Zawinul Revisited

World music is a side I've been exploring more lately, for a recording that will take place in the not-too-distant future (more on that later). In addition to seeking out new sounds, this process has involved the revisiting of influential albums that haven't been listened to in a while, including some by the late, great Joe Zawinul.

Zawinul is a household name in jazz and world music communities, but is much lesser known outside these circles (which is a shame). It may have been Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin who first opened my ears to virtuosic improvisation flavored with global influences, but Joe Zawinul exposed a world of further possibilities with equal excitement, despite being a multi-keyboardist and not a guitarist.

While Di Meola and McLaughlin offered plenty of goalposts to shoot for in terms of fiery guitar licks, Zawinul inspired in a different way - through compositions and soundscapes that take the listener on a journey of both land and time. Like the signature scene from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Zawinul's music often evokes primitive shades of early man (via tribal rhythms) and science-fiction tinged images of the future (via robot-like electronic sounds).

As an example, take Joe's 90s group, Zawinul Syndicate, whom I mananged to catch one night at Yoshi's Nightclub in Oakland, California in 1996. In addition to Zawinul and his multi-layered keyboard rig - one that would have looked right at home on stage with Yes, Rush or Emerson Lake & Palmer - this band included an African drummer (Paco Sery), a Puerto Rican percussionist (Manola Badrena) and two Americans - bassist Victor Baily and guitarist Gary Poulson (who pleasantly surprised me by recognizing me afterwards; his diverse listening tastes included metal. Who knew?). This was one of those rare performances that reminded the audience of what great music is able to achieve.

I'd soon be thrilled to find out that this tour was captured via a live album entitled "World Tour." Here's the song they came out with that night (recorded three months later in Trier, Germany), one of the best live performances of jazz/fusion, world-music (and music period) I've ever witnessed: Patriots.

Zawinul would pass away on September 11, 2007 (giving yet another reason to be sad on Sep. 11). Although seventy-five is a bit "young" by today's standards, he still managed to outlive a lot of musicians from his era, living a full life and making great music right up until the end. Had he chosen to retire decades earlier, his formidable place in music would have still been secured.

Best known as the co-founder of the pioneering 70s group Weather Report (along with seminal saxophonist/composer Wayne Shorter), Zawinul had previously collaborated with Miles Davis, exploring a then new musical terrain: jazz with electric instrumentation. Miles' landmark recording "In a Silent Way" (the title track of which was composed by Zawinul) would soon to be followed by the groundbreaking double album "Bitches Brew," scoring Miles' first "gold record" and featuring an entire side devoted to one of Zawinul's compositions, Pharaoh's Dance. These recordings not only helped introduce electric keyboards to the listening public, they launched a new genre known as "fusion" (aka "jazz/rock fusion" or "jazz/fusion") paving the way for numerous off-shoot projects like Weather Report, as well as Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, Herbie Hancock's Headhunters and even Jeff Beck's "Blow by Blow" and "Wired," (whose collaborators included former Mahavishnu members Jan Hammer and Narada Michael Walden, respectively). It was much later that the term "fusion" would became unfairly tarnished and forever linked to its industry bred bastard child: a polished, predictable, homogenous sub-genre with none of the original energy or innovation, best known as "smooth jazz" and tailor made for dentist's offices and bank lobbies.

Prior to joining Miles, Joe Zawinul had performed straight-ahead jazz as the pianist for singer Dinah Washington and most famously, saxophonist Cannonball Adderley. It was Zawinul who composed Adderly's gospel tinged "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," which struck a nerve in the US, becoming one of jazz's biggest crossover hits, later to be described by pianist Herbie Hancock on National Public Radio (NPR) as having “captured the essence of the African-American heritage."

All this would be incredibly impressive for anyone, let alone a conservatory trained pianist who'd grown up in war-torn Vienna.

Here's an inspirational interview with the maestro conducted in 1996, the same year of the "World Tour" and followed by very recent comment by Gerald Veasley, a bassist who'd worked with him (and thus followed in the footsteps of bass legends such as Jaco Pastorius, Alphonso Johnson and others): Zawinul At 65
Here's a short clip on Zawinul from a mid 80s news program (unimaginable someone like this would get prime-time network coverage today): Joe Zawinul Profile
And if you have an hour, watch this BBC special Joe Zawinul: A Musical Portrait

Though not quite reaching the "household name" status of some of his former employers, to musicians and fans, Zawinul will always be up there with one of the all-time greats - far from unsung, yet still deserving of wider recognition and appreciation.