Joe Zawinul 1932 - 2007

Joe Zawinul, the keyboard player and composer has died today in Austria.
Zawinul was born in Vienna in 1932 where he later went on to study music at the Vienna Conservatory.
In 1959 he emigrated to the USA where he toured with Maynard Ferguson, accompanied Dinah Washington, and in 1961 joined Cannonball Adderley with whom he performed and recorded until 1970.
It was in 1970 that Zawinul and Wayne Shorter formed 'Weather Report'.
Zawinul was one of the most original and prolific composers to emerge in the 1970's, and it was Zawinul's experimentation with the Wurlitzer and electric pianos, that influenced other jazz musicians to adopt these instruments, which drastically altered the tone and colour of an entire branch of jazz music.

Weather Report have been hugely influential on Robin's life, in particular the album 'Heavy Weather' which had the perfect chemistry of musicians and the time was right for their musical statement to be made.
The fact that we still listen to their music on a regular basis shows how important it has been.

Due to a technical hitch, the video I've posted can be found below, under it's own title.
It is Weather Report, (with Jaco), performing 'Black Market' in 1978.

From A Day in New York to Heavy Weather to Rostropovich

Robin was lucky enough to have some time in New York yesterday. This was a rare treat for him as usually he is just passing through. He didn't have a full day, as getting through security took longer than anticipated, and he had to be back on board the QE2 by 4 pm. So, unfortunately, didn't manage to get to The Cloisters, as recommended by Paul, in New Jersey, and Ted, in New York. Many thanks for the directions though!

One thing he did need to do was to get some new strings for the next stage of his trip.
He found himself a luthiers in Manhattan and stepped inside, the first thing he saw was a copy of his very own book, 'The Guitar Gymnasium.' He was quite delighted and it reminded him of seeing a Hill/Wiltschinsky album in Tower Records a few years ago.

After a chat with the owner, Robin purchased some strings, along with another footstool, and this rather beautiful capo.



As he left the shop and walked down the road he came across the legendary Birdland Club. This is the famous New York jazz club that so influenced the band Weather Report that they named their famous song 'Birdland' after it.
This has always been rather a special track for us. In the early days we would listen to it very loud, late at night, often with musician friends, and just enjoy.
Now, well, usually son number one tells us to turn the music down, he's trying to sleep...

However, we should also take a moment to remember Mstislav Rostropovich the outstanding cellist, conductor and pianist who died yesterday. Obituary provided by The Daily Telegraph.