The funk, the groove element that has been present in Zawinul’s music at least since the third or fourth Weather Report album is a natural outgrowth of his soul-jazz playing and composing with Cannonball Adderley. Listen to the section around seven minutes in on “Madagascar” where everything drops out except Zawinul playing a funky line on acoustic piano...

Joe Zawinul’s final album (though one imagines that other posthumous releases may well follow) is a live performance in honor of the keyboard legend’s 75th birthday. The performance was recorded July 7, 2007 at the Estival Jazz Lugano, Switzerland, with one track—a lengthy performance of Zawinul’s transcendent composition ‘In a Silent Way’—recorded August 2, 2007 in Veszprem, Hungary featuring saxophonist Wayne Shorter. These dates are only one and two months from Zawinul’s passing in September of that year, yet the performances on 75 are bristling with the incredible life force that Zawinul brought to all of his work.

Performing with the latest edition of his group Zawinul Syndicate, the venerable keyboardist and composer takes us through a sampling of his career as a composer, going back to “Silent Way,” a composition that inspired and informed the Miles Davis album of the same title. Here it is a langorous folk melody, as Zawinul originally heard it, no doubt, on his way home to his native Austria back in 1967. There are a few Weather Report classics—“Scarlet Woman,” “Fast City,” and “Badia/Boogie Woogie Waltz” that merge wonderfully with more recent compositions recorded by Zawinul Syndicate. Throughout one can hear—just as one could on last year’s Zawinul/WDR Big Band release Brown Street—the driving force of the groove and the ability to suggest certain landscapes with his synthesizer work rather than merely imitating other instruments. It is these elements, along with a willful exploration of music from a variety of ethnicities, that makes Zawinul’s music so human, despite the fact that it owes much of its overall sound and texture to synthesizers and electric instruments.

The funk, the groove element that has been present in Zawinul’s music at least since the third or fourth Weather Report album is a natural outgrowth of his soul-jazz playing and composing with Cannonball Adderley. Listen to the section around seven minutes in on “Madagascar” where everything drops out except Zawinul playing a funky line on acoustic piano, along with bass and some spare drum work. That’s the essence of Zawinul’s work, and when combined with his skillfulness with electronic keyboards, it’s an unstoppable force. “Scarlet Woman” is a bit less laid back than the Weather Report original, it percolates with mystery and even a slightly menacing quality. “Zanza II” features co-composer Paco Sery on percussion and kalimba, with Zawinul’s keyboards a lush base one minute, lead voice the next. This crowd-pleasing tour de force leads easily into “Café Andalusia” from Zawinul’s last studio album, Faces and Places. Listening to this high-powered set one realizes more than ever that Zawinul’s music is all about motion—the motion of people and musical ideas around the world, the technology that keeps us constantly in motion as human beings, and the rhythm itself, constant as a heartbeat and just as full of life.

The second disc provides more of the same, kicking off with the highly kinetic “Fast City/Two Lines.” Linley Martin gets to display his stellar bass chops, and Zawinul introduces his international group of musicians. Guitarist Allegre Correa’ song “Clario” gives a distinctly island feel to the proceedings, as he provides passionate vocals to go along with his guitar work. “Badia/Boogie Woogie Waltz” gathers rhythmic intensity like a groove juggernaut, with new flavors added to these Weather Report favorites.

Following ‘Happy Birthday’ comes the lengthy “In a Silent Way” performance from Hungary. Here we get to hear Zawinul’s original conception of the song brought to full fruition, rather than the brief interlude that it became on Miles’ recording. Shorter’s tone on the soprano sax is relatively unequaled, as he can bring in darker tones that make it sound more like an English horn as well as the lighter, sweeter tones that seem more natural to the instrument. It’s a wonderful performance that brings together two major artists who have spent the many years of their respective careers working together one last time. 75 is an important recording because it captures Zawinul in a vital performance very close to the end of his life. But the amazing thing is that there were so many nights that were every good as this one with Zawinul. His life may have come to an end, but his influence will continue to be felt for a long time to come.