Joe Zawinul: Solo Keyboard (1985)

From the Munich Piano Summer in 1985
Joe Zawinul - Solo Keyboard and Synthesizer Performance
0:12 Improvisation I
14:55 Improvisation II
29:18 Improvisation III
43:00 Improvisation IV
Zawinul's live set-up in this concert:
- on his right from the top: Oberheim Xpander, Rhodes Chroma Expander, analog ARP sequencer
- in the centre from the top: Chroma Polaris, Prophet T-8, on the left two small Korg rhythm machines (DDM 110, 220)
- on his left from the top: Korg DW 6000, Prophet 5, Oberheim DMX drum machine, Linn LM-1 drum machine, Korg Vocoder
At the back stage there is also a Korg DSS - 1 midi connected with Korg DW and Polaris
Joe Zawinul (July 7, 1932 - September 11, 2007) was an Austrian jazz keyboardist and composer. First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with elements of rock and world music. Later, Zawinul co-founded the groups Weather Report and the world fusion music-oriented Zawinul Syndicate. Additionally, he made pioneering use of electric piano and synthesizers. Zawinul was named "Best Electric Keyboardist" 28 times by the readers of Down Beat magazine.
A number of prominent musical artists have honored Zawinul with compositions, including Brian Eno's instrumental "Zawinul/Lava", John McLaughlin's instrumental "Jozy" [...]. Zawinul's playing style was often dominated by quirky melodic improvisations - traversing bebop, ethnic and pop styles - combined with sparse but rhythmic playing of big-band sounding chords or bass lines. In Weather Report, he often employed a vocoder as well as pre-recorded sounds played (i.e. filtered and transposed) through a synthesizer, a method or technique called sampling, creating a very distinctive synthesis of jazz harmonies and "noise" [...] Classically trained at the Konservatorium Wien, Zawinul played in various broadcasting and studio bands before emigrating to the U.S. in 1959 on a music scholarship at Berklee School of Music in Boston. [...] In 1961, Zawinul joined the Quintet led by saxophonist Cannonball Adderley. [...] In the late 1960s, Zawinul recorded with Miles Davis's studio band and helped create the sound of jazz fusion. He played on the album In a Silent Way, the title track, which he composed, and the landmark album Bitches Brew, for which he contributed the twenty-minute track, "Pharaoh's Dance", which occupied the whole of side one. [...]
Zawinul, along with other Davis sidemen Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, was one of the first to use electric pianos and early synthesizers like the ARP 2600 in 1973's Sweetnighter. He was also among the first to use an electric piano, the Wurlitzer. He used the Fender-Rhodes thereafter, adding a wah-wah pedal and later the Mutron effect unit for a complex phased timbre. [...]
In 1970, Zawinul co-founded Weather Report with saxophonist and Davis alumnus Wayne Shorter (and later joined by Jaco Pastorius). [...] With their 4th album, Mysterious Traveller, the musical forms were now through-composed similar to classical music, and the combination of jazz harmonies with 1970s groove elements helped launch the band into its most commercially successful period. The band's biggest commercial success came from his composition "Birdland", a 6-minute opus featured on Weather Report's 1977 album Heavy Weather, which peaked at number 30 on the Billboard pop albums chart. "Birdland" is one of the most recognizable jazz pieces of the 1970s, covered by many prominent artists from The Manhattan Transfer and Quincy Jones to Maynard Ferguson, the Buddy Rich Big Band, and Jefferson Starship. [...] The song won him three Grammys. Weather Report was active until the mid-1980s, with Zawinul and Shorter remaining the sole constant members through multiple personnel shifts. The group was notable for helping bring to prominence not only pioneering fretless electric bassist Jaco Pastorius, but also other musicians, such as Alphonso Johnson and Peter Erskine. Shorter and Zawinul had already gone separate ways, after the recording of their "final" Sportin' Life, when it was discovered that they had to do one more album in order to fulfill their contract with CBS records. This Is This! therefore became the band's final album. Shorter participated despite being busy leading his own group, and Peter Erskine was also brought in again for this record, and played on most of the compositions. Victor Bailey played electric bass and guitarist Carlos Santana appeared as a guest artist on the album. [...] Zawinul became ill and was hospitalized in his native Vienna in August 2007, after concluding a five-week European tour. He died a little over a month later from a rare form of skin cancer (Merkel cell carcinoma) one month later.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Zaw...

[@jamiepastman5594]

Joe's genius is that he bends the technology to suit the inner vision he already has. For too many keyboardists it's the other way around, the technology dictates the shape of the music, the keyboardist a captive.

[@homelessballoon]

Joe Zawinul was such a great performer and musician, and he was humble and wise. I love that man and his music!

[@matteogazzolo1]

Being a poet in music... a solo by Zawinul is pure gold.

[@cozmovox]

No matter if it's an old analog or a modern digital synth, Joe always got his wonderfull dreamy signature sound and music out of it....

[@mattratcliffe9106]

I love the freedom, at the same time the intention and focus in Joe’s sound and approach. He’s also a complete genius of harmony, way ahead of his time , what a great concert!

[@milagrosguadarrama1618]

Stunning concert...¡¡¡ stunning performance...Just one Word...YEAH...

[@randyclere2330]

So miss JZ! Masters like this come and go, leaving an incredible trail of lush and beautiful creations for us to enjoy! His Left hand grooves SO HARD! That is one reason he had all of the killer bassists in all his bands... He was drawn to that deep end of things!

[@milkolazar4711]

Zawinul's set up from that period is: - on his right from the top: Oberheim Xpander, Rhodes Chroma Expander, old analog ARP sequencer - in the centre from the top: Chroma Polaris, Prophet T-8, on the left two small Korg rhythm machines (DDM 110, 220) - on his left from the top: Korg DW 8000, Prophet 5, Oberheim DMX drum machine, Linn LM - 1 drum machine, Korg Vocoder (connected with T-8) At the back stage there is also a Korg DSS - 1 midi connected with Korg DW and Polaris operated by his tech (Jim Swanson?) There are also a lot of small switches, volume pedals etc. Everything is midi connected. Bravo! This is very rare historical recording. I was on one of his solo concerts. It was Great! Enjoy!

[@LOFTmusicChannel]

+Milko Lazar Wow, it's so great how fast one can find competent people for any kind of subject here on KZbin. Thank you very much for your great input! We've added the information to the video description.

[@pgonzo98]

isn't it about the content and not the equipment....

[@zibbybone]

Good eye! except that's a DW-6000 and not a DW-8000. 6000 has white buttons whereas the 8000's are black.

[@SPAZZOID100]

pgonzo98 it's about BOTH.

[@AnalogAudio1]

The DSS-1 came out 1986, so it wasn't there

[@paulhoughton5164]

This is just stunning. And to think this is all improvised! Oh man … what a musical genius!! I’m just glad that there are so many live shows on KZbin from all over his career that means I can still hear him

[@EdwardRobinson15580]

This is the cat that wrote "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" when he played with Julian "Cannonball" Adderly. Does any one of us have ANY idea how big a HIT that was? Are you kidding me??

[@EdwardRobinson15580]

"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at "The Club" is a 1967 live in-studio album by jazz musician Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. It received the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance - Group or Soloist with Group in 1967, and was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2021" Joe Zawinul wrote it and played it with the Cannonball Adderley Quintet. A MUSICAL GIANT if ever there were one.

[@bodhiheeren]

Thx for this amazing concert. In my universe Zawinul was a true visionary genius. But perhaps - like so many extraordinarily gifted artists - ahead of his time and not always appreciated and understood.

[@tripstar4000]

this is a master, so so mucy heart, talent, and love in him. he never ,ever played poorly, because he is one with his instruments. RIP JZ.

[@ericrohrbaugh2713]

The man is absolutely Amazing. Love his style. Live on in our Spirit Josef. Peace to you always Brother.

[@planetmusic11]

Genius Uncle Joe Zawinul In Action. Rest In Peace Dear Joseph Zawinul

[@joezawinulreviewsandreacti2509]

this is honestly some of his best work! So warm and coherent! Really beats quite a few of the things he did with groups. It really stands the test of time as a great concert...If I wanted to show the genius of Joe to someone I might show them this first.

[@adamjacksonmedia]

An hour of Joe solong... with wll his synths!!! Get out!! This is magic!! I'm pretty sure that an Oberhiem Matirx module sitting next to him!! What a legend.

[@donjose4656]

Génial compositeur ! Repose en paix...

[@richardthurston2171]

Fantastic. Thanks for posting this. I saw all of the top electric bands back in the early 1970s. Miles and Weather Report hold up the best for me. Joe kept going with his thing right up until he stopped. His were organic sounds and remain fresh and relevant all these years later.

[@dvamateur]

Lovely personality and human being. Mr. Joe Zawinul.

[@waynefoote3781]

What an amazing Treat ...Thank you Mr. Zawinul.

[@kimrunic5874]

Oh man this is so great. Joe gave such a brilliant and unique gift to the world of music. cannot believe there are negative comments- they don't know what they're listening to. This is a wonderful post and is one of the reasons that YT is a great thing :-)

[@williamwinslow6582]

I saw this tour. This is pretty much how I remember it. I found that Zawinul appeared overwhelmed rather than at one with the technology. Much of the time was spent wrestling parameters out of various gizmos, with all kinds of filler sonic material going on while he sought for the next thing. There were also lots of balancing issues, with sudden and painful bursts of sound happening. These difficulties distracted me as a listener. Still, it is an awful lot to manage a setup like this in a live situation as a one man band, and JZ was my hero. It was 1985, and he was taking all this stuff to the limit. His unique pallet of sounds and gestures is evident here. JZ was an amazing composer and performer. RIP.

[@romainverbeke]

I saw his set at the North Sea Jazz festival summer 1985 and he gave up after half an hour struggling with his setup.

[@genepozniak]

Judging from how much he's sweating, the summer heat must have been hard to contend with.

[@victorrock1997]

Thank you so much for sharing this amazing performance! Joe Zawinul was a great musical genius! I love his work with Weather Report as well as solo. All the best and much respect!

[@yassveena]

What an intimate intense doc of Joe Zawinul through sound! Miraculous beautifull

[@KitLaughlin]

Who could give a thumbs down to this genius?

[@dnyl1412]

Somebody who is unable to produce phenomenal music and not a genius, Big round of applause for Joe Zawlinal 👏

[@IAmTheGreatestEver]

To all of you whose hearts are still held prisoner by the force of nature called Joe Zawinul, I’m with you.

[@nalimkorpas3733]

Il me manque le vieux ...Personne n a jamais fait chanter les machines comme lui .

[@dnyl1412]

Absolutely love joes musical performance I love the notes played at 21:07 the base sound is really nice big round of applause for Joe Zawlinal

[@alexandergreat7526]

We miss you Joe

[@joshkelly794]

I will never forget standing next to JZ in the bathroom at Richard Perry studio 55 on Melrose Weather report mixing "stuff" in one room and my band "poaching studio time" such a vibrant vibe WR every year in concert Winterland with al dimeola Carlos Santana. Lenny white pardon the punctuation the music was above everything at the time....never ever forget it

[@wolfunplugged]

zawinul was a genius. also lovely to see all of that old gear...the small korg drummy DDM!

[@KyuminShimMusic]

man this is great. I loved his work with traditional jazz bands, but after that period I haven't really checked him out. this is so good, he's so musical in any ways that he wants to go.

[@ruivog]

Thank you. This is KZbin at its best.

[@JF-ej1vu]

This is some of the most raw superpower badassery in music. Come on man, the dude boxes some real stuff. I saw Joe in 1981 with Jaco and I got blown away with the Creators gold dust of improvisation and have been plugged in since. Viva Josef Zawinul

[@dedeckerjean-pierre5862]

Ah qu'il me manque.... 50 ans d'avance sur les autres!!! C'est extraordinaire... J Lui, Jaco Pastorious, ChickCorrea, Wayne Shorter et autres, cela fait 40 ans que je vous écoute en travaillant..

[@Dolores5000]

So fun!!! Thanks for sharing!!!! Love to see him in noodle wonderland!

[@johnnydekock]

Way ahead of his time this genius!

[@planetmullins]

06:45 Love the spoken word stuff about music. Goes into a trademark wacky groove right after. My favorite stuff.

[@jhandle4196]

I was fortunate to see this music legend as a budding "living legend" first with Cannonball Adderly at the Kansas City Jazz Festival in 1968. Many forget Joe wrote the head chart for that quintet's iconic song, "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", that, with added lyrics, became a pop chart hit for the Buckinghams that was not "Kind of a Drag" Then I was blessed to see his and Wayne's Weather Report, twice, the 2nd time with the legendary Jaco Pastorius" :"Boogie Woogie Waltz" changed my life (musically that is)

[@christopheravant5155]

Joe is a real genious, RIP my fried

[@sexypoetry]

was he fried?

[@pgonzo98]

only joe. i actually got emotional watching this

[@MrLumacc]

Semplicemente unico! Grazie joe!!! 💚

[@albertoortega2467]

Joe....gracias ....🙏🎼👏...de Argentina 2020....

[@uweboll8833]

Great performance by a great artist!

[@dagostinoification]

A genius... total fan ...

[@shafiyqmuhammad7806]

Joe U R number 1 for all times R I P.

[@Aleredes]

Fantastic!

[@evertvanderhik5774]

Fantastic

[@ProfJahPinpin]

Son univers... Unique et flamboyant (comme l'arbre du même nom)...

[@JazzKeyboardist1]

Mercy mercy

[@KyleWhitlock-Music]

I loved where they showed the Oberheim synth panel showing Joe's preset at 53:24...."Afroshit"...does it get any better than that?!

[@omppuveturi1598]

thanks for noticing this absolute pearl, an insight into the creative massive mind of Mr. - missed - Zawinul.

[@levynic66]

Genial su estilo unico

[@fredialberti6583]

fantastic Cello like play with

[@basswilkes]

this shit is so genius it's outrageous.

[@davebartholome2924]

This is interesting stuff-Joe was rarely uninteresting. But not nearly as much fun as hearing Joe interact with other musicians. (Which is pretty much the same way I felt about Pat Metheny’s Orchestrion stuff.)

[@paatanatsvlishvili4334]

❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@svenjansen2134]

His hat holds all his secrets.

[@wackenthaljef]

Magnifik!I know noone as good as him today...maybe...but i dont know...

[@streetrec6349]

advance technology in 80s Joe is leader keyboard genius

[@mauricesteinecker]

LOVE

[@MrPianorgan]

Un Emozione Totalmente Analogica !!!

[@xandiwurst]

i own a korg dw6000 and use it after this video with my new kronos 88 . playing it just like joe

[@AndresCruzBass]

44:00 Corner Pocket

[@rickperlstein9988]

39:58 "Come Sunday"

[@dvamateur]

Duke Ellington?

[@markanderson1313]

Anyone have a set list ? I detect material from Dialects (Zee Bop, Walking on the Nile (15.54), Waiting for the Rain (25.54), I'll Never Forget You/Come Sunday (?) (29.50), Corner Pocket quote (44.43), ? (49.10). I love the setting on the Expander at about 52.00....Afroshit....sums up a lot of this and his later work with Update :D

[@arturbissigojoner3299]

Big Joe!

[@panchovilla4369]

JO ZAWINUL I'LL NEVER FORGET MEETING HIM TOTAL INOVATER NOW LIVES IN ME .....

[@pedroeustache5511]

...Also: LM-2 LinnDrum drum machine & an Oberheim DSX sequencer [@ 27:23]...

[@deetgeluid]

Zawinul is like God controlling the world. Sometimes things go wrong, usually it's beautiful.

[@bramda8602]

It s easy for you people to make statements like in your comment Ostenrick made ,according to me ,the reconciliation of West n East on simple statements like "Gods are not alive like us and that "they" can t live long in our human bodies .By the way do you believe in Christ?

[@rickperlstein9988]

34:09 "I Can't Get Started"

[@williamwinslow6582]

Chroma Polaris. I used to play my brother's.

[@Chaogardenx]

this sounds like me trying all the new keyboard sounds as a kid.

[@joezawinulreviewsandreacti2509]

Umm there is an element of experimentation but I think you're missing something

[@JKLANG440]

oberheim dmx and linn lm 1 drum machine

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

Wasn't this a Zawinul Syndicate performance? Over the last four months (as of April 2016), I've been watching and rewatching the original Tron. Parts of the first improvisation remind me of the Tron score written by Wendy Carlos.

[@davebartholome2924]

Joe didn’t form the Zawinul Syndicate until 1988. This performance is from 1985, and it’s just Joe, in the midst of a solo tour he did that year.

[@danieltuten9112]

What happens at 45:00? Great to see Joe laugh like that.

[@LOFTmusicChannel]

Yes, that is funny. Probably he did not want to hear his clear voice without the vocoder effect and the fact that it wasn't distorted made that the audience could understand what he was singing...

[@danieltuten9112]

Just out of curiosity, if you know, did the vocoder fail to trigger due to a glitch or was Joe laughing at a mistake on his part? Thanks for posting this video by the way, Zawinul is my favorite musician ever!

[@pedroeustache5511]

...ERRATA: It's an Oberheim DMX drum machine, not the DSX [@ 29':26'']...

[@SajoBkule]

00:50 That Zoom In The Camera , yisus

[@SlaveDotAudio]

end of the first segment, he plays the vivace part from Gnomous , Mussorsky pictures at an exhibition. He does it on some ring mod, atonal sound, but for sure, thats the quote. Dont like all those digital synths, guess they where insirational at the time, but he so used to tune the 2600, tune the moog, the 8 voice, his playing incorperates synth twiddle time. I think he looks kinda coked up, or acid, he looking like the synths gonna do something without him. Its so sitting in your room messing around vibe.... unique, and out there

[@LOFTmusicChannel]

+Allan Gabay Can you please post the time code for that segment where he plays the Gnomous? You mean at the end of Improvisation One?

[@milkolazar4711]

+Allan Gabay There are actually no digital synths here. They are all analog, only Korg DW6000 is partly digital (DCO) and it has digitally controlled filters. Chroma is also totally analog. Both Chromas. Ok, rhythm machines are digital, and Korg DSS 1 Sampler, that is true. But at the end, it is totally unimportant. The real artist can make art from anything.

[@bramda8602]

Thanks for Memory refresh (5years ago) but blame it on internauts Charabia or jazz I nearly forgot what a fantastic improvising instrument the vocoder can be Ella n Sachmo were here to testify but Jazzaria is such a pain in the harse....

[@newplanman9836]

True Son of his Ma... A Star of her at that!

[@JKLANG440]

the korg over Prophet 5 is a dw 6000

[@TheCinemaTologist]

Is this usable for video purposes?

[@Deluxeta]

9:13

[@brazillo19]

He should have dused this with his works from Weather Report.

[@deetgeluid]

Why was the control surface of the Prophet stuffed away. Did he use only one patch?

[@bramda8602]

Hey succker! The man is no more do you mind are you vidiot or tkidiot? both to my opinion(your comment was written 5 years ago but if I ever meet you for real I might show you the other side of JZ) Polizei

[@Twsuf1]

He needs the effects to make him sound good

[@sergiogodoy4756]

at 21:07, is he using an inverted tuning soloing Prophet T-8?

[@deetgeluid]

Very well possible. I believe the T8 had that option, as well as even keyboard inversion.

[@inompsum5007]

haha, he looks like my calc prof.

[@JobimSynthMusic]

Where are the synth musicians trying to do something inventive like this using their hands? I look around and only see generative unattended modular ambient yada yada..... I try to play stuff with my hands in my own music.

[@BarbieChaite]

ça sonne très pouet pouet camion par moment... très daté hélas.

[@francescogamer7731]

on top left is a Korg DW6000 not a DW8000

[@LOFTmusicChannel]

+Alessio Carollo You are absolutely right. The DW 8000 has black buttons, the DW 6000 white ones. We've corrected the information. Thanks.

[@jimbim4405]

I saw him during this tour and found this to be a MASSIVE disappointment. To put it into context, I named my son after him, so I am an enormous fan. But Joe had previously said that he could go on tour by himself and just play some keyboards, but it would have been no fun, as the pleasure is in playing with other musicians. HE WAS RIGHT!!! Luckily he found his way back a short time afrewards and will forever be missing from my life. But THIS project was a failure n my opinion.

[@maxxkarma]

Almost as genius as Jaco.

[@sexypoetry]

olivier messiaen meets nikola tesla....zawinul is so revered because he was one of the very few who could play those electronic "instruments" as if they are real instruments...but when i look at his moustache and hairdo i think that i know why he was able to achieve that....he almost surely has the long previous history of copulating with photos (in magazines) as if they were real girls. Zawinul's set up from that period is: - on his right from the top: Oberheim Xpander, Rhodes Chroma Expander, old analog ARP sequencer - in the centre from the top: Chroma Polaris, Prophet T-8, on the left two small Korg rhythm machines (DDM 110, 220) - on his left from the top: Korg DW 8000, Prophet 5, Oberheim DMX drum machine, Linn LM - 1 drum machine, Korg Vocoder (connected with T-8) At the back stage there is also a Korg DSS - 1 midi connected with Korg DW and Polaris operated by his tech (Jim Swanson?) There are also a lot of small switches, volume pedals etc. Everything is midi connected.

[@silva777]

Tired of synthesizers yet?

[@jimbosteen2935]

I dont think i could sit thru this, seeing Weather report my fav band, ummm id rather hear real piano etc. Dont hate me for this.

[@Rickriquinho]

This is hideous! Zawinul is not important for jazz history at all... He is just a famous name.

[@jonathanosborn4800]

Im not too into this show he did, i dont really know his solo career very well, personally. But, his composition skills and sensibilities mean a lot to me, personally, and also, his soloing has a great character, shows a good attitude on life, I think. Joyful melodic soloing

[@payt01]

OK I'm at 6:40, and so far it's been aimless noodling, levels all over the place, boring crap.. lol. Some quirky loop starts with more aimless noodling on top.. Ok I'm out. This guy seems incapable of keeping any kind of focus or direction in his music.. and sounds are terrible too. Oh he can play fast phrases.. there's that.

[@ampeg]

Please stfu and leave without the Debbie downer bull. Please post links to your genius music for all of us. You do know who Joe Zawinul is don’t you? You know his resume? His discography? Again you might just not be at a level enough to actually’get it’ He plays fast a lot? Wtf? That’s what you heard? BWAHAHAHA

[@ampeg]

Or how bout this why don’t you sit down and learn one of the sections with his “fast phrases” and post it

[@payt01]

@@ampeg What if I managed to do it? I'd be just as boring as Zawinul.. lol. His stuff may be highly technical, but that doesn't make it enjoyable. Not for me, at least. Maybe you're confusing music for a circus?

[@ampeg]

@@payt01 it’s called prerequisites buddy. It’s like chess, or martial arts, or becoming a surgeon. You think because you listen to some music you know something. But can you beat a chess champion, could you get in the ring with a black belt, could you perform surgery? Not unless you’ve had training in those disciplines. Until you can post something, he’ll ANYTHING that shows you can play some jazz, classical, or music that takes years to even be AT A TABLE with someone like Zawinal?! I go back to what I said just keep yo’ mouth shut till you have some fundamental prerequisites under your belt. Now dudes like you will go all “I’m jyst not feelin it” I say nope, you don’t even get too until you prove you’ve done some hard work and time. THIS AINT radio friendly mass consumption’music’ If I were you Id ONLY be asking “well what are the prerequisites that I need” but I doubt you will

[@payt01]

@@ampeg Oh right silly me, here I am thinking music was made for people to listen to and enjoy.. haha.. Turns out I need some kind of education to enjoy it. On the other hand, maybe it's my own experience in making music that made me decide the part I listened to wasn't doing anything for me. Like an artist once said: If you need to explain it, it ain't funky!

[@chuckwagnermusic]

It's too much stuff and he had troubles trying to work it all. He even looked befuddled sometimes like why isn't "it" doing "it", Dead air and then errant events. The string pad was also way overused.

[@Luca-vr7zx]

it looks like a child playing with too much colors. but the drawing is often poor. luxury technology used for aesthetics. definitively not my favourite player.