Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Joe Zawinul was born Josef Erich Zawinul on July 7, 1932 grew up in Vienna, Austria. Classically trained at the Konservatorium Wien, he played in various broadcasting and studio bands before emigrating to the U.S. in 1959 on a music scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston.

He went on to play with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson, where he first met Wayne Shorter after having had an influence in hiring him. Shorter left soon thereafter for Art Blakey’s group and Joe departed ways to tour and record with Dinah Washington for two years.

First coming to prominence in 1961 with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, and during his nine-year stint composed the hit songs “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”, “Walk Tall” and “Country Preacher”, the latter a tribute to Jesse Jackson

In the late 60s Zawinul played with Miles Davis, becoming one of the creators of jazz-fusion and one of the first to use electric pianos and synthesizers. He composed the title track on the album In A Silent Way and “Pharaoh’s Dance” on the landmark album Bitches Brew that occupied the whole of side one.[1]

In 1970, Zawinul co-founded Weather Report with Wayne Shorter bringing relatively open group improvisation with their fourth album Mysterious Traveller being their breakthrough.  For the next fifteen years they would experience unparallel success with his composition “Birdland” being covered by the likes of Quincy Jones and the Manhattan Transfer and Jefferson Starship among others and winning him three Grammy awards.

Joe recorded 74 albums as a leader, sideman and collaborator; has been named Keyboardist” 28 times by the readers of Down Beat magazine, had several musicians honor him in song, written symphonies and performed and toured up until his hospitalization for a rare skin cancer where he died on September 11, 2007.

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