Joe Zawinul died today. He wrote the jazz classic Mercy Mercy Mercy, which was recorded by many artists. I dont know a lot about jazz. Most of it makes no sense to me. But I know what I like. I like this. This is a video clip of the tune by the Birdland Big Band. I love the drummer.
1 day ago
1 comment:
Sad news. Zawinul was a major composer ( native of Austria ) and by far the most adept user of keyboard synthesizers ( what were hideous sounding toys in the hands off others ), exemplified in the body of work found in the seminal jazz "fusion" group Weather Report that he co-founded with saxophonist/composer Wayne Shorter in 1970. Prior to Weather Report, he spent a number of years as pianist with legendary alto sax player Cannonball Adderly; it was for Cannonball's group that Zawinul wrote 'Mercy Mercy Mercy'. After WR broke up sometime around 1986, Zawinul went solo, but the style remained true to the Weather Report paradigm: 1) hip and funky r&b/soul grooves as opposed to the more 'swing' oriented bebop rhythm prevelant in mainstream jazz; 2) the influence of musical traditions found in various cultures ( African; Latin ), WR was an early exponent of what is now known as 'World Music'; 3) virtuoso musicians (obviously true of Zawinul and Shorter, it also applied to the numerous players who played with the group over the years ); 4) aforementioned use of advanced technology (it can't be emphasized enough how pioneering Zawinul was in this area ). Finally, in personality, Zawinul was similiar in his tough and somewhat egotistical manner to Miles Davis (Zawinul played very major roles in Miles' "In A Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew", traditionally noted as the first "fusion" efforts, rec 1969/70 ). Both men were fairly adept amateur boxers as well as musical geniuses.
IAN
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