Strong brew.

Austrian jazz pianist, Joe Zawinul died today. He was 75. An accomplished keyboardist, Joe played for Dinah Washington, Maynard Ferguson and scored hits for Cannonball Adderly like the 1966 gospel tinged Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.

A regular at New York's Birdland nightclub, he was never afraid to blend other musical styles into his sound. Rock, soul, gospel, r&b all mixed in with his sound. And he played electric piano, pretty out there when the only electrified instruments in jazz had mainly been guitar and organ.
He met Miles Davis there and the 2 worked together on In a Silent Way (for which he wrote the title song) and then by 1970 he worked with Davis on Bitches Brew, the landmark jazz fusion album. This same year saw the beginning of one his most enduring projects; Weather Report. Together with saxopohinist Wayne Shorter they defined jazz fusion for over 15 years.

A year later he founded the Zawinul Syndicate and had just finished a tour of Europe marking its 20th anniversary this past spring.