Joe Zawinul dies at age 75
Keyboard master, composer, and fusion figurehead Joe Zawinul passed away today at Vienna’s Wilhelmina Clinic. He was 75 years of age. Zawinul had been hospitalized since last month, suffering from Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare form of skin cancer. His hospitalization came after a European tour in celebration of the 20th anniversary of his most recent incarnation, the band Zawinul Syndicate.
Of course, Zawinul will be best remembered by the largest number of people for his association with the group Weather Report, a band that he helped found and which was one of the most successful and artistically interesting fusion bands of the day. Weather Report raised the bar for fusion bands, because they never played down to their audience—even their signature bona fide hit tune, “Birdland” has plenty of musical texture and complexity for anyone who listens beneath the surface.
Zawinul was born in Vienna and emigrated to the United States in 1959. He played with both Maynard Ferguson and Dinah Washington. In 1961 he began working with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, an association that would last for many years. Zawinul had a funky, blues/gospel piano style that was the perfect accent to Cannonball Adderley’s blues-drenched, bop-influenced sax work. Zawinul was also a gifted composer, creating tunes such as “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” “Walk Tall, “and “Country Preacher.” In addition, Joe began to play the Fender Rhodes electric piano, becoming one of the three musicians who would define the way that jazz music was played on electric keyboards (and, soon thereafter, synthesizers)—the others being Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. As synthesizers became more viable, first as a studio instrument and then in the live setting, Zawinul quickly developed his own voice on the instruments. It sometimes seemed as if keyboard players might be rendered interchangeable by the advent of electronic instruments, as the earlier synths offered little in the ways of pressure-influenced keys or other factors that conveyed the emotions and individuality of the musician playing the instrument. Zawinul had no problem creating a synthesizer language, both in terms of the sheer sound itself and his ability to combine synth voices that had some of the warmth of a full big band or orchestra, all without trying to explicity mimic the sounds of other instruments. From his groundbreaking, atmospheric (at times approaching what became known first as ‘ambient’ and then as ‘chill’ music) work on Miles Davis’ albums In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew to his very different work through several phases of Weather Report and, finally, Zawinul Syndicate, Joe Zawinul was always a recognizable muisical voice and a forward-looking musician always interested in exploring new sounds and ideas.
Another important element of Zawinul’s music is what came to be called ‘the groove.’ Just as with the term ‘swing’ the term ‘groove’ has a special, somewhat indefinable quality that has to be heard to be appreciated. And Zawinul was always in the groove, from his funky work with Cannonball to his work with Weather Report and beyond. His last recording to be released before his death, Brown Street, is a live performance from 2005 featuring a stellar Zawinul-led group surrounded by big band arrangements and soloists to create a new approach to some of his best Weather Report and Zawinul Syndicate compositions. But the music grooved fiercely, a precondition to any Zawinul project, it would seem.
Like his former employers, Mssrs. Adderley and Davis, Joe Zawinul was never content to continue to do the same old thing. He devoted his entire life to music, and in doing so helped expand all of our sonic landscapes dramatically. If you doubt that, put on the opening section of Miles Davis’ “In a Silent Way” from the album of the same title. The title track, Zawinul’s composition, sounds like it might have been crafted on some digital DJ’s G5, its aesthetic not out of context with the concept of the chill out room. Zawinul will be missed because he contributed mightily to the music we call jazz, expanding its definition along with a handful of other pioneers, and he gave electric jazz fusion an emotional language and a human feeling that many others lacked.
Of course, Zawinul will be best remembered by the largest number of people for his association with the group Weather Report, a band that he helped found and which was one of the most successful and artistically interesting fusion bands of the day. Weather Report raised the bar for fusion bands, because they never played down to their audience—even their signature bona fide hit tune, “Birdland” has plenty of musical texture and complexity for anyone who listens beneath the surface.
Zawinul was born in Vienna and emigrated to the United States in 1959. He played with both Maynard Ferguson and Dinah Washington. In 1961 he began working with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, an association that would last for many years. Zawinul had a funky, blues/gospel piano style that was the perfect accent to Cannonball Adderley’s blues-drenched, bop-influenced sax work. Zawinul was also a gifted composer, creating tunes such as “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” “Walk Tall, “and “Country Preacher.” In addition, Joe began to play the Fender Rhodes electric piano, becoming one of the three musicians who would define the way that jazz music was played on electric keyboards (and, soon thereafter, synthesizers)—the others being Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. As synthesizers became more viable, first as a studio instrument and then in the live setting, Zawinul quickly developed his own voice on the instruments. It sometimes seemed as if keyboard players might be rendered interchangeable by the advent of electronic instruments, as the earlier synths offered little in the ways of pressure-influenced keys or other factors that conveyed the emotions and individuality of the musician playing the instrument. Zawinul had no problem creating a synthesizer language, both in terms of the sheer sound itself and his ability to combine synth voices that had some of the warmth of a full big band or orchestra, all without trying to explicity mimic the sounds of other instruments. From his groundbreaking, atmospheric (at times approaching what became known first as ‘ambient’ and then as ‘chill’ music) work on Miles Davis’ albums In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew to his very different work through several phases of Weather Report and, finally, Zawinul Syndicate, Joe Zawinul was always a recognizable muisical voice and a forward-looking musician always interested in exploring new sounds and ideas.
Another important element of Zawinul’s music is what came to be called ‘the groove.’ Just as with the term ‘swing’ the term ‘groove’ has a special, somewhat indefinable quality that has to be heard to be appreciated. And Zawinul was always in the groove, from his funky work with Cannonball to his work with Weather Report and beyond. His last recording to be released before his death, Brown Street, is a live performance from 2005 featuring a stellar Zawinul-led group surrounded by big band arrangements and soloists to create a new approach to some of his best Weather Report and Zawinul Syndicate compositions. But the music grooved fiercely, a precondition to any Zawinul project, it would seem.
Like his former employers, Mssrs. Adderley and Davis, Joe Zawinul was never content to continue to do the same old thing. He devoted his entire life to music, and in doing so helped expand all of our sonic landscapes dramatically. If you doubt that, put on the opening section of Miles Davis’ “In a Silent Way” from the album of the same title. The title track, Zawinul’s composition, sounds like it might have been crafted on some digital DJ’s G5, its aesthetic not out of context with the concept of the chill out room. Zawinul will be missed because he contributed mightily to the music we call jazz, expanding its definition along with a handful of other pioneers, and he gave electric jazz fusion an emotional language and a human feeling that many others lacked.
Labels: jazz obituaries, jazzitude, joe zawinul
