Joe Zawinul is the most important European in the history of jazz, and quite simply one of the finest bandleaders and composers in the history of the music. With his group Weather Report he pioneered the last seismic shift American jazz has known - the incorporation of world rhythms and new electronic tonalities, loosely known as fusion. Weather Report enjoyed 15 years of unmitigated success because they spoke the language of the common man without sacrificing musical complexity - exemplified in their hit Birdland. Before that, Zawinul had already made his mark in the bands of Cannonball Adderley and Miles Davis, for whom he composed the seminal In a Silent Way.

For the first time, this book tells Joe's remarkable story in depth. It includes original interviews with the irrepressible Zawinul himself and over seventy of his friends and collaborators - from Thelonious Monk to the president of Austria! - ranging from the 1940s to the present day.

BRIAN GLASSER was born in London at 6.15 pm on 2 May 1958. This endeared him to his father, who was then able to get to the 8 o'clock show of Jazz at the Philharmonic (featuring Ella Fitzgerald) at the Kilburn State. His father returned the favour by bringing him up on an Ellingtonian diet, the perfect starter for a main course of things Zawinulian. He has written about jazz for many years, not least for Q, Mojo and Jazzwise. He keeps a Masters degree in Medical Sociology in the garage, but only uses it on weekdays.

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