Josef Zawinul
Joe Zawinul (born July 7, 1932 in Vienna, Austria as Josef Zawinul) is one of the front runners in the development of jazz fusion along with Chick Corea, John McLaughlin and Miles Davis. His band, Weather Report, consisted of Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Alex Acuña and Manolo Badrena.
Zawinul, along with Corea, was one of the first to integrate electric pianos and early synthesizers such as Bob Moog's minimoog into jazz. He is still a prominent artist and composer in the jazz community.
He is probably most famous for composing Birdland, a 5 minute progressive opus featured on the group's 1977 album Heavy Weather. Birdland is one of the most recognizable jazz pieces of the '70s because of its distinctive bassline by Pastorius.
Trivia
Zawinul grew up in Landstraße, Vienna, where he went to school with Austrian Federal President Thomas Klestil. Zawinul emigrated to the United States in the late 1950s.
Further research
See: Weather Report, jazz fusion
External links
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