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Article: The soul of Seventies jazz-rock PHIL JOHNSON ON JAZZ Joe Zawinul: Visions of Miles Davis Barbican, London
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- November 21, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1999 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Never mind Miles Davis, whenever Joe Zawinul is on stage you begin
to have visions of Rick Wakeman. It's not really the fault of
Zawinul. Anyone who plays that many keyboards and appears so hemmed
in by the various boxes, gizmos and wires needed to operate them,
can't help but summon up the ghost of prog-rock's most over-equipped
piano player.
Standing behind the bars of his prison of Korgs and Yamahas, the
pugnacious Zawinul is made more pugnacious still because his kit
doesn't work properly.
In another echo of Seventies prog-rock, a black-clad roadie comes
and lies prone on the floor behind him to fiddle with various wires,
like a car mechanic sorting brakes. There are strong words from ...