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Best Album by Wayne Shorter

21K views 27 replies 24 participants last post by  FawltyTenor  
#1 ·
I was impressed by Wayne Shorter's playing and compositions when I first heard him with the Jazz Messingers. After that he recorded a bunch of albums with Blue Note and joined Miles Davis. Then came Weather Report and finally now we have "Footprints-Live" and "Alegria".

I think I still hear things in his recent playing that go back to Art Blakey days, and some of his albums like "The All Seeing Eye" seem to anticipate the Weather Report stuff.

He rarely seems to get mentioned in this forum, so what do you make of him? Which album or composition is your favorite? Or do you think he is just a Coltrane wannabe? (I think he is a musician and composer of the highest order whose work belongs alongside Bird, Trane, Sonny, and the rest.)
 
#2 ·
Highest order, no doubt.

Any of the Blue Note's from the 60s are untouchable, & some of my faves are "Speak No Evil," "Adam's Apple," "Schizophrenia," & "Juju." They're really all great though.

I even enjoy much of sides such as "Atlantis" & "Phantom Navigator," the one he did with Milton Nasciemento (sp?) titled "Native Dancer," & the relatively recent (96?) effort with Marcus Miller (can't recall the name of that one off-hand, but it's got unreal arrangements/orchestration). Wayne's a modern genius, for sure.
 
#3 ·
indisputeably important. I agree with Cane about the Bluenote recordings.
also...atlantis is fun...saw that tour in cleveland. quite a mythology to that record.

i enjoy everything he does. even his work as a sideman with steely dan (aja) and his extensive work with joni mitchell.

i can't help feeling a little disappointed by footprints live and the more recent large group recording. something is missing for me conceptually.
won't effect my ongoing worship.

another blue note favorite: etcetera (reissued to cd several years ago).
also there were a couple of quintet recordings on bluenote (with james spaulding, if i am recalling correctly) that are quite nice.

plus any of his work with herbie.
 
#5 ·
Shorter is a musician of the highest order...as a composer, he is one of the very best, and as a soloist he demands a lot of respect. He's deffinitely not a Trane wannabe, because his own sound is so very distinctive and personal.

I love his work with the Jazz Messengers, and of course, his later work with Miles Davis, Ron Carter and Herbie Hancock is phenomenal. Also, whenever he's played with Freddie Hubbard he's done great things.

I don't care for him as much in Weather Report, not because I don't like WR but because he's sort relegated to playing fills and breaks, and doesn't get a huge chance to solo. The band sounded great, but I don't think its as an effective vehicle for someone of his caliber. I dunno.

Of all his albums though, Speak No Evil is still, and probably always will be, my favorite he's ever done.
 
#6 ·
There's a Weather Report recording, an import, from the early 70's......I think it's "Live in Tokyo", where Wayne just burns........some of the recording is included in a truncated form on the disc "I Sing the Body Electric". It's the early WR thing, which is a lot like "Bitches Brew", not "Birdland", so it's not for everyone, but it's amazing. And "Cucumber Slumber", ("Mysterious Traveler"), "Elegant People", ("Black Market"), "Palladium", ("Heavy Weather"), "Lusitanos", ("Tale Spinnin'") are way bad....and check out his playing on "Sweetnighter". He certainly goes toe-to-toe with Zawinul on that one. "Native Dancer", "Adam's Apple", "Atlantis", "The Sorceror" (Miles), "Night Dreamer" are other personal faves......Wayne's no Trane clone. He is one of a kind.
 
#10 ·
Wayne always blows me away!! Beautiful composer and player! Just love all his work from the early sixties till now.
I'm sure his best album will be the next one......from the older ones i'd opt for Juju, however his current group is killing too....so also a vote for "Beyond the Sound Barrier"

For people who want to know more about Wayne Shorter I'd recommend reading the book "Footprints: The Life and Music of Wayne Shorter" by Michelle Mercer.
 
#11 ·
Wayne is wonderful, so original and creative in his playing. And soprano... forget it, real magic.

You MUST listen to him on Miles' "Live At the Plugged Nickel". Wayne is simply amazing. He also talks about these recordings in the book mentioned by Debber. Listen to all CD's and you'll hear everything...
 
#14 ·
I'm also a fan of Wayne Shorter, especially on tenor. I don't have many of his recordings (need to get some more), but one of my favorite recordings of all time is 'Speak No Evil'. It's not just Wayne's playing, but the whole band, especially Herbie Hancock, that makes that such a special recording.
 
#17 ·
I've never been able to get into Wayne Shorter. I dig his compositions, but not his actual playing. Never dug it with Blakey, with Miles, or as a leader himself. I saw him about 6 or 7 years ago and was really disappointed. He barely played the whole night. Just short sparse phrases and I mean REALLY short and REALLY sparse. Luckily for me, Danilo Perez, John Pattitucci, and Brian Blade were in top form and I enjoyed their playing a lot.
 
#19 ·
Can't add a think to what's been said, but my vote is Adam's Apple, then Speak No Evil. With Blakey, the track Free For All is monstrous. I'd love to know the back story of that day, because Wayne was beyond himself. I know Freddie Hubbard said the studio walls were literally shaking, but there had to be something specific to Shorter and/or Blakey, because he is as ferocious as Billy Harper on that cut. Awesome.
 
#20 ·
I am also a BIG TIME fan of Wayne....he is probably my 2nd favorite on tenor and soprano. My very favorite recording of him is the studio version of A REMARK YOU MADE, (from weather report's heavy weather) this is a very challinging piece to play on tenor because of the extensive use of altissimo. I think he approaches high G from about 4 or 5 different pitches above and below it and even slurrs up an octave from the g below it. Every other recording I see of this song is someone on alto ....he is the only person I know who has recorded it on tenor . Zawinul's synth soloing is also unique on this song. Wayne just blistered at times with the Jazz Messengers. I think his solo albums are a bit of an acquired taste.
 
#21 ·
Not sure why Mr. Shorter isn't mentioned here more frequently. I'm a big fan of his playing, and as Kurt Elling put it he's probably one of the three greatest jazz composers along with Thelonius Monk and Duke Ellington. He was really a contemporary of Coltrane, he had his own sound together pretty much at the same time. Very personal or individual style, I don't think Waybe sounds like anyone else.

My favorite solo albums of his would be Speak No Evil, Night Dreamer, and Native Dancer. But then Ju Ju and Adams Apple are pretty darn good too. Agree with Percussive Alto on the recordings with Miles. Those were the ones that really made me a big Wayne Shorter fan... ESP, Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Live at Plugged Nickel, In a Silent Way....and Files De Kilimajaro also. All the Miles stuff is stellar.

The Weather Report stuff is quite good also. 8:30 was one of the early jazz albums in my collection, and I like a lot of the Weather Report music from the first album, I Sing the Body Electric, Black Market through the ones with Jaco.

There's just such a body of work, it's really hard to single out individual albums. I have to respectfully disagree with the last poster though, I don't find his solo albums to be an acquired taste at all. Speak No Evil was one of the very first jazz CDs I purchased when I started changing my collection over from vinyl to digital.