Joe Zawinul died today. He was 75. He had been in the hospital for a month suffering from a rare form of skin cancer.
You can find out more about his life and music at his official site and on Wikipedia. His music will be missed but never forgotten.
One of my favorite albums featuring Joe Zawinul as a sideman is Why Am I Treated So Bad? by Cannonball Adderley. The title track features a dirty wurlitzer solo by Joe. To me, the best part is the audience participation. It’s a deep conversation between musician and audience.
Another great track on that album is Mini Mama. The transcription I’m posting below is of Cannonball Adderley’s alto sax solo. This is another soulful blues that gets the audience shouting.
Download the transcription: Mini Mama Alto Sax Solo
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Hey Graham,
Thanks for this. My first encounter with Joe was on Weather Report’s Black Market, which still stands up, in my mind, as one of the best jazz fusion records ever made.
But the man had some ROOTS in him for an Austrian cat trained at the Vienna Conservatory!
This is a big loss…
I have a lot of Weather Report on vinyl but don’t own a record player at the moment. I think it’s time to get it on digital. Man, I still love Birdland.