Wayne Shorter –
Legend of Jazz - The Soothsayer
By: Ken Pickering / Artistic Director
We’ve been fortunate to host Sonny Rollins a couple of times recently but it’s
been a few years since the great saxophonist / composer Wayne Shorter has
performed at the festival. Mr. Shorter is at the Vogue Theatre - June 26th.
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One of my all time favourites, Shorter’s music as a leader
and a sideman has been an important part of my listening education for over 40 years. The master’s music has drilled deep into my consciousness right to the core of my very being. It’s difficult to even know where
to begin – there are quite a few albums with Wayne Shorter that were life
altering: early 60’s dates with Art Blakey Ugetsu and Free For All (click) were
swingin’ examples of hard bop at it’s fiery best. Miles Smiles (1967) was my
first Miles album; it made an enormous impact, as did all the Columbias with
Miles Davis’ second classic quintet (Tony Williams, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancok,
Wayne Shorter and Miles) on albums like Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky, E.S.P and
Filles de Kilimanjaro. Here's a version of Footprints from a '67 Newport All Stars tour recorded in Sweden. Shorter’s great compositions and playing with Miles
played an important role in the success of that incredibly influential mid 60’s
band.
As a leader, Schizophrenia (1967) was the first Shorter
album I heard (I’m sure I wore out my copy) but again, all of his 60’s small
group Blue Notes are treasures and include incredible dates such as Ju Ju,
Speak No Evil (click), Adam’s Apple, Night Dreamer, All Seeing Eye, The Soothsayer and
Et Cetera (the latter two released later) that more than stand the test of
time and are classics of the era. The sidemen on these albums included jazz greats Lee Morgan, Elvin Jones,
Joe Chambers, Freddie Hubbard as well as his colleagues with Miles.
Wayne Shorter - The All Seeing Eye
The 70’s ushered in all manner of fusions. Shorter’s first
electric bands were also ground breaking as you can hear on the incredible
sessions for Super Nova '69 (click), Motto Grosso Feio and Odyssey of Iska. Incredibly
we’re just hitting the 70’s with the first self titled debut album by Weather
Report just coming into focus. Co-lead with Joe Zawinul, Weather Report was one
of the most popular jazz rooted bands of all time and continued to 1985 with
varying personnel. Check out Second Sunday in August (click) from 1972's I Sing the Body Electric.
In 1974 Shorter recorded one of the most exquisite albums of
his career, Native Dancer (with the brilliant Brazilian singer/songwriter Milton
Nascimento) a funky, lyrical work with Brazilian rhythms that foreshadowed a
new perspective that saw jazz musicians incorporate diverse world traditions into
their own music. Native Dancer (aside for 60’s bossa, Jobim etc) was incredibly
popular, it was definitely the album that turned me onto Brazilian music for
real. Listen to Ponta de Areia (click) one of the most beautiful tunes ever - brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it!
As we can see Wayne Shorter has been a restless explorer –
as a saxophonist, bandleader and composer this man has compiled one of the most
important legacies in modern jazz. His current acoustic quartet is incredible.
Among the finest creative jazz ensembles performing today, formed in 2000 with
Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade –each musician is a virtuoso and consummate
musician. A few months ago I was lucky enough to be just a few feet away from
Brian Blade at the Blue Note in NYC when he played with Chick Corea and Gary
Peacock - mindblowing! I’ve only heard this band live a couple of times and I’m
hungry for more, this is one of the concerts marked by a big star in my
calendar!
The Quartet on Masqualero in Montreal 2003
Revered by musicians and audiences alike, Wayne Shorter
leads one of the significant jazz ensembles of our time. The iconic Wayne
Shorter Quartet - Vogue Theatre – June 26th.
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