JANUARY 28, 2010 ISSUE
Heavy Weather at Canyons This Friday
Steve Davidowski is one of the five musicians that will play Canyons as Heavy Weather this Friday, January 29. Covering the music of Weather Report and other influential jazz fusion artists, Heavy Weather will be a unique experience of energetic and spontaneous music. Photo submitted
Steve Davidowski, brothers Andy Page and Zack Page, Jonathan Priest and Micah Thomas will team up to play a one-time gig under the band name Heavy Weather this Friday, January 29, at 10:00 p.m. at Canyons in Blowing Rock. Admission is free.
The performance will be a tribute to the music of jazz fusion greats Weather Report and Chick Corea, and the group will also play songs from other jazz artists, such as Keith Jarrett, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Stevie Wonder, plus a few originals, Andy said.
“Weather report had three great writers in the band: Josef Zawinul, Wayne Shorter and Jaco Pastorius, and we’d like to feature their original compositions,” he said. “Their style mixes the harmonic sophistication of jazz with funk, blues and elements from indigenous music from around the world with a strong rhythmic emphasis.”
The lineup includes some “challenging pieces,” Zack said, but he expects the musicians to perform well together, despite the fact not all of them have met—much less played together—before, since members live in Boone, Asheville and Marshall.
“A lot of times what Andy and I do is pick some players we think would play well together,” he said, explaining that each musician works on the pieces individually, and the actual performance thus results in spontaneity and, oftentimes, the best sounds.
“It won’t be polished by any means,” Zack said, “but we’ll be tight. We’ll be grooving.”
Zack and Andy grew up listening to heavy metal, but their father was a “big jazz fan,” Zack said. The brothers were later drawn into jazz, and Weather Report was “easy to latch onto” because the group had the “energy of a rock band, but with the improvisation and rhythmic elements of jazz,” he added.
The Page brothers have played with Davidowski on numerous previous occasions, and both admire his creativity and musicianship, they said.
“He’s a double threat,” Zack said, noting that Davidowski plays both saxophone and keyboard—the two main instruments of Weather Report.
The group will be rounded out with Andy on guitar, Zack on bass and Priest and Thomas on drums and percussion, Andy said.
Like the music of Weather Report, the show will be instrumental and lively. Weather Report, comprised of members from many different countries, put out 15 albums and had its heyday when the 1977 album Weather Report propelled the group to international renown, Zack said.
Weather Report’s two main players, Shorter and Zawinul, both came out of Miles Davis’ bands, Zack noted.
For more information about the show, call Canyons at 828-295-7661.
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