Keziah Jones

We are mourning the death of the legendary jazz pianist Joe Zawinul who died of cancer at the age of 75 in his birth town of Vienna. In the early 20th century, Zawinul played with jazz's greatest musicians and ended up being a jazz giant himself. Born in Vienna, he said – "We're cosmopolitan and interracial — Czech, Slavic, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Turkish a little bit." - Zawinul was one of a few key European musicians to have profoundly influenced the evolution of modern jazz. He played with legends like Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderly and Wayne Shorter. With Miles Davis and with his own bands "Weather Report" and "Zawinul Syndicate" he pushed the jazz envelope to the limits of pop. His songs "Mercy, mercy, mercy" and "Birdland" became worldwide hits.

 

Zawinul's unmistakeable sound substantially helped the electronic keyboard break into jazz music.

Joe Zawinul had been hospitalized in Vienna since last month and cancelled all his concerts. He died on september 11th 2007. We will forever keep Joe Zawinul and his music in loving memory.
Adieu Joe Zawinul.

www.zawinulmusic.com