Joe Zawinul's influence

[JackWhite]

hey guys!
this is not directly bass related but im interested in your opinions!
after reading the topic about "revolutionary bass players" i suddenly had to think about other musicians that have accomplished same things in overall music, nut just on the bass.

well...
its been a while since joe zawinul has passed away in a hospital in vienna/austria (30 minutes by car from my place)

thinking back on all the things joe had accomplished in music i asked myself a question:
a guy who has played with all the greats like miles davis, cannonball adderley, and others....
has joe been the main influence for many other greats?
he was always sorrounded by great bassists like alphonso johnson, jaco pastorius, richard bona, linley marthe (from his zawinul syndicate) and others...

in "modern electric bass" jaco mentions many musicians as his influences but dont you think that jacos playing has improved and changed drastically since he started playing for joe? to quote jaco:
"joe's the cat"

i dont want this to turn into a pro or con "jaco-topic" - i just would like to know if you think joe zawinul had a strong impact on the jazz/fusion/worldmusic, well.. any musical stuff we can listen to today.

he surely will be missed though...

[Marcus Johnson]

I think so. If you asked people like Jeff Lorber, Russ Ferrante, all that crop of fusion keyboardists that came after Weather Report hit, I think they would all say that Zawinul was an influence. I went to college with Lyle Mays (he was just finishing up when I started), he was into Joe at the time. Yellowjackets were certainly influenced by Weather Report.

There's also an album by Bireli Lagrene that sounds pretty much like a WR clone. I currently work with a keyboardist named Gene Argel whose sound reflects a lot of JZ's influence.

[Lesfunk]

With regards to Jaco, I think Zawinul's influence was a double edged sword.
he catapulted Jaco onto the world stage with WR, but also exposed Jaco to the pressures of fame and introduced him to the world of Alcohol and/or drugs (they come with fame)
which eventually brought about Jaco's demise.

[Baryonyx]

I think he did. He, alongside Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, really gave the keys a new voice imo, especially during the 70's. Chick especially impressed me though, with the way he grew during the 80's with the Elektric Band. But Joe is definitely a phenomenal and influencial musician.

Heck, even John McLaughlin has dedicated tracks to Joe! (check out "Jozy")

[Matt Till]

He influenced the world of cheesy synth tones.


I do think that you can't really play fusion without giving a nod to Zawinul's playing. I think he was the true backbone of WR. And when you play with anyone, they should be an influence.

[JackWhite]

what impresses me when thinking about joe is, he never seemed to rest on the same structure of music. he always had visions about his next musical approach could be (hope this makes sense...) in a late interview i saw of him, he mentions, that when he dies, it would be great, if the wolrd would get one album a year of him.

"ive got so much music - it would last for the next 20 years!"

i also give him props for not only getting jaco known out there, but many other musicians. i think he made some people well known that would otherwise have never been recognized (or to say the least... it would have taken them longer)

and of course he was one of the first if not THE first that got the synthsound into jazz (IIRC)

[Vandelay]

Just FYI that the latest issue of Bass Player magazine has a nice tribute to Zawinul -- a couple of paragraphs from many of the bass players who performed with him, plus a short transcription. It's the January 2008 issue with the Duran Duran guy on the cover.

[JackWhite]

thx for that information vandelay! as i live in austria its quite hard to get these magazines. ill try though