (and a few other issues of EM and Keyboard from that era), PM me...

sigh Those guys were pure genius. Every time one of the true greats moves on it never fails to remind me how good the music once WAS compared to today's drivel. Excuse me while I go put on Black Market and play it really fuckin loud.

I share all the sentiments expressed above. Yes, I have always considered weather report to be exotic-not exotica, because that is a certain sound, look, and feel, and there is always a sense of whimsy and playfulness about it-weather report was deadly serious. The look of Joe Zawinul was like that of Miles Davis-tough, a boxer. Determined and focused, and intense. And that is reflected in the spiritual yet martial music Joe Zawinul created. I came from a prog rock background, until the first time I heard weather report. I then realized that this is what Fripp and other like him were trying to do themselves. I still like prog rock, but it does not come close to the fusion sound of weather report and others of that era, like Return to forever, mahavishnu orchestra and the like.

Zawinul brought a quality to his playing, and use of keyboards that was adventurous and creative beyond what is normal. People often look at Wakeman, Emerson and Jan Hammer as the kings of keyboard, but in my opinion Zawinul led the pack. He was his own orchestra!

Was hanging with Steve Haas (the drummer) last night at Spazios and he was saying that Simon Phillips is in the hospital now. I guess he's got a rare form of cholidis that I guess is getting really bad now. I'm not posting this to jinx him being "the next guy", but...if anybody loves this guys playing then maybe pop by his website and drop him a message of support.

You mean COLITIS .

Yeah... thats it. Wasn't sure how it was spelt.

I'm a mechanic for a living for a reason. It's so my name is embroidered on my shirt so I can remember the spelling. lol!!!

No problem mate . You just had me sitting here scratching my head wondering what the hell "cholidis" was ! Hehe...