BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- One of the creators
of jazz-rock fusion with the band Weather Report, keyboardist Joe Zawinul, has
died in at age 75, a hospital official said.
Zawinul died early Tuesday, a spokeswoman for
Vienna's Wilhelmina Clinic said, giving no details. He had been
hospitalized since last month and suffered from a rare form of skin cancer, said
Risa Zincke, his manager, according to the Austria Press Agency.
Zawinul won acclaim for his keyboard work on
chart-topping Miles Davis albums such as "In A Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew,"
and was a leading force behind the so-called "Electric Jazz" movement.
In 1970, Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter put
together Weather Report and produced a series of albums including "Heavy
Weather," "Black Market," "I Sing the Body Electric," and the Grammy-winning
live recording "8:30."
He is credited with bringing the electric piano and
synthesizer into the jazz mainstream, but was frustrated by the lack of respect
for electric keyboards and new technology among jazz purists.
"There is no difference between a Stradivarius or a
beautiful synthesizer sound," Zawinul told Jazziz magazine earlier this year.
"People make a big mistake in putting down electronic music. Yes, it's been
misused and abused, but that's true of every music.
Herbie Hancock, who took part in the "Bitches Brew"
session, called Zawinul "a force" in the jazz world.
"Joe Zawinul is one of my oldest friends in the music
business," Hancock said in a statement released through his publicist. "He was a
force as a composer and an amazing conceptualizer.
"He opened up a doorway between jazz and rock 'n'
roll and was a major influence on Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter and me. The world
has never been the same since he made his contribution to our society."
Born in 1932, Zawinul grew up in a working-class
family during World War II in the Austrian capital. He played accordion on the
streets to make money and received classical piano training as a child prodigy
at the Vienna Conservatory. In the postwar years, he grew interested in American
jazz, playing in a dance band that included the future Austrian President Thomas
Klestil and making a name for himself on the local jazz scene in bands led by
saxophonist Hans Koller and others.
Weather Report enjoyed its biggest commercial success
with the 1977 album "Heavy Weather" which featured Zawinul's catchy tune
"Birdland," which became one of the most recognizable jazz hits of the '70s
after it was also recorded by Maynard Ferguson and the vocal group Manhattan
Transfer.
After Weather Report broke up in 1986, Zawinul went
on to form The Zawinul Syndicate, which brought together a global village of
musicians who recorded such albums as the Grammy-nominated "My People" (1996)
and "World Tour" (1998).
(Agencies)
