Lets talk about the late great Mr Zawinul. I know there must be other fans on here, I've seen the what are you listening to thread.
When I think about Joe's later life it amazes me that, IMO, the standard of his work continued to improve throughout his life. Of course, there is no reason to be surprised, there is no correlation between the older one gets and the quality of output. However, it is often the case that many artists seem to peak at a relatively younger age.
With Joe some of my favourite work was released in his '70s, Vienna nights, 75 and the absolutely wonderful Brown Street. I have recently been drooling over the magnificent DVD release of the 75 birthday concert. Same material as the cd but wonderful to see the interaction between Joe and the band + you get bonus tambourine dancing and cutting the head off a bottle of champagne with a sword!!
Hearing Zawinul's great work at this age makes me think what an even greater loss we suffered with FZ's untimely death. We must be grateful for the vast body of work but there is always the thought of what else might have been (not least a quality complete concert DVD - considering the riches of audio available, the paucity of visual is always surprising to me).
Notable comparisons can be drawn between the two great band leaders of course. For me the most striking is the search for new and exciting timbres. Unquestionably this was sometimes to the detriment of both of their musical fanbases. People, unfortunately, are reluctant to hear new and unusual sounds. Another striking comparison is in their continuing search for wonderful musicians to bring something new to the music. Neither men were shy about letting their side-men express themselves either, a trait which is sadly not as common with many other band-leaders.
Finally, although you'd be unlikely to confuse the two's music there are notable similarities. A deep, deep understanding of the role of rhythm and counter-rhythm in the music. Rarely would either be heard without at least one drummer and one percussion player. Statistical density, neither man was afraid to challenge their band or their audience with thick complex chords and fast syncopated runs. Use of themes rather than set passages, both valued improvisation and could send their bands out on a journey into new territory with no fear - there was no strict requirement to adhere to the default layout of a piece of music. Finally the single thing that sets both out as master musicians - the ability to recognise the need for and create simple, beautiful melodies.
The results were very different and I'm not sure the two could ever have performed together (two monumentally strong personalities) but well... I dunno what my point even is, I just dig them both and wish they were still making music
If anyone reads this hasn't listened to post weather report Zawinul, do yourself a favour and get a hold of his World Tour album (then listen to 'When there was royalty' followed by 'Little House I Used to Live In). For those of you who are fans let me know what your favourite memories/music/gigs are.
Almost exceeding the word limit here - sorry 'bout that!
Cheers for reading (back to work for me now)
Stewart
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) and decided to try and go check out some live music. I was vaguely aware of Joe but didn't know any of his music apart from Silent Way, Birdland etc. I was completely blown away by that band and have seen the syndicate several times since.
