Joe's music always evokes deep feelings in me.

His music..his persona at live concerts..his soul touched mine.

As I write this ( now listening to A Remark You Made ), I wonder how I'd be different today w/o Joe Zawinal's touch. Certainly I don't mean physically. Every time that I hear this song-EVERY TIME I hear it-I FEEL it, and not just memories.

Music has a  sometimes wonderful, sometimes painful way of taking us elsewhere-often to the past-to the times we first got "into" a song.  Joe's music often does  just that, but also, has the ability to take you somewhere else, even after you heard the song many, many times...

To those of us Zawinal fans, when "World Music" became vogue, we all wondered where the 'in vogue-ittes' had been. Joe had been doing world music for years and years, prior.

From the Cannonball Years (hey, was Joe in the Valley at Stambaugh Auditorium?) to the Zawninal Syndicate years. (Lest locals forget the State Theatre Weather Report concert)

Joe Zawinul was hospitalized in his native Vienna on August 7, 2007[3], only five weeks after concluding a European tour. He died from a rare form of skin cancer (Merkel Cell Carcinoma) on September 11, 2007

Yes, 2008 had been a sadly quiet year w/o Joe, but to and for our GREAT fortune,Joe's left so much of himself...Joe left us a tool kit-a tool kit that  provides us keys to unlock the doors of enjoyment,entertainment, introspection, happiness, sadness and wonder !

Now listening to Blackthorn Rose from Weather Report's Mysterious Traveller, as I look out the window to a beautiful blanket of snow... my memory accesses images  from my past and  sensations of warmth and wonder .

I remember Joe and am truly appreciative for his gifts to us...plus, I'll miss  the hats....

I would always query what would Joe's next musical incarnation be....I hope to find out.