RIP Joe Zawinul

[cryptique]

obit

 

I know him mostly for his work with Cannonball Adderley.

 

Jazz fusion pioneer Joe Zawinul dies at 75

 

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Jazz legend Joe Zawinul, who soared to fame as one of the creators of jazz fusion and performed and recorded with Miles Davis, died early Tuesday, a hospital official said. He was 75.

 

Zawinul had been hospitalized since last month. A spokeswoman for Vienna's Wilhelmina Clinic confirmed his death without giving details. His manager, Risa Zincke, said Zawinul suffered from a rare form of skin cancer, according to the Austria Press Agency.

 

Zawinul won widespread acclaim for his keyboard work on chart-topping Davis albums such as "In A Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew," and was a leading force behind the so-called "Electric Jazz" movement.

 

In 1970, Zawinul founded the band Weather Report and produced a series of albums including "Heavy Weather," "Black Market" and "I Sing the Body Electric." After that band's breakup, he founded the Zawinul Syndicate in 1987.

 

Zawinul, who was born in the Austrian capital, Vienna, and emigrated to the United States in 1959, is credited with bringing the electric piano and synthesizer into the jazz mainstream.

 

This past spring, he toured Europe to mark the 20th anniversary of the Zawinul Syndicate. He sought medical attention when the tour ended, the Viennese Hospital Association said in a statement last month.

 

Austrian President Heinz Fischer said Zawinul's death meant the loss of a "music ambassador" who was known and cherished around the world. "As a person and through his music, Joe Zawinul will remain unforgettable for us all," Fischer said in a statement.

 

Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer praised Zawinul's "unpretentious way of dealing with listeners" and said he wasn't "blinded by superficialities."

 

"Wherever he performed, he impressed with his playing," Gusenbauer said in a statement.

 

Zawinul's son, Erich, said his father would not be forgotten. "He lives on," Erich Zawinul was quoted as saying by APA.

 

Zawinul played with Maynard Ferguson and Dinah Washington before joining alto saxophonist great Cannonball Adderley in 1961 for nine years, according to a biography on his Web site. With Adderley, Zawinul wrote several important songs, among them the slow and funky hit "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy."

 

Zawinul then moved on to a brief collaboration with Miles Davis, at the time Davis was moving into the electric arena. It was Zawinul's tune "In a Silent Way" that served as the title track of Davis' first electric foray.

 

Funeral plans were not immediately released, but Vienna Mayor Michael Haeupl told reporters he would be given an honorary grave in the capital.

[So Long]

I couldn't believe it when my uncle sent me an e-mail about this.

 

His music changed the face of jazz.

 

With Miles, Jaco, and Zawinul all passed away, I hope there's a heaven: imagine the jam sessions.

[Vacant Horizon]

had a huge 70s fusion stage in the mid 90s. Joe was one of the greats. Birdland actually came up on my ipod yesterday. RIP..

[LouieB]

Glad this was posted. While he did record with Miles, (he also recorded extensively with Cannonball Adderly I believe), his work with Weather Report is the greatest part of his legacy. Some day when fusion is again considered important, he will get his due I suppose.

 

LouieB

[mountain bed]

Glad this was posted. While he did record with Miles, (he also recorded extensively with Cannonball Adderly I believe), his work with Weather Report is the greatest part of his legacy. Some day when fusion is again considered important, he will get his due I suppose.

 

LouieB

I've never understood some people's aversion to fusion. What is it, when somebody has such chops they can play stuff that you'll never be able to play in a million years does it piss you off? (no, not you Lou)

 

I was weaned on Bitches Brew & Weather Report. Joe Z. was one of the great great musicians of my lifetime, and I know I'll miss him alot.

[LouieB]

I've never understood some people's aversion to fusion. What is it, when somebody has such chops they can play stuff that you'll never be able to play in a million years does it piss you off? (no, not you Lou)

 

I was weaned on Bitches Brew & Weather Report. Joe Z. was one of the great great musicians of my lifetime, and I know I'll miss him alot.

To this day, fusion is like disco to people, a bastardization of music and an impure genre. Okay so maybe disco is a bad analogy. I saw Herbie Hancock a week or so ago with a friend who is a jazz pianist and Herbie played a bit of everything he has ever done and my friend was a bit put off. All these years later, people are still pissed off at .... (fill in the blank) for going electric. This is the same for fusion. All those musicians who created this type of music were once accoustic musicians that plugged in. People like Herbie and Wayne Shorter are fine to them when they play "real" jazz, but turn the electricity and they begin to freak out.

 

I don't believe fusion will ever get its props, but those that created it (Miles, Herbie, Chick, Wayne, John McLaughlin, Joe Z., Jaco, Keith Jarrett, etc. etc.) don't get any recogniztion for it most of the time. Sun Ra only gets some because he was there very early and was so weird at the time that it is hard to dis him, but even he isn't really accepted as playing "jazz". But hey, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, was a big hit single (later covered by the Buckinghams I think, with words...) so even that doesn't get any props.

 

LouieB

[cryptique]

My problems with fusion have nothing to do with "purity." I just don't like it. Is that OK?

 

This thread probably isn't the place for this discussion, though. Zawinul did plenty of great work that wasn't fusion. Let people remember him for whatever part of his catalog they most appreciate. For me, it's the Adderley years.