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Joe Zawinul | Essential albums and listening guide
Explore Joe Zawinul through Black Market. Discover what to listen for and follow related styles to your next record.
Joe Zawinul
Meet the artist
A Vienna-born keyboardist and composer who recorded with Miles Davis and co-founded Weather Report with Wayne Shorter and others, developing new sounds for electric jazz. Synthesizers become sources of unfamiliar colors rather than substitutes for piano.
Short melodies and repeated bass figures build layered spaces for improvisation. In Weather Report, these textures interact with Wayne Shorter and other distinctive voices, loosening the division between solo and accompaniment. Electronic sound and physical rhythm coexist. His music makes instrumental color and sound design part of the compositional imagination.
Where to start listening
Pick out keyboard colors and hear how they overlap with bass and percussion. You can follow a tune or simply enjoy the layers of sound.
1976Black Market
Joe Zawinul / Wayne Shorter / Jaco Pastorius
It was Jaco Pastorius’ first participation in a work. This is an important piece that captures the transitional period of Weather Report’s fusion era.
Open this album in the Atlas →
1977Heavy Weather
Joe Zawinul / Wayne Shorter / Jaco Pastorius
The biggest hit of Weather Report’s career. Features a fusion of Jaco Pastorius’ bass and Savinell’s synthesizers, creating a masterpiece of fusion music: “Birdland”.
Open this album in the Atlas →
Years follow the Atlas catalogue. Recording dates, original release dates and digital reissue dates may differ.