September 13, 2007
Joe Zawinul 1932-2007
One of the giants of Jazz Fusion has passed away. Joe was a great keyboardist, composer and bandleader. I received countless hours of pleasure and inspiration from his music as millions of others did too. Thanks Joe. RIP
-
Didn't know that he was with Cannonball. Rest easy, Joe.
-
Birdland was his biggest hit though Mercy, Mercy, Mercy runs a close second. That's the tip of the iceberg though. I have a personal fondness for Jungle Book and Orange Lady. So many great tunes.
-
I ran across Joe in my 20's, when I was becoming a jazz fan. I seem to remember that liner notes usually called him Joseph. Could be wrong.
-
Great talent. Love the stuff with Cannonball, love the stuff with Miles. (Don't know the Weather Report stuff all that well, or the stuff where he was bandleader.) Thanks for the great sounds, Mr. Z.
-
Saw this in the LA Times today. I remember at 17 opening my older brother's Playboy magazine and seeing that Weather Report was going to play at the very first LA Playboy Jazz festival. I got my mom to agree to let me use her Visa card and ordered four tickets. It was the very first concert that I went to and it was fantastic. We saw Weather Report, Chick Corea, Willie Bobo, Herbie Hancock and a bunch of others. An amazing day.
-
Wow, squidranch. You're fortunate to have been there. The campus station at my school eschewed disco in favor of alt-rock, jazz and fusion and my mind was repeatedly blown by the new records coming in from Corea, Hancock, Milton Nascimento, Jean-Luc Ponty etc. Weather Report more than anyone else completely altered my perception of jazz, the way Talking Heads altered my perception of rock. I loved "Heavy Weather" and "Mr. Gone" most of all. The good music kinda balanced the hideous interior design. Thanks, Joe. Now I think I'll go spin some vinyl.
-
Saw Joe a long time ago with a young phenom bass player whose name escapes me at the moment. He was very generous and ran a good show, it was great to see.