Here's a report of jazz musician and composer Joe Zawinul being hospitalized in Vienna, possibly in the oncology department. The Joe Zawinul Unofficial Italian Fans site also reports of his ill health at a recent albeit well-played concert.
In a new article on Weather Report bandmate, the late Jaco Pastorius, the group's place in jazz was thusly described:
Yet now it becomes clear that Weather Report was never trying to predict the future, at least not in the long-term sense of the idea. It was simply indicating the way the wind was blowing at the time and, like any good meteorologist, correctly anticipated the short-term future. For a dozen or so years, a lot of bands tried to sound like Weather Report, proving that Messrs. Zawinul and Shorter had deftly forecasted tomorrow.
And on classic albums like these, Joe Zawinul has left a lasting mark on this listener:
Seeing the album cover for Zawinul (black & white portrait headshot of Zawinul) reminds me of "Arrival in New York", a track (perhaps the last) on that disc.
I haven't heard or seen a CD (& no longer own the LP), but this track was a short (about a minute long) evocation of dockside sounds, such as ships' horns or fog horns, clatter of feet or hooves, something being dragged across a pier or something, more horns. A charming documentary tribute to the Ellis Island experience by an immigrant who had done well by coming to the United States.
Except that it turns out to be a slowed down excerpt from a piece of Zawinul's as played by the Cannonball Adderly quintet (I think from the Mercy Mercy Mercy album, but I don't remember the detail now).
A very cool and funny touch of "electronic music" for a jazz release.
Posted by: Herb Levy | August 16, 2007 at 08:22 AM