Wayne Shorter
Encyclopedia
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.
He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards
. Shorter's output has earned worldwide recognition, critical praise and various commendations, including multiple Grammy Awards.
Shorter first came to wide prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey
's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he went on to join Miles Davis
's second great quintet, and from there he co-founded the jazz fusion band Weather Report
. He has recorded over 20 albums as a bandleader.
, New Jersey
, and attended Newark Arts High School
. He loved music, being encouraged by his father to take up the saxophone as a teenager (his brother Alan
became a trumpeter). After graduating from New York University
in 1956, Shorter spent two years in the U.S. Army
, during which time he played briefly with Horace Silver
. After his discharge from the army, he played with Maynard Ferguson
. It was in his youth that Shorter was given the nickname Mr. Gone, which would later become an album title for Weather Report
.
In 1959, Shorter joined Art Blakey. He stayed with Blakey for five years, and eventually became musical director
for his group.
finally left Miles Davis
' band in 1960 to pursue his own group (after previously trying to leave in 1959), Coltrane proposed Wayne Shorter as a replacement but Shorter was unavailable and Davis went with Sonny Stitt
on tenor followed by a revolving door of Hank Mobley
, George Coleman
, and Sam Rivers
. In 1964, Miles Davis persuaded Shorter to leave Blakey and join his quintet alongside Herbie Hancock
, Ron Carter
and Tony Williams.
Miles' so-called "second great quintet" (to distinguish it from the quintet with Coltrane) that included Hancock and Shorter has frequently been cited by musicians and critics as one of the most influential groups in the history of jazz, and Shorter's compositions are a primary reason. He composed extensively for Miles Davis (e.g. "Prince of Darkness", "E.S.P.", "Footprints", "Sanctuary", "Nefertiti", and many others); on some albums, he provided half of the compositions, typically hard-bop workouts with spaced-out long melody lines above the beat.
Herbie Hancock said of Shorter's tenure in the group, "The master writer to me, in that group, was Wayne Shorter. He still is a master. Wayne was one of the few people who brought music to Miles that didn't get changed." Davis said, "Wayne is a real composer. He writes scores, write the parts for everybody just as he wants them to sound... Wayne also brought in a kind of curiosity about working with musical rules. If they didn't work, then he broke them, but with musical sense; he understood that freedom in music was the ability to know the rules in order to bend them to your own satisfaction and taste."
Shorter remained in Davis's band after the breakup of the quintet in 1968, playing on early jazz fusion
recordings including In a Silent Way
and Bitches Brew
(both 1969). His last live dates and studio recordings with Davis were in 1970.
Until 1968, he played tenor saxophone
exclusively. The final album on which he played tenor in the regular sequence of Davis albums was Filles de Kilimanjaro
. In 1969, he played the soprano saxophone
on the Davis album In a Silent Way
and on his own Super Nova (recorded with then-current Davis sidemen Chick Corea
and John McLaughlin
). When performing live with Miles Davis, and on recordings from summer 1969 to early spring 1970, he played both soprano and tenor saxophones; by the early 1970s, however, he chiefly played soprano.
, featuring almost exclusively his own compositions, with a variety of line-ups, quartets and larger groups including Blue Note favourites such as Freddie Hubbard
. His first Blue Note album (of nine in total) was Night Dreamer
, recorded at Rudy Van Gelder
's studio in 1964 with Lee Morgan
, McCoy Tyner
, Reggie Workman
and Elvin Jones
.
JuJu
and Speak No Evil
are well known recordings from this era. Shorter's compositions on these albums are notable for their use of:
The later album The All Seeing Eye
was a free-jazz workout with a larger group, while Adam's Apple
of 1966 was back to carefully constructed melodies by Shorter leading a quartet. Then a sextet again in the following year for Schizophrenia
with his Miles Davis band mates Hancock and Carter plus trombonist Curtis Fuller
, alto saxophonist/flautist James Spaulding and strong rhythms by drummer Joe Chambers
. These albums have recently been remastered by Rudy Van Gelder
.
Shorter also recorded occasionally as a sideman
(again, mainly for Blue Note) with Donald Byrd
, McCoy Tyner
, Grachan Moncur III
, Freddie Hubbard
, Lee Morgan
, and bandmates Hancock and Williams.
in 1970, Shorter formed the fusion group Weather Report
with Miles Davis veteran keyboardist Joe Zawinul
. The other original members were bassist Miroslav Vitous
, percussionist Airto Moreira
, and drummer Alphonse Mouzon
. After Vitous' departure in 1973, Shorter and Zawinul co-led the group until the band's break-up in late 1985. A variety of excellent musicians that would make up Weather Report alumni over the years (most notably the revolutionary bassist Jaco Pastorius
) helped the band produce many high quality recordings in diverse styles through the years, with funk
, bebop
, Latin jazz
, ethnic music, and futurism
being the most prevalent denominators.
, notably Native Dancer
, which featured his Miles Davis band-mate Herbie Hancock and Brazilian composer and vocalist Milton Nascimento
. Shorter was to work with both of these musicians again later.
On the title track of Steely Dan
's 1977 album Aja
, he played a solo that moved the critic writing the album's liner notes to call it "suitable for framing". Concurrently, in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, he toured in the V.S.O.P.
quintet. This group was a revival of the 1960s Miles Davis quintet, except that Freddie Hubbard
filled the trumpet chair instead of Miles. Shorter appeared with the same former Davis bandmates on the Carlos Santana double LP The Swing of Delight
, for which he also composed a number of pieces.
From 1977 through 2002, he appeared on ten Joni Mitchell
studio albums, gaining him a wider audience.
styles, including touring in 1988 with guitarist Carlos Santana
, who appeared on This is This!
, the last Weather Report disc. In 1989, he contributed to a hit on the rock charts, playing the sax solo on Don Henley
's song "The End of the Innocence
" and also produced the album Pilar by the Portuguese
singer-songwriter Pilar Homem de Melo
. He has also maintained an occasional working relationship with Herbie Hancock, including a tribute album
recorded shortly after Davis's death with Hancock, Carter, Williams and Wallace Roney
. He continued to appear on Joni Mitchell's records in the 1990s. Shorter's distinctive sound is also apparent in the soundtrack for the Harrison Ford film The Fugitive
, released in 1993.
In 1995, Shorter released the album High Life, his first solo recording for seven years. It was also his debut as a leader for Verve Records
. Shorter composed all the compositions on the album and co-produced it with the bassist Marcus Miller
. High Life received the Grammy Award
for best Contemporary Jazz Album in 1997.
Shorter worked with Hancock once again in 1997, on the much acclaimed and heralded album 1+1
. The song "Aung San Suu Kyi" (named for the Burmese
pro-democracy activist
) won both Hancock and Shorter a Grammy Award
.
In 2009, he was announced as one of the headline acts at the Gnaoua World Music Festival
in Essaouira, Morocco.
, bassist John Patitucci
, and drummer Brian Blade
, playing his own complex compositions, many of them reworkings of tunes from his substantial portfolio going back to the 1960s. Two albums of live recordings featuring this quartet have been released, Footprints Live!
(2002) and Beyond the Sound Barrier
(2005). The quartet has received great acclaim from fans and critics, especially for the strength of Shorter's tenor saxophone playing. The Shorter biography Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter by journalist Michelle Mercer contains an insight into the working life of these musicians as well as insight into Shorter's life, thoughts and Buddhist beliefs. Beyond the Sound Barrier
received the 2006 Grammy Award
for Best Instrumental Jazz Album.
Shorter's 2003 album Alegría
(his first studio album for ten years, since High Life) received the 2004 Grammy Award
for Best Instrumental Jazz Album; it features the quartet with a host of other musicians, including pianist Brad Mehldau
, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington
and former Weather Report percussionist Alex Acuña
. Shorter's compositions, some new, some reworked from his Miles Davis period, feature the complex Latin rhythms that Shorter specialised in during his Weather Report days.
Shorter met Ana Maria in 1964 and they were married in 1970. In 1986, their daughter Iska died of a grand mal seizure at age 14. Ana Maria and the couple's niece Dalila were both killed in 1996 on TWA Flight 800
while en route to see him in Italy. Shorter married Carolina Dos Santos, a close friend of Ana Maria, in 1999. He is a Nichiren Buddhist
and a member of Sōka Gakkai.
He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards
Jazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be...
. Shorter's output has earned worldwide recognition, critical praise and various commendations, including multiple Grammy Awards.
Shorter first came to wide prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he went on to join Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
's second great quintet, and from there he co-founded the jazz fusion band Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
. He has recorded over 20 albums as a bandleader.
Early life and career
Shorter was born in NewarkNewark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and attended Newark Arts High School
Newark Arts High School
Newark Arts High School is a four-year magnet public high school, serving students in grades 9 through 12 in Newark, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Newark Public Schools. In 2010, the 6th graders of William Brown Academy is housed there as its venue is currently being built...
. He loved music, being encouraged by his father to take up the saxophone as a teenager (his brother Alan
Alan Shorter
Alan Shorter was a free jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player, and the older brother of composer and saxophone player Wayne Shorter.-Biography:...
became a trumpeter). After graduating from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
in 1956, Shorter spent two years in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, during which time he played briefly with Horace Silver
Horace Silver
Horace Silver , born Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American jazz pianist and composer....
. After his discharge from the army, he played with Maynard Ferguson
Maynard Ferguson
Maynard Ferguson was a Canadian jazz musician and bandleader. He came to prominence playing in Stan Kenton's orchestra, before forming his own band in 1957...
. It was in his youth that Shorter was given the nickname Mr. Gone, which would later become an album title for Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
.
In 1959, Shorter joined Art Blakey. He stayed with Blakey for five years, and eventually became musical director
Music director
A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
for his group.
With Miles Davis (1964–1970)
When John ColtraneJohn Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
finally left Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
' band in 1960 to pursue his own group (after previously trying to leave in 1959), Coltrane proposed Wayne Shorter as a replacement but Shorter was unavailable and Davis went with Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt
Edward "Sonny" Stitt was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. He was also one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums in his lifetime...
on tenor followed by a revolving door of Hank Mobley
Hank Mobley
Henry Mobley was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone that was neither as aggressive as John Coltrane nor as mellow as Stan Getz...
, George Coleman
George Coleman
George Edward Coleman is an American hard bop saxophonist, bandleader, and composer, known chiefly for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s.-Biography:...
, and Sam Rivers
Sam Rivers
Samuel Carthorne Rivers , is an American jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, harmonica and piano....
. In 1964, Miles Davis persuaded Shorter to leave Blakey and join his quintet alongside Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, Ron Carter
Ron Carter
Ron Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
and Tony Williams.
Miles' so-called "second great quintet" (to distinguish it from the quintet with Coltrane) that included Hancock and Shorter has frequently been cited by musicians and critics as one of the most influential groups in the history of jazz, and Shorter's compositions are a primary reason. He composed extensively for Miles Davis (e.g. "Prince of Darkness", "E.S.P.", "Footprints", "Sanctuary", "Nefertiti", and many others); on some albums, he provided half of the compositions, typically hard-bop workouts with spaced-out long melody lines above the beat.
Herbie Hancock said of Shorter's tenure in the group, "The master writer to me, in that group, was Wayne Shorter. He still is a master. Wayne was one of the few people who brought music to Miles that didn't get changed." Davis said, "Wayne is a real composer. He writes scores, write the parts for everybody just as he wants them to sound... Wayne also brought in a kind of curiosity about working with musical rules. If they didn't work, then he broke them, but with musical sense; he understood that freedom in music was the ability to know the rules in order to bend them to your own satisfaction and taste."
Shorter remained in Davis's band after the breakup of the quintet in 1968, playing on early jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
recordings including In a Silent Way
In a Silent Way
In a Silent Way is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released July 30, 1969 on Columbia Records. Produced by Teo Macero, the album was recorded in one session date on February 18, 1969 at CBS 30th Street Studio B in New York City. Incorporating elements of classical sonata form,...
and Bitches Brew
Bitches Brew
Bitches Brew is a studio double album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in April 1970 on Columbia Records. The album continued his experimentation with electric instruments previously featured on his critically acclaimed In a Silent Way album...
(both 1969). His last live dates and studio recordings with Davis were in 1970.
Until 1968, he played tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
exclusively. The final album on which he played tenor in the regular sequence of Davis albums was Filles de Kilimanjaro
Filles de Kilimanjaro
is a studio album by American jazz recording artist Miles Davis. It was recorded in June and September 1968...
. In 1969, he played the soprano saxophone
Soprano saxophone
The soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...
on the Davis album In a Silent Way
In a Silent Way
In a Silent Way is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released July 30, 1969 on Columbia Records. Produced by Teo Macero, the album was recorded in one session date on February 18, 1969 at CBS 30th Street Studio B in New York City. Incorporating elements of classical sonata form,...
and on his own Super Nova (recorded with then-current Davis sidemen Chick Corea
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
and John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
). When performing live with Miles Davis, and on recordings from summer 1969 to early spring 1970, he played both soprano and tenor saxophones; by the early 1970s, however, he chiefly played soprano.
Solo Blue Note recordings
Simultaneous with his time in the Miles Davis quintet, Shorter recorded several albums for Blue Note RecordsBlue Note Records
Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
, featuring almost exclusively his own compositions, with a variety of line-ups, quartets and larger groups including Blue Note favourites such as Freddie Hubbard
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
. His first Blue Note album (of nine in total) was Night Dreamer
Night Dreamer
Night Dreamer is an album by Wayne Shorter, recorded and released in 1964. It was Shorter's debut on Blue Note. With a quintet that includes trumpeter Lee Morgan, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Elvin Jones, Shorter performed six of his originals on this April 29 session.In...
, recorded at Rudy Van Gelder
Rudy Van Gelder
Rudy Van Gelder is an American recording engineer specializing in jazz.Often regarded as one of the most important recording engineers in music history, Van Gelder has recorded several thousand jazz sessions, including many widely recognized as classics, in a career spanning more than half a century...
's studio in 1964 with Lee Morgan
Lee Morgan
Edward Lee Morgan was an American hard bop trumpeter.-Biography:...
, McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
, Reggie Workman
Reggie Workman
Reginald "Reggie" Workman is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey....
and Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
.
JuJu
JuJu (Wayne Shorter album)
JuJu is an album by Wayne Shorter, recorded and released on Blue Note in 1964, issued as BLP 4182 and BST 84182.The album shows the strong influence of John Coltrane, with whom Shorter had studied as an undergraduate, and whose style is reflected here both in performance and composition...
and Speak No Evil
Speak No Evil
Speak No Evil was one of several albums Shorter recorded for Blue Note in 1964. At the same time, he was also active in Miles Davis's band, and so it is unlikely that Speak No Evil received any special attention at the time of its release. But the passage of time has led to the album being...
are well known recordings from this era. Shorter's compositions on these albums are notable for their use of:
- pentatonicPentatonic scaleA pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave in contrast to a heptatonic scale such as the major scale and minor scale...
melodies harmonised with pedal pointPedal pointIn tonal music, a pedal point is a sustained tone, typically in the bass, during which at least one foreign, i.e., dissonant harmony is sounded in the other parts. A pedal point sometimes functions as a "non-chord tone", placing it in the categories alongside suspensions, retardations, and passing...
s and complex harmonic relationships; - structured solosSolo (music)In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
that reflect the composition's melody as much as its harmony; - long restsRest (music)A rest is an interval of silence in a piece of music, marked by a sign indicating the length of the pause. Each rest symbol corresponds with a particular note value:The quarter rest may also be found as a form in older music....
as an integral part of the music, in contrast with other, more effusive, players of the time such as John Coltrane.
The later album The All Seeing Eye
The All Seeing Eye
The All Seeing Eye is a jazz album by saxophonist Wayne Shorter recorded on October 15, 1965 and released on the Blue Note label as BLP 4219 and BST 84219. The album features performances by Shorter with Freddie Hubbard, Grachan Moncur III, James Spaulding, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Joe...
was a free-jazz workout with a larger group, while Adam's Apple
Adam's Apple (album)
-Track listing:# "Adam's Apple" – 6:52# "502 Blues " – 6:36# "El Gaucho" – 6:32# "Footprints" – 7:31# "Teru" – 6:15# "Chief Crazy Horse" – 7:39...
of 1966 was back to carefully constructed melodies by Shorter leading a quartet. Then a sextet again in the following year for Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia (Wayne Shorter album)
-Track listing:# "Tom Thumb" – 6:16# "Go" – 5:42# "Schizophrenia" – 6:50# "Kryptonite" – 6:29# "Miyako" – 5:00# "Playground" – 6:20-Personnel:*Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone*Curtis Fuller – trombone*James Spaulding – flute, alto saxophone...
with his Miles Davis band mates Hancock and Carter plus trombonist Curtis Fuller
Curtis Fuller
Curtis DuBois Fuller is an American jazz trombonist, known as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributor to many classic jazz recordings.-Biography:...
, alto saxophonist/flautist James Spaulding and strong rhythms by drummer Joe Chambers
Joe Chambers
Joe Chambers is an American jazz drummer, pianist, vibraphonist and composer. He attended the Philadelphia Conservatory for one year. In the 1960s and 70s Chambers gigged with many high-profile artists such as Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, Lou Donaldson, Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Giuffre...
. These albums have recently been remastered by Rudy Van Gelder
Rudy Van Gelder
Rudy Van Gelder is an American recording engineer specializing in jazz.Often regarded as one of the most important recording engineers in music history, Van Gelder has recorded several thousand jazz sessions, including many widely recognized as classics, in a career spanning more than half a century...
.
Shorter also recorded occasionally as a sideman
Sideman
A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform or record with a group of which he or she is not a regular member. They often tour with solo acts as well as bands and jazz ensembles. Sidemen are generally required to be adaptable to many different styles of music, and so able to fit...
(again, mainly for Blue Note) with Donald Byrd
Donald Byrd
Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a...
, McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
, Grachan Moncur III
Grachan Moncur III
Grachan Moncur III is an American jazz trombonist who has mostly played free jazz, as well as being a prolific composer. He is the son of jazz bassist Grachan Moncur II and the nephew of jazz saxophonist Al Cooper.-Biography:...
, Freddie Hubbard
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
, Lee Morgan
Lee Morgan
Edward Lee Morgan was an American hard bop trumpeter.-Biography:...
, and bandmates Hancock and Williams.
Weather Report (1971–1985)
Following the release of Odyssey of IskaOdyssey of Iska
Odyssey of Iska is a 1971 album by American jazz composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, released on Blue Note Records. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow states "On the verge of joining Weather Report , it is not surprising that Shorter's originals include titles such as 'Wind,' 'Storm,' and "Calm'...
in 1970, Shorter formed the fusion group Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
with Miles Davis veteran keyboardist Joe Zawinul
Joe Zawinul
Josef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
. The other original members were bassist Miroslav Vitous
Miroslav Vitouš
Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš , is a Czech jazz bassist.-Biography:Born in Prague, he began the violin at age six, and started playing the piano at age ten, and bass at fourteen. As a young man in Europe, Vitouš was a competitive swimmer. One of his early music groups was the Junior Trio with his...
, percussionist Airto Moreira
Airto Moreira
Airto Moreira is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. Airto is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. He currently resides in Los Angeles.-Biography:...
, and drummer Alphonse Mouzon
Alphonse Mouzon
Alphonse Mouzon is a well-known jazz-fusion drummer and percussionist, and the Chairman/CEO of Tenacious Records. He also composes, arranges and produces, as well as acts...
. After Vitous' departure in 1973, Shorter and Zawinul co-led the group until the band's break-up in late 1985. A variety of excellent musicians that would make up Weather Report alumni over the years (most notably the revolutionary bassist Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player....
) helped the band produce many high quality recordings in diverse styles through the years, with funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
, Latin jazz
Latin jazz
Latin jazz is the general term given to jazz with Latin American rhythms.The three main categories of Latin Jazz are Brazilian, Cuban and Puerto Rican:# Brazilian Latin Jazz includes bossa nova...
, ethnic music, and futurism
Futurism
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...
being the most prevalent denominators.
Solo
Shorter also recorded critically acclaimed albums as a bandleaderBandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
, notably Native Dancer
Native Dancer (album)
Native Dancer is the fifteenth album by Wayne Shorter. It is a collaboration with Brazilian musician Milton Nascimento, featuring some of his most acclaimed compositions, including "Ponta de Areia" and "Miracle of The Fishes"...
, which featured his Miles Davis band-mate Herbie Hancock and Brazilian composer and vocalist Milton Nascimento
Milton Nascimento
-Biography:Nascimento's mother was the maid Maria Nascimento. As a baby, Milton Nascimento was adopted by his mother's former employers: the couple Josino Brito Campos, a banker employee, mathematics teacher and electronic technician; and Lília Silva Campos, a music teacher and choir singer...
. Shorter was to work with both of these musicians again later.
On the title track of Steely Dan
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
's 1977 album Aja
Aja (album)
-Charts:AlbumPop Singles-Awards:Grammy Awards-External links:**, courtesy of The Museum of Classic Chicago Television...
, he played a solo that moved the critic writing the album's liner notes to call it "suitable for framing". Concurrently, in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, he toured in the V.S.O.P.
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
quintet. This group was a revival of the 1960s Miles Davis quintet, except that Freddie Hubbard
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
filled the trumpet chair instead of Miles. Shorter appeared with the same former Davis bandmates on the Carlos Santana double LP The Swing of Delight
The Swing of Delight
The Swing of Delight is a 1980 album by Carlos Santana. It was one of four solo albums to be released under his temporary Buddhist name Devadip Carlos Santana.-Track listing:#"Swapan Tari" - 6:46#"Love Theme from Spartacus" - 6:50#"Phuler Matan"...
, for which he also composed a number of pieces.
From 1977 through 2002, he appeared on ten Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
studio albums, gaining him a wider audience.
Recent career
After leaving Weather Report, Shorter continued to record and lead groups in jazz fusionJazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
styles, including touring in 1988 with guitarist Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
, who appeared on This is This!
This is This!
This Is This! is the thirteenth and final studio album by Weather Report. The band thought that they had fulfilled their contract with Columbia Records with the release of the previous album Sportin' Life. This, however, was not the case and the band had to release one more record...
, the last Weather Report disc. In 1989, he contributed to a hit on the rock charts, playing the sax solo on Don Henley
Don Henley
Donald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...
's song "The End of the Innocence
The End of the Innocence
Released in 1989, The End of the Innocence is the third album by Don Henley. It is his best selling album, selling over 6 million copies in the United States, peaking at #8. The album released three Top 40 singles "The End of the Innocence", "The Heart of the Matter", and "The Last Worthless...
" and also produced the album Pilar by the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
singer-songwriter Pilar Homem de Melo
Pilar Homem de Melo
Pilar Homem de Melo is a Dream pop Portuguese singer-songwriter.*1975 – 1981 - Lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where starts to compose.*1982 – 1985 – Studies in Berklee College of Music, Boston, U.S.A...
. He has also maintained an occasional working relationship with Herbie Hancock, including a tribute album
A Tribute to Miles
A Tribute to Miles is a tribute album by Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Ron Carter and Wallace Roney to pay homage to the their recently departed mentor, Miles Davis, who died in September 1991. Playing the part of Davis was young trumpet player Wallace Roney...
recorded shortly after Davis's death with Hancock, Carter, Williams and Wallace Roney
Wallace Roney
Wallace Roney is an American hard bop and post-bop trumpeter.Roney took lessons from Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie and studied with Miles Davis from 1985 until the latter's death in 1991...
. He continued to appear on Joni Mitchell's records in the 1990s. Shorter's distinctive sound is also apparent in the soundtrack for the Harrison Ford film The Fugitive
The Fugitive (1993 film)
The Fugitive is a 1993 American thriller film based on the television series of the same name. The film was directed by Andrew Davis and stars Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. The film was one of the few movies associated with a television series to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best...
, released in 1993.
In 1995, Shorter released the album High Life, his first solo recording for seven years. It was also his debut as a leader for Verve Records
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
. Shorter composed all the compositions on the album and co-produced it with the bassist Marcus Miller
Marcus Miller
Marcus Miller is an American jazz composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Miller is best known as a bassist, working with trumpeter Miles Davis, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonist David Sanborn, as well as maintaining a prolific solo career...
. High Life received the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for best Contemporary Jazz Album in 1997.
Shorter worked with Hancock once again in 1997, on the much acclaimed and heralded album 1+1
1 + 1 (album)
-Personnel:*Herbie Hancock – piano, producer*Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone, producer...
. The song "Aung San Suu Kyi" (named for the Burmese
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
pro-democracy activist
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...
) won both Hancock and Shorter a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
.
In 2009, he was announced as one of the headline acts at the Gnaoua World Music Festival
Gnaoua World Music Festival
The Gnaoua World Music Festival is a Gnawa music festival held annually in Essaouira, Morocco.The festival provides a platform for exchanges and a meeting point of music and dialogue between foreign artists and the mystical Gnaoua musicians...
in Essaouira, Morocco.
Quartet
Shorter formed his current band in 2000, the first permanent acoustic group under his leadership, a quartet with young musicians, pianist Danilo PerezDanilo Pérez
Danilo Pérez is a Panamanian pianist and composer.-Early life:Danilo Pérez was born in Panama in 1965. He is considered one of the finest contemporary pianists and jazz composers of our era....
, bassist John Patitucci
John Patitucci
John Patitucci is an American Grammy-winning jazz double bass and jazz fusion electric bass player.-Biography:Patitucci is of Italian descent and was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he began playing the electric bass at age ten, composing and performing at age 12, as well as the acoustic bass at...
, and drummer Brian Blade
Brian Blade
Brian Blade in Shreveport, Louisiana is an American jazz drummer, composer, session musician, and singer-songwriter.-Early years:...
, playing his own complex compositions, many of them reworkings of tunes from his substantial portfolio going back to the 1960s. Two albums of live recordings featuring this quartet have been released, Footprints Live!
Footprints Live!
Footprints Live! is a live album by saxophonist Wayne Shorter released on Verve Records in 2002. It was Shorter's first official live album released under his own name and the first album to feature the 'Footprints Quartet' of Shorter, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade.-Reception:The...
(2002) and Beyond the Sound Barrier
Beyond the Sound Barrier
Beyond the Sound Barrier is a live album by saxophonist Wayne Shorter released on Verve Records in 2005. It was recorded in Europe, America and Asia and features the 'Footprints Quartet' of Shorter, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade....
(2005). The quartet has received great acclaim from fans and critics, especially for the strength of Shorter's tenor saxophone playing. The Shorter biography Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter by journalist Michelle Mercer contains an insight into the working life of these musicians as well as insight into Shorter's life, thoughts and Buddhist beliefs. Beyond the Sound Barrier
Beyond the Sound Barrier
Beyond the Sound Barrier is a live album by saxophonist Wayne Shorter released on Verve Records in 2005. It was recorded in Europe, America and Asia and features the 'Footprints Quartet' of Shorter, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade....
received the 2006 Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Instrumental Jazz Album.
Shorter's 2003 album Alegría
Alegría (Wayne Shorter album)
Alegría is an album by saxophonist Wayne Shorter released on Verve Records in 2003. It the second album to feature the 'Footprints Quartet' of Shorter, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade....
(his first studio album for ten years, since High Life) received the 2004 Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Instrumental Jazz Album; it features the quartet with a host of other musicians, including pianist Brad Mehldau
Brad Mehldau
Brad Mehldau is an American jazz pianist. Besides leading his own group, the Brad Mehldau Trio, he has performed with many renowned artists, including Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, Larry Grenadier, Peter Bernstein, Jeff Ballard, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Michael Brecker, Chris Potter, Kurt...
, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington
Terri Lyne Carrington
Terri Lyne Carrington is a jazz drummer, composer, record producer and entrepreneur. She has played with jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Yellowjackets, and many more...
and former Weather Report percussionist Alex Acuña
Alex Acuña
Alejandro Neciosup Acuña aka Alex Acuña is a Peruvian drummer and percussionist, in the Afro-Cuban jazz style.Born in Pativilca, Peru, Acuña played in local bands from the age of ten, and moved to Lima as a teenager. At the age of eighteen he joined the band of Perez Prado, and in 1967 he moved...
. Shorter's compositions, some new, some reworked from his Miles Davis period, feature the complex Latin rhythms that Shorter specialised in during his Weather Report days.
Personal life
Shorter married Teruka (Irene) Nakagami, in the 1960s; they met in 1961 and later had a child, Miyako. Some of his compositions are copyrighted as "Miyako Music". Shorter dedicated some pieces to his daughter: "Miyako" and "Infant Eyes". The couple separated in 1964.Shorter met Ana Maria in 1964 and they were married in 1970. In 1986, their daughter Iska died of a grand mal seizure at age 14. Ana Maria and the couple's niece Dalila were both killed in 1996 on TWA Flight 800
TWA Flight 800
Trans World Airlines Flight 800 , a Boeing 747-131, exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 20:31 EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff, killing all 230 persons on board. At the time, it was the second-deadliest U.S...
while en route to see him in Italy. Shorter married Carolina Dos Santos, a close friend of Ana Maria, in 1999. He is a Nichiren Buddhist
Nichiren Buddhism
Nichiren Buddhism is a branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese monk Nichiren...
and a member of Sōka Gakkai.
Discography
| Title | Year | Label | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introducing Wayne Shorter Introducing Wayne Shorter Introducing Wayne Shorter is the debut album by Wayne Shorter in the hard bop medium, performing with other jazz greats like Lee Morgan and Paul Chambers... |
1959 | Vee-Jay | ||
| Second Genesis Second Genesis (Wayne Shorter album) Second Genesis is Wayne Shorter's second album for Vee-Jay Records and also as leader, performing again in the hard bop medium along with legendary jazz drummer Art Blakey.- Track listing :# "The Ruby and the Pearl" - 5:51... |
1960 | Vee-Jay | ||
| Wayning Moments Wayning Moments Wayning Moments is Wayne Shorter's third and final album for Vee-Jay Records, showcasing Wayne playing bop and hard bop with Freddie Hubbard, Eddie Higgins, Jymie Merritt and Marshall Thompson... |
1962 | Vee-Jay | ||
| Night Dreamer Night Dreamer Night Dreamer is an album by Wayne Shorter, recorded and released in 1964. It was Shorter's debut on Blue Note. With a quintet that includes trumpeter Lee Morgan, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Elvin Jones, Shorter performed six of his originals on this April 29 session.In... |
1964 | Blue Note | ||
| JuJu JuJu (Wayne Shorter album) JuJu is an album by Wayne Shorter, recorded and released on Blue Note in 1964, issued as BLP 4182 and BST 84182.The album shows the strong influence of John Coltrane, with whom Shorter had studied as an undergraduate, and whose style is reflected here both in performance and composition... |
1964 | Blue Note | ||
| Speak No Evil Speak No Evil Speak No Evil was one of several albums Shorter recorded for Blue Note in 1964. At the same time, he was also active in Miles Davis's band, and so it is unlikely that Speak No Evil received any special attention at the time of its release. But the passage of time has led to the album being... |
1965 | Blue Note | ||
| The Soothsayer The Soothsayer - Track listing :All compositions by Wayne Shorter except as indicated.# "Lost" - 7:20# "Angola" - 4:56# "The Big Push" - 8:23# "The Soothsayer" - 9:40# "Lady Day" - 5:36# "Valse Triste" - 7:45# "Angola" [Alternate Take] - 6:41- Personnel :... |
1965 | Blue Note | ||
| Et Cetera Et Cetera (album) - Track listing :# "Etcetera" - 6:21# "Penelope" - 6:46# "Toy Tune" - 7:24# "Barracudas " - 11:07# "Indian Song" - 11:35- Personnel :*Wayne Shorter - tenor saxophone*Herbie Hancock - piano*Cecil McBee - bass*Joe Chambers - drums... |
1965 | Blue Note | ||
| The All Seeing Eye The All Seeing Eye The All Seeing Eye is a jazz album by saxophonist Wayne Shorter recorded on October 15, 1965 and released on the Blue Note label as BLP 4219 and BST 84219. The album features performances by Shorter with Freddie Hubbard, Grachan Moncur III, James Spaulding, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Joe... |
1965 | Blue Note | ||
| Adam's Apple Adam's Apple (album) -Track listing:# "Adam's Apple" – 6:52# "502 Blues " – 6:36# "El Gaucho" – 6:32# "Footprints" – 7:31# "Teru" – 6:15# "Chief Crazy Horse" – 7:39... |
1966 | Blue Note | ||
| Schizophrenia Schizophrenia (Wayne Shorter album) -Track listing:# "Tom Thumb" – 6:16# "Go" – 5:42# "Schizophrenia" – 6:50# "Kryptonite" – 6:29# "Miyako" – 5:00# "Playground" – 6:20-Personnel:*Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone*Curtis Fuller – trombone*James Spaulding – flute, alto saxophone... |
1967 | Blue Note | ||
| Super Nova Super Nova (Wayne Shorter album) -Track listing:All compositions by Wayne Shorter except as indicated.# "Supernova" - 4:52# "Sweet Pea" - 4:36# "Dindi" - 9:35# "Water Babies" - 4:53# "Capricorn" - 7:47# "More Than Human" - 6:12... |
1969 | Blue Note | ||
| Moto Grosso Feio Moto Grosso Feio Moto Grosso Feio is an album by Wayne Shorter, recorded on April 3, 1970 but not released on the Blue Note label until 1974. The album features four originals by Shorter and an arrangement of ""Vera Cruz" by Milton Nascimento.-Reception:... |
1970 | Blue Note | ||
| Odyssey of Iska Odyssey of Iska Odyssey of Iska is a 1971 album by American jazz composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, released on Blue Note Records. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow states "On the verge of joining Weather Report , it is not surprising that Shorter's originals include titles such as 'Wind,' 'Storm,' and "Calm'... |
1970 | Blue Note | ||
| Native Dancer Native Dancer (album) Native Dancer is the fifteenth album by Wayne Shorter. It is a collaboration with Brazilian musician Milton Nascimento, featuring some of his most acclaimed compositions, including "Ponta de Areia" and "Miracle of The Fishes"... with Milton Nascimento Milton Nascimento -Biography:Nascimento's mother was the maid Maria Nascimento. As a baby, Milton Nascimento was adopted by his mother's former employers: the couple Josino Brito Campos, a banker employee, mathematics teacher and electronic technician; and Lília Silva Campos, a music teacher and choir singer... |
1974 | Columbia | ||
| Atlantis Atlantis (Wayne Shorter album) Atlantis is the sixteenth album by Wayne Shorter. It was released on the Columbia label in 1985 and was Shorter's first solo album since 1974. The recording is notable in Shorter's body of work both for its relative lack of improvisation and for the high level of its compositions and group... |
1985 | Columbia | ||
| Phantom Navigator Phantom Navigator Phantom Navigator is an album by jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter, that was released on Columbia in 1986.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 1.5 stars stating "On a sheer technical level, Wayne's soprano and tenor work is alright, yet on "Yamanja" he does a... |
1986 | Columbia | ||
| Joy Ryder Joy Ryder Joy Ryder is an album by saxophonist Wayne Shorter released on Columbia in 1988.- Track listing :# "Joy Ryder" # "Cathay" # "Over Shadow Hill Way" # "Anthem"# "Causeways" # "Daredevil"... |
1988 | Columbia | ||
| Carlos Santana and Wayne Shorter - Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1988 Carlos Santana and Wayne Shorter - Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1988 Live at Montreux Jazz Festival is a live album by Carlos Santana and Wayne Shorter released on March 27, 2007 of the concert held on July 14, 1988 at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux .-DISC 1:#"Spiritual"#"Peraza"#"Shhh"... with Carlos Santana Carlos Santana Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion... |
1988 | Image Entertainment Image Entertainment Image Entertainment, Inc. is an independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming and film & television productions in North America, with approximately 3,000 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 250 exclusive CD titles in domestic release, and approximately 450... |
||
| High Life | 1995 | Verve | ||
| 1 + 1 1 + 1 (album) -Personnel:*Herbie Hancock – piano, producer*Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone, producer... with Herbie Hancock Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound... |
1997 | Verve | ||
| Footprints Live! Footprints Live! Footprints Live! is a live album by saxophonist Wayne Shorter released on Verve Records in 2002. It was Shorter's first official live album released under his own name and the first album to feature the 'Footprints Quartet' of Shorter, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade.-Reception:The... |
2002 | Verve | ||
| Alegría Alegría (Wayne Shorter album) Alegría is an album by saxophonist Wayne Shorter released on Verve Records in 2003. It the second album to feature the 'Footprints Quartet' of Shorter, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade.... |
2003 | Verve | ||
| Beyond the Sound Barrier Beyond the Sound Barrier Beyond the Sound Barrier is a live album by saxophonist Wayne Shorter released on Verve Records in 2005. It was recorded in Europe, America and Asia and features the 'Footprints Quartet' of Shorter, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade.... |
2005 | Verve |
Awards
- Down BeatDown BeatDown Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
Poll Winner New Star Saxophonist (1962) - Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion PerformanceGrammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality jazz fusion performances...
for Weather Report'sWeather ReportWeather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
8:30 (1979) - Grammy Award for Best Instrumental CompositionGrammy Award for Best Instrumental CompositionThe Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition has been awarded since 1960. The award is presented to the composer of the music.There have been several minor changes to the name of the award:...
for Dexter Gordon'sDexter GordonDexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor . He is regarded as one of the first and most important musicians to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the tenor saxophone...
Call Sheet Blues (1987) - Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group for A Tribute to MilesA Tribute to MilesA Tribute to Miles is a tribute album by Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Ron Carter and Wallace Roney to pay homage to the their recently departed mentor, Miles Davis, who died in September 1991. Playing the part of Davis was young trumpet player Wallace Roney...
(1994) - Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz AlbumGrammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality contemporary jazz performances...
for High Life (1996) - Miles Davis Award Wayne Shorter was granted the Miles Davis Award by the Montreal International Jazz Festival. (1996)
- Grammy Award for Best Instrumental CompositionGrammy Award for Best Instrumental CompositionThe Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition has been awarded since 1960. The award is presented to the composer of the music.There have been several minor changes to the name of the award:...
for Aung San Suu Kyi (1997) - NEA Jazz MastersNEA Jazz MastersThe National Endowment for the Arts , every year honors up to seven jazz musicians with Jazz Master Awards. The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships are the highest honors that the United States bestows upon jazz musicians...
(1998) - Honorary Doctorate of Music (1999; Berklee College of MusicBerklee College of MusicBerklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
) - Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental SoloGrammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental SoloThe Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo has been awarded since 1959. Before 1979 the award title did not specify instrumental performances and was presented for instrumental or vocal performances...
for In Walked Wayne (1999) - Grammy Award for Best Instrumental CompositionGrammy Award for Best Instrumental CompositionThe Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition has been awarded since 1960. The award is presented to the composer of the music.There have been several minor changes to the name of the award:...
for Sacajawea (2003) - Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group for Alegría (2003)
- Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group for Beyond The Sound Barrier (2005)
- Jazz Journalists AssociationJazz Journalists AssociationThe Jazz Journalists Association is an international organization of all types of media professionals who document, promulgate, or appreciate jazz. As of 2011, it has approximately 500 members, primarily in North America but also on other continents...
Jazz Award Small Ensemble Group of the Year to Wayne Shorter Quartet (2006)