When I think of Joe Zawinul these days, I think of him as one of the most brilliant keyboard players who ever lived. When I was a kid, it was either Rick Wakeman or Keith Emerson. Or possibly Chick Corea (I was a huge Return To Forever fan). But Zawinul's work on the synthesizer alone surpasses all of them because of his compositional imagination and sense of texture. He was special.

Excellent tribute to Zawinul who I really consider the initial inspiration for electric jazz fusion. I think some of the ground-breaking things he was writing for Cannonball Adderly, like 74 Miles Away, were what inspired Miles' forays into fusion. As you correctly stated, both In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew were very much built around Zawinul's contribution and aesthetics. Also I consider Zawinul the greatest synthesizer player of all time - his sensitivity to sound and his musicality humanized his synthesis far beyond what others were doing. With all his technique he would often play the simplest lines that very much were akin to the human voice. Weather Report is the greatest fusion band of all time.

Joe was a master of creating organic sounding synth patches. While many others focused on 'electronic sounding' voices Joe consistently created patches that could have been 'real' instruments. His pitch bends and use of parameter modulation added to the 'natural-ness' of his playing. Not to mention his use of recorded sounds and vocoders. Phenomenal player. And yes Scott Kinsey is likewise amazing.

One of your best works Andy. Congrats. Love Weather report and Zawinul vision. I am spanish living in london since the late 90's,and first thing i went to see live was Weather syndicate in Croydon with Henderson on guitar. He was amazing,and as you said he started playing a sort of accordion through his keyboards. Last thing i saw was his band in the London jazz cafe in 2006. He was complaining all night about the air conditioned(too strong) but the music was as exciting as ever with Paco Sery on drums on fire. Few months later,our man was gone. I was in disbelief. Few months later,i saw Allan Holdsworth,one of your heroes on the same place drinking Guinness heavily,but delivering another top gig. Those are moments that one cannot forget easily. The masters at work. I feel captivated with your emthusiasm about music, and is a breeze of fresh air on YT. Keep it up!

one of the best composers (not just jazz!) of the last century .. and ongoing!

At the age of sixteen I first heard of Zawinul on Mysterious Traveller - I felt I never had heard such music before. My second album with Zawinul was From Vienna With Love, an I could not believe that this was the same man. Holding Mysterious Traveller in the right hand and From Vienna... in my left one, it felt like standing on a crossroads. I chose both ways and thus followed also his acoustic music down to the Adderley albums - and discovered a treasure island in its own right. Thanks for mentioning From Vienna With Love in your list!

Great talk Andy. Your palpable admiration for Zawinul is infectious. I saw Weather Report at the Brum Odeon on their Night Passage tour - ridiculous concert. What a band! As a young keyboards player I was transfixed by Zawinul's playing. As you say, he wasn't interested in chopsy virtuosity but what blew me away was his total freedom of independence between his hands. He seemed to be able to do anything with either hand simultaneously without breaking a sweat. I thought at the time, and still do, that this was virtuosity at another level. What a player! Thanks for the reminder.

My local jazz radio station - not corporate - barely mentioned Joe Zawinul's death, let alone play an entire day of his music, as they do with others who have passed. I was getting fed up with this station, because they don't play contemporary artists that are playing new music, but this pushed me over the edge. Fuck WBGO-Newark NJ USA. Needless to say (but I will) Joe Zawinul is one of my inspirations.

Thanks so much for this. I continue to learn from Zawinul-his influence from Ellington showed early when he did locked harmony lines INDIVIDUALLY on multiple tracks- out of necessity on the early mono synths- but continued with the polys-3 or 4 part harmony which could be played as chords on one or two hands BUT he played each line separate with nuances in phrasing and vibrato and dynamics like a single sax player in Duke's band in the sax section- it puts the breath and life in- I use this technique to this day-eats up multi-tracks but it is worth it-

Dear Andy, you did a really nice Zawinul tribute! Btw during the Bitches Brew sessions Wayne Shorter was still in the MD band. I think the last concert with the Miles Davis band was in March 1970. Steve Grossman got in for few month and in August 70 Gary Bartz joined the band. A sax player I like a lot.

That Atlantic Zawinul album and the first Weather Report album complement each other nicely...of the later WR albums I especially like 'Mysterious Traveller' and 'Black Market'...

Cannonball Adderley Quintet's Mercy Mercy Mercy! Live at The Club was the first jazz LP I ever bought and it remains one of my favourite jazz LPs.

Fascinating man. There's so much depth to his music. You can listen to it over and over, yet still find things you missed.

Great video. I really like Josef Zawinul - particularly his compositions. There's always something surprising in them. Perhaps my favourite is In A Silent Way. By the way, there was a really nice duet of Joe with John McLaughlin playing in a Silent Way which can be found on the internet. Joe's playing some type of portable synthesiser (electric wind instrument with a keyboard/"Korg Pepe"?). So just like a guitarist he can walk around the stage whilst playing it.

Great exposition of Joe Zawinul. More impactful than we'll ever know.

Finally. I was hoping this tribute would come. When I was in college, a class discussion about how 'Mercy, Mercy, Mercy' exemplified an ethnic music only to be understood by those who had lived inside it's history- didn't notice the man sitting behind the electric piano, the composer Josef.

Only Andy Edwards can make the intervallic leap from the historical use of accordian and it's place in modern technology to rehearsal sounding like Conlon Nancarrow! That's only one of the elements that makes this channel so wonderful (with the incredibly funny asides). Question: Does Joe Zawinul rank among one of the great mustaches of jazz and jazz/rock/fusion? Could it be a future episode? Thanks for another wonderful episode....

I saw Joe Zawinul in 2004 in Cardiff. He was on stage for about 3 hours. The Staff of St David's Hall, had to force him to stop.

Super interesting video, thank you I love the raw, no-editing approach to your videos, like a proper music lecture. If you’re willing to use a microphone I think it would be much easier on the ears and I don’t think it would sacrifice the free-form aesthetic of your channel. Just a suggestion, thanks for all the content 🙏

Been doing another run of deep dives on Zawinul Syndicate live stuff. Perfect timing. Only got to see him a few times, but once was classic WR.

I agree with everything your saying here. Zawinul is one of greats for sure! I saw the Syndicate towards the end. They smoked that place! The band was world wide. Amit Chatterjee on guitar. I'm still a fan.

The thing about Narada Michael Walden is the *joy* that comes through in his playing. So few drummers have that.

II lost myself in Pharoah's Dance. Will never forget it. Joe was the man. JT

Zawinul Syndicate Live 75, he expresses his love for Wayne…they needed no exchange of words. Joe was like flowing lava no way he could be stopped and he created some serious intricate rigs.

I have not seen WR but the Syndicate with Amit Chatterjee (g), Rodney Holmes (drms), Etienne M’Bappe (bass), Manolo Badrena (perc), Sabine Kabongo (voc). M’Bappe blew my mind so I went backstage to talk to him but he was not to be found. Instead I had a nice chat with Holmes. At the end he shook my hand but not the usual handshake but the one that starts with you bump your fists together and you do 2-3 other moves until you finally shake hands. I have never done it [and not ever since] so I just followed him 😊 Later on I talked to Sabine too in my school-French and some English. Very nice lady. So I went back the next day and checked them out again. But I didn’t go backstage.

As an Austrian Jazz musician who played with musicians that played with Zawinul I can add the following. Zawinul always said that the accordion was his first synthesiser. To understand the background from Zawinul you have to check out Viennese folk music, the "Wienerlied" and you have to check out the Viennese german dialect. The dialect in vienna does the same like afro Americans in the south do to english. The dialect in vienna gives the german more melody, it makes it softer and it bends the sound, like a blues musician does.

Again a truly informative review of Andy. Black market forever!

So for years, I thought "Cannonball in Japan" was just a re-issue of "Nippon Soul," I guess because they were both live recordings made at Sankei Hall in Tokyo. But the former has "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" on it so they clearly are not, and in fact they were recorded in different years! So thanks to you, I now know there is another Cannonball Adderley album I need to check out!

Thanks Andy for an amazing channel and this tribute. I saw Syndicate several times in different constellations but the gig at small club Fasching in Stockholm was outstanding. What a groove! And Sabine Kabongo singing Come Sunday was among the best ever. Monster groove and voice like sounds (human and synthesized), that was Syndicate for me. I think Linley Marthe was on bass - amazing guy. Two great documenteries are: Joe Zawinul, A Musical Portrait and the touching Joe Zawinuls Erdzeit. What a musician, what a life. When he passed I felt deep sadness just as I did when Jeff Beck passed.

Thanks for this one, Andy - Zawinul's one of my favourite artists, and has been ever since Black Market blew my mind on its release, so ta VERY muchly for your tribute. ☝️😎 P. S. You're right about Procession. P. P. S. Jiggle's REALLY good...

I saw them live on the "heavy weather Tour"- it was like some magical high priests giving a church Service to their followers - an unforgettable evening of pure magic ❤❤❤

Brilliant work Andy! Love this! Check out JZ’s contributions on Nat’s “Calling Out Loud” !?!

Your enthusiasm is infectious. I have not heard 75 so I will in shorter time. Thanks.

Great stuff! Love that you are a Syndicate fan!

Austria became an Integral Part of the German Reich by 1938, it was not occupied in the Way the Netherlands, Norway, Polonia, Belgian and other Countries were Occupied. They „Came back into the Reich“. Django Reinhardt lived in Northern Occupied France. But while Zawinul was a Child, Django was already a full formed „Star“ in Paris when France was occupied. Vienna was a Cultural Metropole until 1918 and then became marginalized, all of a sudden the Most Important City for European Music got „Narrow“. To Narrow for Zawinul. Django could stay in Paris, coz Paris regained his PreWar Importance very fast again after World War 2. Paris became the „Capitol City“ for Jazz in Europe. Growing up in a culturally degraded City just could not help Zawinul to become Zawinul. Django stayed a European, Joe Zawinul became an American.

My favorite. Can't wait to see this. Heard Joe play many times from 1973 to 2007.

Black Market ... Yep ... That's the pinnacle ...

Worth mentioning I think that Austria was not really occupied by the Third Reich but was actually incorporated into Germany in 1938 if I remember correctly. Zawinul does stand as one of the jazz greats. Herman Szobel who you have covered recently was also from Vienna along with an ex girlfriend of mine but sadly she didn't play jazz.

Thank you for opening my ears to WR.

Thanks so much, Andy!

I only have «Money in the Pocket»(1966) and i love it. Great musician.

What? After convincing the world on the correct pronunciation of McLaughlin? There’s an resent interview with JM and PRS guitars. He clearly says Hi I’m John McGlofflin. Andy don’t submit to the misinformed majority. Love your work

Very informative. Thanks.

To whom, etc. on a previous topic: Kate Bush just got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. High time, too.

You can do whatever you want on YOUR channel. Naysayers don’t get a vote, period! It’s not your fault if ‘they’ don’t get it!

Wondering what you think of Scott Kinsey carrying on the spirit of Zawinul and the tribute Zawinul album he does

Thanks, Andy.

Great List and breakdown. I would go with WR "Night Passage", Syndicate's "World Tour" and "Stories of the Danube"

Excellent Andy.

Fantastic breakdown of Joe's career. You tortured us with Kate Bush vs.joni Mitchell. How about Joe Zawinul vs Jan Hammer?? I busted your chops just for fun on the Kate vs. Joni. Lol.

When's the video on Ornette Coleman coming? I'm huge fan!

I bought the _Zawinal_ LP, 71 I think, after getting Weather Report's first LP, the only WR LP I really like. Thanks Andy

Andy, Check out the CD compilation: Cannonball Plays Zawinul, compiled by Joe.

Looking forward. Joe Zawinul is super duper awesome. Keyboardist of Kinesthetics, Tribal Tech and others who i really like a lot too, Scott Kinsey playing and improving reminds a lot of Joe Zawinul.

Yum. So, are we getting a follow-up Wayne Shorter episode?

Love Joe Z. Love his composition and his playing. Have you heard his live duets with Trilok Gurtu? Always wondered how great Weather Report would’ve been with him as a percussionist. That second WR album is the beginning of WR becoming a force to be reckoned with. Oddly what attracted me to them was the hype sticker on “I sing the Body Electric” with a quote from Frank Zappa who was at the time Convalescing from his Rainbow Theater trauma. Many years later I saw WR perform during their tour supporting Heavy Weather and it was surprising to see that the tour bus was leased from United Mutations!!! Interesting… I remember Jaco doing a bass solo where he pulled out all the stops including not only moonwalking but when he ran out of ideas simply did a Back flip to raucous applause. Jaco was a rock star and the rest of the band were simply great musicians tempting to walk that fine line between pop status and musicianship…

Zawinul and early Weather Report were responsible for me moving from an interest in Prog Rock to Jazz.

"Black Market" - are you kidding???!!! 🤔

A terrific video, Andy. I bought 'Night Passage' many decades ago out of curiosity and loved it right from the start (literally). Sadly, I only have three Weather Report albums and very definitely intend to buy more, because I consider all three to be great (the other two are 'Heavy Weather" and 'Domino Theory'). I also have the double CD of The Zawinul Syndicate containing 'Black Water' and 'Lost Tribes' and really like that too. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on one's point of view), I'm something of a music freak and end up liking almost everything I hear, whether it be classical (I recently bought a recording containing two symphonies and an overture by the Polish composer Grazyna Bacewicz and was thrilled with them all on first hearing), jazz (Chick Corea, John Coltrane, MD, Weather Report etc), progressive rock (Genesis, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Pink Floyd, Yes, plus many others) , modern electronic music (Tangerine Dream got me started with that) and film music (Max Steiner, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Bernard Herrmann, John T Williams, plus many more). I never seem to stop buying CDs and SACDs. Have you done a video on Chick Corea?

Great tune at the end! Is that all played by you?!

Or as Cannonball called him, "Joe Zobbylew"..... 🚬😎👍

Joe Zawinul! Fabulous! He’s been making a bit of a comeback of late - there’s been some new music recently where the keyboard player has paid tribute to his style (there’s a great Genevieve Artadi track where the solo is pure Zawinul) - which was unique. His earlier EP work with Cannonball Adderley is excellent too.

I had the Album "Cannonball Adderly - Best of the Capitol Years" - I always thought his name was "Joe Zobinew" because the guy who introduced him had such a thick accent!

One more comment in addition to Zawinul' s Cannonball compilation. If Joe had lived longer, I would have loved him devoting a year to Hammond B3 exclusively. I think the results may have been revolutionary.

very interesting! what is the tune playing at the end?

Vienna wasn't occupied by the Germans but from 1945 first only by the Russians and from Sept. 1945 also by the three western allies.(like Berlin). A good opportunity to play music for the american GIs in American clubs.1949 with the Hard brothers (Hillbilly).And also a good opportunity to end his career as a classical pianist before it even began. I hope your overseas subscribers push up the number of clicks tonight, otherwise you have to change the headline: WR vs ZS. Joe has to earn minimum 3000 clicks

Actually, Zawinul doubling Jaco with his right hand on Teen Town.This is clearly visible in a couple of videos. Of course, this does not diminish Zawinul as a virtuoso musician.

You mean Sportin' Life, no?

oh man i just switched to muglofflin after all these years, now you start with muglocklin? then you go and spoil it all by saying something weird like dee john it, jack dee john it.

Fantastic Stuff. Check out The Acuna-Hoff-Mathisen Trio. There is a great Highlight live video on Drumchannel with some interesting interviews by Terry Bozzio 👌

You could argue that WR became a bit too streamlined with Jaco and Erskine. I love both those musicians, but somehow the diversity of sounds and ideas that characterized the band was lost.

(JZ) "Underrated"???!!! WTF. 🤔