JSngry Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 Finished skimming this and am now beginning to actually read it. First impression is that, despite occasional obvious errors (e.g. - Willie Maiden is referred to as "Willie Nathan") and a possible dependence on cumulatively-credited-at-the-end-of-the-book but not individually cited research (e.g. - Alex Acuna's claim that "Elegant People" was written for him is printed verbatim from its website telling, which might ceome from someplace else, even, I don't know), this book is a good compendium of the facts of Zawinul's life and career. The author has had a fair amount of ono-on-one interviews w/Zawinul, and, perhaps, those who have worked/been around him over the years (without specific citations and/or an encylopedic knowledge of what's already been published, it's hard to say what's "found" and what's original, and yes, that bugs me). The book is written fromt he perspective of a fan, but the musical critiques show a fair amount of objectivity, if an equally fair amount of a lack of real musical analytical skills. The writing style is concise w/o being bland. I'll leave it to others to determine if this is a "real" book or a "cut and paste" job (although, Glasser seems to hedge his bets a little in the introduction by going to some length to differentiate between a "biography" - which he claims that this is NOT, and a "portrait" - which is what he calls this book). Bottom line, though -there's nothing else out there this comprehensive about Zawinul, a figure whose personal importance is huge to some and minimal to others, but about whom it would be hard to argue that the word "influential" did not apply in some form or fashion. I'm a big fan (but not an "absolute" one), and I'm enjoying this book, flaws (real and possible) and all. It'll have to do until the real thing comes along, if it ever does... Somewhat enthusiastically recommended on those terms to fans of this unique artist. You'll not fail to get a better picture of the Zawinul personality, personal and artistic, and that might well have been the author's only true intent. If so, he's succeeded marvellously, if frustratingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted July 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 Oh yeah, one BIG revelation from this book was the fact(?) that a percussionist named Barbara Burton, along with Don Alias, actually provided the bulk of the percussion work on the first Weather Report album, and that Airto's involvement, by his own admission, was limited to a few overdubs and posing for photos. The Barbara Burton tale is pretty interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockefeller center Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 There's another book. On occasion of Z's 70th birthday a biography (it's basically an interview covering Zawinul's entire life with some very nice photos) in German language was published in 2002. http://www.residenzverlag.at/programm/frue...002/baumann.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 I've read elsewehere (an article I have lying around somewhere) that Wayne wrote 'Elegant People' when he was at NYU. Therefore, Acuna was probably NOT the inspiration. I have mixed feelings about this book in terms of the level of research, but it does read very well. Also some very interesting info - I had no idea that Wayne and Booker Little were friends. Imagine the possibilities... Bertrand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockefeller center Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 I've read elsewehere (an article I have lying around somewhere) that Wayne wrote 'Elegant People' when he was at NYU. I saw this was on the web. I've been trying to find this article - no luck. Just in case you come across it sometime, could you please post it to the board or send me a PM or something? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted July 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 I have mixed feelings about this book in terms of the level of research, but it does read very well. Also some very interesting info My sentiments exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockefeller center Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 On page 182: who could be the drummer they flew in from Switzerland? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Fitzgerald Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 I would propose Billy Brooks. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 There's an excellent Weather Report Discography here, or at least there used to be. Hopefully it will come back online soon. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l p Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 i heard from a good source that zawinul will never allow the release of the long studio jams from which a lot of the weather report 79?-81 tunes were extracted. that he wants the belief to be that he carefully planned and wrote those tunes. is that in the bio? the jams are supposedly fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockefeller center Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 (edited) In the bio Chester Thompson says "I was thrown by the detail of charts of each of them[...]I was surprised by the details of the charts, actually." It is also mentioned that editing was involved in putting WR albums together. Seems as if they were being pragmatic. Edit: of course, Thompson was in the band before the period you're talking about. Edited July 26, 2004 by rockefeller center Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l p Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 In the bio Chester Thompson says "I was thrown by the detail of charts of each of them[...]I was surprised by the details of the charts, actually." http://www.binkie.net/wrdisc/Weather%20Report%201982.html Erskine explained the genesis of "Dara Factor One" and "Dara Factor Two" to Brian Glasser: "The Dara Factors--that was one long jam. I remember they got this extra-large reel of tape, and when we were doing it they even ran a speaker out into the lounge so all the people working in the studio could hear it. We wanted to do a jam, and at one point I said, 'Joe, how about something like this? This would be fun,' and I played a kind of pocket groove. I thought it was cool. And Joe waved me to stop. He's standing in the center of the room, I'm in my drum booth, and he says through the microphones, 'What's fun about that? I don't hear anything fun in that.' So that's why Dara had that kind of ass-backwards beat, because he was always looking for something out of the ordinary." [iASW, p. 226] Brian Risner told Glasser, "Dara Factor was basically, 'Hey, we got an hour left. What are we gonna do?' And I was so efficient with the production on that record--we had two days booked, and we'd gone in and gotten two takes on everything, maybe three, and we'd gotten everything we wanted. So he had an interesting sequence pattern, probably on the Oberheim, and they jammed on that. There was a lot of work on post [-production] on it, because basically it was a groove and a basic melody, so we cut it and added a lot of the accents and stuff to make it work." [iASW, p. 226] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted July 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 Ok, that's one tune. What others were done like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockefeller center Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 (edited) I read a Zawinul interview where he said that he often collected tons of material over a period of time and later used just tiny bits on a record so there's a contradiction to what your source wants us to believe. Extensive editing and thoroughly composed stuff don't necessarily exclude each other. If the only reason for Z holding back this material is because he wants people to believe in first live takes or something = stupid. It would be cool to hear this music. I don't care how this stuff was put together. Edited July 26, 2004 by rockefeller center Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l p Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 i'm sure that joe came in with tunes, but i believe that there were also long jams, improvised in the studio during the recording sessions, especially toward the end of pastorius' stay with the band. short segments were issued from some of these, like the dara factor example, and i'm sure that there are other jams that were never used for release. reels of long improvised jams sitting in the studio vaults. and i wouldn't call it extensive editing, taking two 5min pieces out of a 30m reel. teo macero with miles' 1970's music. now, that's extensive editing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted September 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2004 Finished reading it (I usually read books like this only in the bathroom, so it takes a while). Lousy scholarship (seems very much "cut and paste"; some pretty "obvious" names gotten blatantly wrong; very weak musical analysis); yet an "entertaining" read which has sent me back to Zawinul's music, music that I am continuing to for the most part find strong and inspirational. Even prompted a purchase of the Syndicate's WORLD TOUR CD, and that has proven to be a good thing. * for literary merit, **** for entertainment/holding interest. Sad that the dichotomy exists, but there it is. It would have been more appropriate to do a "Joe Zawinul Reader" type book, but I guess there's no ego boost in doing that... Borrow a copy, or see if your library has it/can get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Wheel Posted September 6, 2004 Report Share Posted September 6, 2004 Off topic, but I just heard the Syndicate playing live at the Cork Jazz Festival on the radio...seriously badass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue-note-ojc Posted September 8, 2004 Report Share Posted September 8, 2004 My real interest in Joe Zawinul is his time with Cannonball Adderley. Is there much in the book on that period? Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted September 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2004 Some, yeah. As well as about his time w/Maynard and Dinah Washington (I didn't realize that Zawinul had been her regular pianist and had played on "What A Difference A Day Made"). It's not the focus of the book, but it's in there fairly good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 Jim, How would you rate is as bathroom reading There is a self-published book in French on Weather Report by Christophe Delbrouck. It is chock-full of errors, but still a very interesting read. Barbara Burton's memory is hazy. She does not play on Super Nova, she plays on the rejected last session (October 1970). Bertrand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted September 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 Great bathroom reading! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.