Tag Archives: joezawinul
Kurt Elling/Yellowjackets Celebrate The Music Of Weather Report @ Cadogan Hall, 15 November 2025
It seems such a logical fit for Yellowjackets (purveyors of quality fusion since 1979 who once counted Felix Pastorius – Jaco’s son – amongst their ranks) to celebrate the music of Weather Report. But throw Kurt Elling into the mix too? Then you remember that he has become legendary for vocalising seemingly impossible tunes in […]
Wayne Shorter’s ‘Harlequin’: a tale of three piano players
Wayne Shorter’s memorable but oft-forgotten ballad first appeared as a relatively ‘minor’ track on Heavy Weather, sandwiched between the more famous ‘Teen Town’ and ‘Palladium’. But, like most Wayne tunes of that era, the power of ‘Harlequin’ has only increased over the years – not surprising considering its stunning chord changes, spine-tingling harmony and arresting […]
Scott Henderson @ Ronnie Scott’s, 4 March 2024
Has there ever been a greater guitar soloist over one chord than Scott Henderson (with stiff competition John Scofield, Frank Gambale, Frank Zappa, John McLaughlin and a few more)? Give him 32 bars of G-minor and he’ll find any manner of exciting, propulsive, envelope-pushing angles, without ever resorting to jazz, blues or fusion clichés – […]
Book Review: Elegant People (A History of the band Weather Report) by Curt Bianchi
‘The baddest shit on the planet’ – that was Weather Report keyboard player/co-founder/chief composer Joe Zawinul’s assessment of his band’s music. He wasn’t alone – many credit them as the greatest jazz/rock unit in history, pretty impressive considering they developed out of a ‘scene’ that also included The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return To Forever and Herbie […]
Steve Khan returns with Backlog
Steve Khan is one of jazz’s most underrated and distinctive guitarists. His unique chord voicings, intriguing melodic sense and subtle use of effects have illuminated work by The Brecker Brothers, Steely Dan, Billy Cobham and Joe Zawinul. Khan’s many solo albums across a 40-year career showcase his enormous versatility, from overdubbed guitar tributes to Thelonious […]
DVD Review: Weather Report’s Live In Berlin 1975
They were one of the bands who, along with Chick Corea’s Return To Forever, Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters and John McLaughlin‘s Mahavishnu Orchestra, took Miles Davis‘s late-’60s jazz/rock blueprint and ran with it, progressing from playing nightclubs to concert halls and football stadiums. Their famous credo – ‘we always solo and we never solo’ – was […]
Jaco Pastorius: Three Views Of ‘Three Views Of A Secret’
First of all, I’ve got to declare an interest: Jaco’s in my all-time top five favourite musicians. Ever since I started really noticing music in the late ’70s, he was always on my radar – my dad would play Weather Report’s Heavy Weather and Mr Gone around the house. Since buying his legendary 1976 debut […]
DVD Review: Jaco
It’s somewhat surprising that it’s taken so long for a major doc about Jaco Pastorius to be released. There have been major biographies of the bass master before – Charles Shaar Murray presented a spirited two-part tribute on BBC Radio, while Bill Milkowski’s book was exhaustive and well-researched but controversial in its unflinching detail. Then, […]
Rescued From The Vaults: Weather Report’s Mr Gone
Dateline 1977: After seven years of hard work with a serious album/tour itinerary and drummer issues to rival even Spinal Tap, Weather Report, the legendary jazz/rock band led by keyboardist Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, finally hit gold. They had a dynamite new bass player in Jaco Pastorius, a US FM radio community that […]
Sounds Of Surprise 