Saxophonist Wayne Shorter, one of the greatest composers and improvisers in modern jazz history, died Thursday at age 89, according to his publicist, Alisse Kingsley. The multi-Grammy winner died surrounded by his family in Los Angeles. No cause of death was given.
Shorter was best known for his work with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Miles Davis, the jazz-rock fusion band Weather Report, Joni Mitchell and his own bands.
CBS News:
"Visionary composer, saxophonist, visual artist, devout Buddhist, devoted husband, father and grandfather Wayne Shorter has embarked on a new journey as part of his extraordinary life - departing the earth as we know it in search of an abundance of new challenges and creative possibilities," a statement released by Kingsley said. It called him a gentle spirit who was "always inquisitive and constantly exploring."
His close friend and frequent collaborator Herbie Hancock issued the following statement:
“Wayne Shorter, my best friend, left us with courage in his heart, love and compassion for all, and a seeking spirit for the eternal future. He was ready for his rebirth. As it is with every human being, he is irreplaceable and was able to reach the pinnacle of excellence as a saxophonist, composer, orchestrator, and recently, composer of the masterful opera …Iphigenia. I miss being around him and his special Wayne-isms but I carry his spirit within my heart always.”
In recent years, Shorter composed an opera, Iphigenia, written in collaboration with Esperanza Spalding, and released EMANON, a Grammy-winning triple album (complete with graphic novel).
In February, Shorter won his 12th Grammy —in the category of Best Improvised Jazz Solo—for a new version of his composition Endangered Species, with pianist Leo Genovese, included on the album Live at the Detroit Jazz Festival.
I had the opportunity to interview Shorter several times; the last time was to mark his 80th birthday in 2013.
Shorter told me that he wasn’t content to rest on his reputation, but couldn’t resist the urge to “de-compose” his compositions and create something new.”
"Jazz to me is something that doesn't have to sound like jazz," Shorter said. "The word 'jazz' means I dare you. I dare you to go beyond what you are. You have to go beyond your comfort zone, to break out of the box … You're talking about not just music, you're talking about life."
Shorter circa 1962
That year, Shorter was a quadruple winner in Downbeat magazine critics poll, topping the categories for Jazz Artist, Jazz Album, Jazz Group and Soprano Saxophone.
Shorter was born August 25, 1933 in Newark, New Jersey. He first rose to prominence in 1959, when he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. His talents as a modern jazz composer and improviser on tenor saxophone were evident when the band featured such compositions as Lester Left Town, Children of the Night and Free For All.
In the 1960s, Shorter recorded some memorable albums as a leader for the Blue Note label. including Night Dreamer, Juju, Speak No Evil, Adam’s Apple, Schizophrenia, and Super Nova. These albums introduced some of Shorter’s best known compositions, including Witch Hunt, Infant Eyes, and Footprints,
But Shorter reached greatness from 1964-70, as a member of Miles Davis' ground-breaking quintet with Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams. The band moved through modal jazz to music that was more open in form and harmonic structure, and eventually to fusion music, with electronic instruments and rock rhythms.
Shorter and Miles Davis in 1967
Davis encouraged his musicians to bring in their compositions to record, but Shorter’s were the only ones the trumpeter didn’t change in the studio, Hancock told me. These included tunes such as E.S.P., Nefertiti and Footprints.
Davis, in his autobiography, described Shorter the composer as "the intellectual musical catalyst" of the quintet. "Wayne's always been someone who experimented with form instead of someone who did it without form. [...] He brought in a kind of curiosity about working with musical rules. [...] He understood that freedom in music was the ability to know the rules in order to bend them to your satisfaction or taste."
In a 1996 interview, Shorter told me that "Miles Davis kept going until he died. ... He was carrying on the legacy of discovery and adventure. Miles said, 'I don't like duty playing'—playing as if it were your duty to play, to fill a prescription that was given to you ... And I say I'd rather play duty-free music.''
In 1970, Shorter and keyboardist Joe Zawinul formed Weather Report, which drew a wide audience beyond the jazz mainstream with its pioneering brand of jazz-rock fusion with world music influences. After 15 years together—in which Shorter was the quiet partner to the ebullient Zawinul, Weather Report broke up in 1985.
Shorter than released several solo albums. Since 2001, he led his own highly acclaimed quartet with pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Pattitucci, and drummer Brian Blade.
Shorter returned to Blue Note in 2013 with the release of Without a Net, a musical thrill ride that featured his quartet with special guests The Imani Winds. In 2018, Shorter returned with EMANON—that’s NO NAME spelled backwards, a nod to Dizzy Gillespie and Milton Shaw’s composition of that name. EMANON was a triple album of original music by Shorter, performed by the quartet and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. The music was accompanied by a graphic novel, penned by Shorter with Monica Sly, and illustrated by Randy DuBurke.
Shorter was not a jazz purist. He embraced pop music influences and was open to using electric instruments and the latest technology.
"Nobody knows what Charlie Parker or John Coltrane, Stravinsky or Mozart would have been doing if they were living now with all these inventions,'' Shorter told me in 1996. "I'm saying bring on all the inventions that are going to be happening because to me every instrument is a synthesizer.''
Also in 1996, bassist Christian McBride told me that "Wayne Shorter, along with Duke Ellington, is probably one of the most influential composers in 20th-century music.'' McBride has recorded some of Shorter’s tunes.
"A lot of his music are just very simple bare melodies with a lot of beautiful harmonic progressions supporting them,” McBride said. “Wayne Shorter almost found the perfect combination of having something so easy be so difficult. ... You can sing a Wayne Shorter melody most definitely, but when you actually try to perform those songs they just kick you.''
Shorter and Joni Mitchell in 2019
Shorter, who originally studied to be a visual artist, had a lifelong passion for movies and film scores. He viewed his compositions as stories with their own characters. That resulted in a special relationship with Joni Mitchell, who originally had intended to become a painter.
His first collaboration with Mitchell was on her 1977 album Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter, and two years later he was featured on Mitchell’s Charles-Mingus-inspired album MIngus.
In a 2007 interview, Mitchell told me that she felt a special connection with Shorter because he is “a pictorial thinker.” Mitchell said she could describe a scene to Shorter, and it felt like his music was a paint brush coloring that scene.
“Wayne was the first musician that spoke to me in metaphor … We speak the same musiclal language,” Mitchell said. “He’s a movie man. I’m a frustrated filmmaker.”
Shorter wrote more than 200 compositions. He is a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, a 2018 Kennedy Center Honoree, and has a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
