Obit: Joe Zawinul - Weather Report (11 Sep 2007)

Subject: Obit: Joe Zawinul - Weather Report
From: Wesley S
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 11:27 AM

Innovative keyboard player Joe Zawinul of Weather Report has passed on:

Jazz Legend Joe Zawinul Dies at 75
By VERONIKA OLEKSYN Associated Press

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.


On the Net:
http://www.zawinulmusic.com

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Zawinul - Weather Report
From: M.Ted
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 01:23 PM

He was one a small group of people that moved jazz in a new direction, much like the Beboppers had a generation before--ironically, hardcore bebop fans regarded jazz/fusion the same way that swing people regarded bebop. I remember that the sight of his "Zawinul" album was enough to cause bop and cool jazz fans to froth at the mouth. It doesn't seem so long ago--

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Zawinul - Weather Report
From: catspaw49
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 01:53 PM

Well crap............We just tend to forget that at one point or another, the greats die too. Some die young but those that live seem like fixtures ya' know?

Sad news............I'd argue a bit with Ted about the fusion/Be Bop thing but his point is valid. I just think there was a lot fewer objections from the jazz world to fusion.BeBop was a line in the sand whereas west coast cool, Mulligan's piano-less combos, fusion, etc., are more like forks in the road.

Whatever........Joe Zawinul earned a star in the jazz galaxy.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Zawinul - Weather Report (11 Sep 2007)
From: M.Ted
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 11:50 PM

Fusion broadened the audience for jazz by quite a lot. Jazz had gone from being America's Music to being a very esoteric taste. Fusion started the move back--

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Zawinul - Weather Report (11 Sep 2007)
From: Hamish
Date: 12 Sep 07 - 03:09 AM

Heavy Weather: still in my top twenty albums.

Sad news.

--
Hamish

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Zawinul - Weather Report (11 Sep 200
From: GUEST,Nicholas Waller
Date: 12 Sep 07 - 04:06 AM

Obit in The Times:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2434266.ece

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Zawinul - Weather Report (11 Sep 2007)
From: fat B****rd
Date: 12 Sep 07 - 09:40 AM

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy. One of my all time best tunes. There's lots of good Mr. Z stuff on Youtube. So I'm off to watch some of it now. RIP.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Zawinul - Weather Report (11 Sep 2007)
From: GUEST,shepherdlass
Date: 12 Sep 07 - 03:45 PM

So sad - from his work with Cannonball through Weather Report right through to the Syndicate he was a great innovator but above all a superb musician. RIP indeed.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Zawinul - Weather Report (11 Sep 2007)
From: GUEST,Bob Ryszkiewicz
Date: 13 Sep 07 - 12:03 AM

A Master Musician...

Rest in Peace.
Thank You...

bob

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Zawinul - Weather Report (11 Sep 2007)
From: GUEST,Rich(bodhránaí gan ciall)
Date: 13 Sep 07 - 05:45 PM

I enjoyed his work with Miles and others. He'll be sorely missed but his compositions will live on.

RIch