Wayne Shorter, born August 25, 1933, still performs. He is still active in the Jazz world. His career spans so much from his work with Art Blakey to his work with Miles to creating Weather Report with Joe Zawinul and pioneering Jazz Fusion to his recordings with Milton Nascimento to his work with Joni Mitchell and to his iconic rock and roll recording on Steely Dan’s Asia. And Carlos Santana.
I once saw Carlos on Whoopie Goldberg’s short run syndicated talk show in the late 80s. Carlos said he discovered that Wayne Shorter was an arch angel because arch angels were architects and this is what Wayne Shorter was, an architect.
In deciding what to write about for today, I realized that my diaries are—in a roundabout way—heading towards the shift that Miles led into Jazz fusion. I’ve diaried about Miles up to right before “In a Silent Way” and I diaried about Blakey up until Wayne left his band to join Miles. Today’s diary is about everything else Wayne did while playing with Miles. And it’s going to be incomplete as it is!
Eat the blue pill if you’re “all about the bass”. Eat the orange squiggle if you prefer things more complex…
Greetings and salutations to all the hipsters out there in internet-ville. If you’ve never ran across me before, I try to post a blog about Jazz and related genres every Sunday evening around 10pm EST. Comments are welcome and a desire to purchase the recordings from which I post is encouraged greatly.
502 blues (drinking and driving)
For those who don’t know, Wayne plays Tenor Saxophone. Later is his career he performed on Soprano as well. He also one of the greatest composers in Jazz. He emerged out of Newark, NJ. From 1959-1963 he was a member of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and became their principle composer and musical director.
In 1964 he begins making records as a leader for Blue Note.
Towards the end of the year he joined Miles Davis for his famed Second Great Quintet and stayed until 1970.
I am not going to blog about any fusion until I do “Bitches Brew” first. I’m not doing “Bitches Brew” until I have a few things out of the way. Hence, no Weather Report today….though it’s cold and cloudy with a slight drizzle in Jersey City this afternoon. Today is about the other things Wayne did in the 1960s.
The short of it is that the various members of Miles’ band and Coltrane’s band recorded their own music on the Blue Note label under their own names—with Freddie Hubbard often stepping in on trumpet—while recording for Columbia and Impulse with Miles or Trane respectively. The music they record is neither simple nor commercial friendly music, but it isn’t completely avant guard either. It’s actually quite “musical”, albeit challenging and boundary pushing.
1965 was quite a year for the recording of Jazz. We’re rather blessed that this stuff got put on vinyl and released. With Miles, “E.S.P.” comes out. And there are the Plugged Nickle sessions.
But Wayne’s first solo recording of the year happens to be one of his most well know; “Speak No Evil”. This one features Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter from Miles’ band, Elvin Jones from Coltrane’s band, and Freddie Hubbard.
Speak No Evil
Witch Hunt
Also recorded and released in 1965 is Wayne’s “The All Seeing Eye” which also has Herbie, Ron and Freddie, but now with Joe Chambers on drums and James Spaulding and Grachan Mocur III on Trombone. Alan Shorter, Wayne’s brother, also appears on one cut.
Chaos
He appears on “Spring,” Tony Williams’ second date as a leader. Herbie is also on this along with Gary Peacock and Sam Rivers. Critics don’t seem to rate this album as a “Classic”…but it certainly has many good moments.
Tee
And Wayne also records with Lee Morgan. Wayne began playing with Lee in Blakey’s band and continues to record with him several times in the 1960s. Some of the recordings seem a bit uninspired, but not Lee’s classic “The Gigolo” which also features Billy Higgins on drums, Bob Cranshaw on Bass, and the man who taught me everything I ever needed to know, Harold Mabern on Piano.
The Gigolo
Harold once told a college ensemble I was in “Play Alfred Lion something he could shake his ass to and he’ld let you do whatever you want for the rest of the album”…or something to that effect. Harold wouldn’t often say much about it, but there are records he never got paid for. This might be one of them.
And I love how this recording actually has a “standard.” Almost none of these records have standards.
You go to my head
But, much like Coltrane in 1965, Wayne also had a few dates that were not released at the time.
Recorded in 1965, but released 1979, was “The Soothsayer” McCoy Tyner from Trane’s band on Piano, Ron and Tony and Freddie and James Spaulding again.
Soothsayer
Recorded in 1965 and released 1980: “Etcetera” with Herbie, Ron, and Joe Chambers
Indian Song
Aside from the classic “Miles Smiles”, 1966 saw the release of another very strong Wayne Shorter outing, “Adam’s Apple.” Again with Herbie and Joe Chambers, now Reggie Workman on Bass.
Adam’s Apple
El Goucho
He also records a weaker outing with Lee Morgan and makes a recording with the great Bobby Timmons, with whom Shorter played in Blakey’s band. Bobby Timmons, 1966 “The Soul Man”
Cut Me Loose Charlie
1967 saw a great deal of touring for Mile’s band. They release “Nefertiti.”
Wayne makes “Schizophrenia” with Herbie, Ron, James Spaulding, and Curtis Fuller. Wayne played with Curtis in Blakey’s band as well. I met Curtis in 1989. He is a really wonderful human being. He explained he doesn’t drink…except for champagne, which in 1989 he seemed to drink a good deal of. We were in Italy, I was participating in summer jazz exchange program sponsored by the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. I ordered a beer in Italian, which basically meant I said “Beer-a?” with a rolling “r” and Curtis turned to me and said “Hey man! You speak the language!”
Miyako is written for Wayne’s daughter
He does another less inspired recording with Lee Morgan, “Standards”, but makes a very cool record with Lou Donaldson called “Lush Life”. “Lush Life” features a number of players including Freddie Hubbard, Wayne and McCoy.
What sticks out about this recording is that is all standards. Lou is better known for playing funkier jazz, though not at all exclusively. Though marketing players as “Soul Jazz” would be in full effect in 1967. But there also so few standards on the recordings made by Wayne and Herbie and McCoy. Clearly as rock and roll is blooming into maturity in the late 1960s, jazz is pushing similar creative boundaries of what is to be expected from music.
But to hear some standards in the midst of it all is quite a bit of fun!
I THINK this is from that session. They did record this one on the date.
1968 does not see any recordings from Wayne as a leader. With Miles he records both “Miles in the Sky” and “Filles de Kilamanjaro”
And Wayne records on McCoy Tyner’s fourth album as a leader for Blue Note, “Expansions”, which has another Newark native, Woody Shaw, on trumpet.
Things change in 1969. “In A Silent Way” comes out. Tony Williams records with McLaughlin and Larry Young. And “Bitches Brew” looms in the future (recorded in 1969, released in 1970). Here is the great turning point in jazz. As much as the music to come is about embracing electronic instruments and new grooves, it is also about pushing the limits of artistic creativity.
From 1969’s “Super Nova”, Dindi written by Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Wayne will continue to do great things post 1969. Wayne continues to do great things at age 81 in 2014. If you consider that I wrote a Blakey diary that focuses on him and a Miles diary focusing on Miles work with Wayne….and this diary….that’s three diaries and I haven’t quite hit the mid-point of the man’s life-timeline.
BTW.....Wayne has a very cool website
Thanks for listening everyone. Please support your local jazz musicians and all local live music. Rock on with your bad selfs.