Josef Erich Zawinul (7 July 1932 – 11 September 2007)[1] was an Austrian jazz keyboardist and composer. First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with Miles Davis and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, a musical genre that combined jazz with rock. He co-founded the groups Weather Report and The Zawinul Syndicate. He pioneered the use of electric piano and synthesizer, and was named “Best Electric Keyboardist” twenty-eight times by the readers of Down Beat magazine.
Zawinul grew up in Vienna, Austria. Accordion was his first instrument. When he was six or seven, he studied clarinet, violin, and piano at the Vienna Conservatory[3] (Konservatorium Wien). During the 1950s he was a staff pianist for Polydor. He worked as a jazz musician with Hans Koller, Friedrich Gulda, Karl Drewo, and Fatty George.[4] In 1959 he moved to the U.S. to attend Berklee College of Music, but a week later he received a job offer from Maynard Ferguson, so he left school and went on tour.[3] He then accompanied Dinah Washington.[5] He spent most of the 1960s with Cannonball Adderley. During this time he wrote “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” and “Walk Tall”, and “Country Preacher” and played electric piano. At the end of the decade he recorded with Miles Davis on In a Silent Way as Davis was establishing the genre of jazz fusion, combining jazz with rock. (by wikipedia)
Conceptually, sonically, this is really the first Weather Report album in all but name, confirming that Joe Zawinul was the primary creative engine behind the group from the beginning. It is also the link between WR and Miles Davis’ keyboard-laden experiments on In a Silent Way; indeed, the tune “In a Silent Way” is redone in the more complex form in which Zawinul envisioned it, and Miles even contributes a brief, generous tribute to Zawinul on the liner. Two keyboardists — Zawinul and the formidable Herbie Hancock — form the underpinning of this stately, probing album, garnishing their work with the galactic sound effects of the Echoplex and ring modulator. Earl Turbinton provides the Wayne Shorter-like beams of light on the soprano sax, spelled by Wayne himself on “Double Image.” The third founder of WR, Miroslav Vitous, checks in on bass, and hard-bopping trumpeter Woody Shaw proves to be perfectly adept at the jazz-rock game. Two short-lived standards of the jazz-rock era, the aforementioned “Double Image” and “Doctor Honoris Causa,” are introduced here, yet it is mood pieces like “His Last Journey” and “Arrival in New York” that with the help of tape-speed manipulation, establish the lasting, murky, reflective ambience of this album. (by Richard S. Ginell)
In other words: A true milestone in modern music !
Personnel:
Walter Booker (bass)
Joe Chambers (percussion)
George Davis (flute)
Herbie Hancock (piano)
Billy Hart (percussion)
David Lee (percussion)
Woody Shaw (trumpet)
Earl Turbinton (saxophone)
Miroslav Vitous (bass)
Joe Zawinul (piano)
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Jack DeJohnette (percussion, melodica on 03.)
Hubert Laws (flute on 04.)
Wayne Shorter (saxophone on 04.)
Tracklist:
01. Doctor Honoris Causa 13.47
02. In A Silent Way 4.49
03. His Last Journey 4.36
04. Double Image 10.33
05. Arrival In New York 1.58
Music composed by Joe Zawinul
Josef Erich Zawinul (7 July 1932 – 11 September 2007)
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