The Vinyl Side of Midnight, 9-16 9 p.m.

[Lazaro Vega]

Vinyl Side of Midnight 2007

This is the playlist for this week’s Vinyl Side of Midnight, which can be heard on 89.7fm WLNZ in the Greater Lansing area, or you can tune in internationally on the web on www.wlnz.org - hosted by Mike Stratton, Sunday nights, 9- midnight, Eastern Standard Time.

For more information, visit www.mikestratton.com

9/16/07

Joe Zawinul

Composer, band leader, keyboard player and a pioneer of ‘fusion’, Joe Zawinul was a major contributor to the landscape of jazz from the late 1960’s. He passed away this week.

Zawinul wrote some popular jazz tunes, including “Birdland” for Weather Report and “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” for Cannonball Adderly. His participation in the bands of Adderly and Miles Davis boosted the popularity and significantly altered the sounds, adding Fender Rhodes piano and his own compositions. He made a string of ground breaking albums w/co-leader Wayne Shorter for the band Weather Report. After the band broke up in the mid 80s, Zawinul continued to tour and record with his band, Zawinul Syndicate.

Weather Report’s second album, “I Sing The Body Electric”, was one of the first jazz records I bought. I was going on the recommendation of a Rolling Stone record review, and bringing it home and placing it on the turntable, I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. “Unknown Soldier”, the first track, was actually frightening to me, and I wasn’t used to having that reaction to music. I grew to love the music of Weather Report, and followed the career and careers of the sidemen of Miles Davis as a way of discovering jazz. Think what you will of fusion music, it introduced a lot of rock fans to jazz.

Tune in Sunday night and see what you think.

Set List

Birdland – Weather Report “Heavy Weather”

Brownstreet – Zawinul & Big Band

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy – Cannonball Adderly “Live At The Club”

Boogie Woogie Waltz – Weather Report “Sweetnighter”

A Remark You Made – Weather Report “Heavy Weather”

Black Market – Weather Report

Great Expectations – Miles Davis “Big Fun”

Directions – Weather Report “Forecast: Tomorrow”

Unknown Soldier – Weather Report “I Sing The Body Electric”

Orange Lady – Weather Report “Weather Report”

Gemini/Double Image – Miles Davis “Live/Evil”

Dr. Honoris Causa – Cannonball Adderly “The Black Messiah”

Cannonball – Weather Report “Black Market”

Badia – Weather Report “Tale Spinnin’”

Pharoah’s Dance – Miles Davis “Bitches Brew”

In A Silent Way – Miles Davis

Jungle Book – Weather Report “Mysterious Traveler”