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Wayne Shorter

Wayne Shorter is an NEA Jazz Master

Born in Newark, New Jersey on August 25, 1933, Wayne Shorter had his first great jazz epiphany as a teenager: “I remember seeing Lester Young when I was 15 years old. It was a Norman Granz Jazz at the Philharmonic show in Newark and he was late coming to the theater. Me and a couple of other guys were waiting out front of the Adams Theater and when he finally did show up, he had the pork pie hat and everything. So then we were trying to figure out how to get into the theater from the fire escape around the back. We eventually got into the mezzanine and saw that whole show — Stan Kenton and Dizzy Gillespie bands together on stage doing ‘Peanut Vendor,’ Charlie Parker with strings doing ‘Laura’ and stuff like that. And Russell Jacquet…Ilinois Jacquet. He was there doing his thing. That whole scene impressed me so much that I just decided, ‘Hey, man, let me get a clarinet.’ So I got one when I was 16, and that’s when I started music.

Switching to tenor saxophone, Shorter formed a teenage band in Newark called The Jazz Informers. While still in high school, Shorter participated in several cutting contests on Newark’s jazz scene, including one memorable encounter with sax great Sonny Stitt. He attended college at New York University while also soaking up the Manhattan jazz scene by frequenting popular nightspots like Birdland and Cafe Bohemia. Wayne worked his way through college by playing with the Nat Phipps orchestra. Upon graduating in 1956, he worked briefly with Johnny Eaton and his Princetonians, earning the nickname “The Newark Flash” for his speed and facility on the tenor saxophone.

Just as he was beginning making his mark, Shorter was drafted into the Army. “A week before I went into the Army I went to the Cafe Bohemia to hear music, I said, for the last time in my life. I was standing at the bar having a cognac and I had my draft notice in my back pocket. That’s when I met Max Roach. He said, ‘You’re the kid from Newark, huh? You’re The Flash.’ And he asked me to sit in. They were changing drummers throughout the night, so Max played drums, then Art Taylor, then Art Blakey. Oscar Pettiford was on cello. Jimmy Smith came in the door with his organ. He drove to the club with his organ in a hearse. And outside we heard that Miles was looking for somebody named Cannonball. And I’m saying to myself, ‘All this stuff is going on and I gotta go to the Army in about five days!’”

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13
Album Review

Alan Shorter: Mephistopholes To Orgasm Revisited

Read "Mephistopholes To Orgasm Revisited" reviewed by Chris May


It is often said of a musician, be they alive or no longer with us, that they deserve to be better known. This is emphatically true of the wayward trumpeter and composer Alan Shorter, who was overshadowed during his lifetime by his brother, Wayne Shorter, and who continues to be passed over today in 2024. Some responsibility for his obscurity lies with Alan Shorter himself. Known as Doc Strange to his teenage schoolmates in Newark, New Jersey, ...

1
Radio & Podcasts

1974 with Soft Machine, Passport, Flora Purim and Stanley Clarke

Read "1974 with Soft Machine, Passport, Flora Purim and Stanley Clarke" reviewed by Len Davis


1974 Part 2 -50 years ago with Volker Kriegel, Wayne Shorter, George Duke, Passport, Soft Machine, Flora Purim, Santana, Horace Arnold, Stanley Clarke and John Abercrombie. Playlist Volker Kriegel “Mild Maniac" from Mild Maniac (MPS) 00:00 Wayne Shorter “Beauty And The Beast" from Native Dancer (CBS) 06:29 George Duke “Psychomatic Dung" from Faces in Reflection (MPS) 12:56 Passport “Eternal Spiral" from Looking Thru (ATCO) 19:38 Soft Machine “Nettle Bed" from Seven (CBS) 26:08 Flora Purim “Silver Sword" from ...

25
Reassessing

The Electric Years Box Set

Read "The Electric Years Box Set" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


In a year that has brought us a true bounty of previously unheard majesty including Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy (Impulse!), and Bill Evans; Treasures: Solo, Trio & Orchestra Recordings from Denmark (1965-1969), (Elemental Music) it is only fitting that Miles Davis get his due. And in a very, very big way. Seared into modern memory, modern art, the music presented on the gloriously massive, eleven LP set Miles Davis: The Electric Years ...

12
Film Review

Impressions of Zero Gravity

Read "Impressions of Zero Gravity" reviewed by AAJ Staff


We published Peter Jones's review of Zero Gravity the other week, but other staffers wanted to share their thoughts on the Wayne Shorter documentary, so we collected them and presented them here. Ellen Johnson Zero Gravity, the documentary chronicling the life and music of jazz icon Wayne Shorter, surpasses the boundaries of conventional biographical films. It explores the mystical and philosophical dimensions that shaped Shorter's extraordinary journey. His fusion of spiritual beliefs with an insatiable curiosity about the ...

1
Radio & Podcasts

Celebrating Citizen Wayne Shorter And New Releases

Read "Celebrating Citizen Wayne Shorter And New Releases" reviewed by Bob Osborne


There are all new releases on this show, with a great compilation of Wayne Shorter's music from the Posi-Tone label. In addition there are new albums from Francisco Mela & Jonathan Reisin, Ivo Perelman & Nate Wooley, Todd Mosby, Hutchinson Andrew Trio, Itamar Borochov, Elina Duni with Rob Luft plus Matthieu Michel & Fred Thomas, Matt Rollings Trio, Nevaris, The Man From Atlantis, Sara Serpa & Andre Matos, Daniel Carter with Adriana Camacho & Federico Ughi, Camila Nebbia, Josh Cole, ...

30
Film Review

Leaving Planet Earth: Amazon's Wayne Shorter Documentary Zero Gravity

Read "Leaving Planet Earth: Amazon's Wayne Shorter Documentary Zero Gravity" reviewed by Peter Jones


Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity Director: Dorsay Alavi 2023 Wayne Shorter was brought up in the belief that he could achieve anything he wanted to: there should be no barriers to his ambition. This three-part documentary--a true labor of love from director Dorsay Alavi--shows us that Shorter was far more than a musician. In the first part (or portal), we see Shorter and his brother Alan, portrayed in black and white by a pair of ...

8
History of Jazz

Shut Up, He Explained: On Talking Heads In Jazz Flicks

Read "Shut Up, He Explained: On Talking Heads In Jazz Flicks" reviewed by Con Chapman


As an avid watcher of jazz documentaries, my thoughts on the genre may be summed up by the words of two of my favorite writers, Raymond Carver and Ring Lardner. Carver named his first short story collection “Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?--the words are spoken by a character named Ralph to his wife Marian, who has confessed to cheating on him in the story of the same name. From Jazz by Ken Burns and Geoffrey Ward to ...

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Wayne Shorter

Jazz Musician of the Day: Wayne Shorter

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Wayne Shorter's birthday today!

Born in Newark, New Jersey on August 25, 1933, Wayne Shorter had his first great jazz epiphany as a teenager: “I remember seeing Lester Young when I was 15 years old. It was a Norman Granz Jazz at the Philharmonic show in Newark and he was late coming to the theater. Me and a couple of other guys were waiting out front of the Adams Theater and when he finally did ...

1

Performance / Tour

Manhattan's Smoke Jazz Club Announces May Line-Up Including Wayne Shorter Tribute Concert, George Coleman Jr, Album Release, And More

Manhattan's Smoke Jazz Club Announces May Line-Up Including Wayne Shorter Tribute Concert, George Coleman Jr, Album Release, And More

Source: AMT Public Relations

Rated the #1 Jazz Club in New York City (Secret NYC), Smoke Jazz Club begins the month of May with a heartfelt homage to the great, intrepid saxophonist Wayne Shorter. For one-night only May 3, today’s top artists celebrate the music and legacy of Shorter “who shaped the color and contour of modern jazz as one of its most intensely admired composers (The New York Times). The month continues with two leading female vocalists leading their respective quintets: Paula West ...

Video / DVD

Wayne Shorter in Nine Video Clips

Wayne Shorter in Nine Video Clips

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Wayne Shorter (1933-2023), when paired with other great jazz artists, was a tonic. Whether it was with trumpeters Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan or, later, Miles Davis, Shorter's saxophone added a dimension that was commanding and haunting. You felt you had a window into the artist's soul when Shorter played. Shorter was in three major groups that changed jazz. The first was Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, from 1959 to 1963, the most acclaimed hard-bop ensemble widely recognized and ...

Recording

Backgrounder: Wayne Shorter's JuJu

Backgrounder: Wayne Shorter's JuJu

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Wayne Shorter, a saxophonist and composer whose influence on post-war jazz and jazz musicians rivaled that of Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, died March 2. He was 89. My favorite Shorter album is JuJu. Recorded in 1964 for Blue Note and released in July 1965, the album featured all original songs by Shorter and included pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Elvin Jones—a rhythm section that had worked regularly with John Coltrane. The soul and power of Shorter's ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Wayne Shorter

Jazz Musician of the Day: Wayne Shorter

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Wayne Shorter's birthday today!

Born in Newark, New Jersey on August 25, 1933, Wayne Shorter had his first great jazz epiphany as a teenager: “I remember seeing Lester Young when I was 15 years old. It was a Norman Granz Jazz at the Philharmonic show in Newark and he was late coming to the theater. Me and a couple of other guys were waiting out front of the Adams Theater and when he finally did ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Wayne Shorter

Jazz Musician of the Day: Wayne Shorter

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Wayne Shorter's birthday today!

Born in Newark, New Jersey on August 25, 1933, Wayne Shorter had his first great jazz epiphany as a teenager: “I remember seeing Lester Young when I was 15 years old. It was a Norman Granz Jazz at the Philharmonic show in Newark and he was late coming to the theater. Me and a couple of other guys were waiting out front of the Adams Theater and when he finally did ...

Video / DVD

Wayne Shorter: Timeless Sound

Wayne Shorter: Timeless Sound

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Wayne Shorter remains one of America's most fascinating living jazz legends. His sound on the tenor saxophone is muscular, hypnotic and so evocative of the 1960s. His original compositions remain relevant, with their yearning, political undertow and modal scales. So it's puzzling that there are so few YouTube clips of him live in the 1960s leading his own groups and playing his own songs. Part of this is a result of him spending most of his time in the Miles ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Wayne Shorter

Jazz Musician of the Day: Wayne Shorter

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Wayne Shorter's birthday today!

Born in Newark, New Jersey on August 25, 1933, Wayne Shorter had his first great jazz epiphany as a teenager: “I remember seeing Lester Young when I was 15 years old. It was a Norman Granz Jazz at the Philharmonic show in Newark and he was late coming to the theater. Me and a couple of other guys were waiting out front of the Adams Theater and when he finally did ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Wayne Shorter

Jazz Musician of the Day: Wayne Shorter

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Wayne Shorter's birthday today!

Born in Newark, New Jersey on August 25, 1933, Wayne Shorter had his first great jazz epiphany as a teenager: “I remember seeing Lester Young when I was 15 years old. It was a Norman Granz Jazz at the Philharmonic show in Newark and he was late coming to the theater. Me and a couple of other guys were waiting out front of the Adams Theater and when he finally did ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Wayne Shorter

Jazz Musician of the Day: Wayne Shorter

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Wayne Shorter's birthday today!

Born in Newark, New Jersey on August 25, 1933, Wayne Shorter had his first great jazz epiphany as a teenager: “I remember seeing Lester Young when I was 15 years old. It was a Norman Granz Jazz at the Philharmonic show in Newark and he was late coming to the theater. Me and a couple of other guys were waiting out front of the Adams Theater and when he finally did ...

Brian Swartz
trumpet
Jake Hanlon
guitar
Nathan Hanson
saxophone
Russ Nolan
saxophone, tenor
Lynda Murray
saxophone, alto
Greg Diamond
guitar, electric
Don Braden
saxophone, tenor
Jorge Sylvester
saxophone, alto
Ian Dogole
percussion
Brian Lynch
trumpet
Sam Newsome
saxophone, soprano
Bruno Raberg
bass, acoustic
Sam Allen
drums
Patrick Cornelius
saxophone, alto
Matthieu Marthouret
organ, Hammond B3
Jim Head
guitar
David Bixler
saxophone
Pete McCann
guitar
Andrew Hadro
woodwinds
Eldad Tarmu
vibraphone
Glenn White
saxophone
Todd Sickafoose
bass, acoustic
Sharel Cassity
saxophone
Svend Undseth
saxophone
Brad Felt
euphonium
Jim Butler
saxophone
Cold Spring Jazz Quartet
band / ensemble / orchestra
Alon Farber
saxophone
Steve Griggs
saxophone
Ricky Hopkins
saxophone
Ray Ferretti
guitar, electric
Gregory Dudzienski
saxophone, tenor
Dennis Skerrett
saxophone
Gui Duvignau
bass, acoustic
Lynn Ligammari
saxophone
Ed Johnson
guitar and vocals
David Borgo
saxophone
Dave Clark
guitar
Jodi Michelle Proznick
bass, acoustic
Peter Fraize
saxophone
Iman Spaargaren
saxophone, tenor
Frido ter Beek
saxophone
Bruno Schorp
bass, acoustic
F. ter Beek
saxophone
Timothy Lee Miller
composer / conductor
Jonathan Kava
saxophone, soprano
Elliot Spero
saxophone, tenor
Bele Beledo
guitar
Tyrone Birkett
saxophone, alto
Fran Vielma
percussion
Kit Eakle
violin
Kate Olson
saxophone
Brandon Robertson
bass, acoustic
Mao Soné
trumpet
Aaron Bahr
trumpet
Marco Moura
guitar
Antero Priha
trumpet
Chris Pitts
saxophone, tenor
Julian Nicholas
saxophone, tenor
Hashima
band / ensemble / orchestra
Javier García
guitar, electric
Paul Tafoya
trumpet
Alex Moxon
guitar, electric
Allison Au
saxophone, alto
Jim Goetsch
saxophone
Dan Waldman
guitar
Jay Riley
saxophone, tenor
Will Boyd
woodwinds
Billy Marrows
guitar, electric
Rex Shepherd
guitar, electric
Mike De Masi
bass, acoustic
Michael Neff
trumpet
Viktor Haraszti
saxophone
Matthew Ottignon
saxophone, tenor
Tumi Árnason
saxophone
Boaz Marva
guitar
Pagliuca-Mena
band / ensemble / orchestra
Itay Goldberg
saxophone, tenor
Shiri Zorn
vocals
Jazz Interlude
band / ensemble / orchestra
Patricia López
saxophone
Ole Visby
clarinet, bass
David Bode
saxophone
BRAHIM Band
band / ensemble / orchestra
Jérôme Masco
saxophone
Hard Bop Messengers
band / ensemble / orchestra
Jacob Chung
saxophone, tenor
David Bernot
saxophone, tenor
Eric Mullins
saxophone, tenor
Simeon Nathanael Davis
composer / conductor
Richard Davies
saxophone, tenor
Rob Ames
saxophone, soprano
Louis Siciliano
synthesizer
Timothy Alan Ford
piano and vocals
Joby
author
Alex Coke & Carl Michel Sextet
band / ensemble / orchestra
Kevin Huang
saxophone, alto
Tombajazz
band / ensemble / orchestra
Tomba
bass
Ron Bosse
guitar
Paolo Dinuzzi
bass, electric
Zach Rich
trombone
Molly Skuse
vocals
Thomas Reilly
vibraphone
Erlend Albertsen Basspace
band / ensemble / orchestra
Tyler Levy Sniff
saxophone, tenor
Jodi Proznick
bass, acoustic
Kerilie McDowall
guitar, electric
Gus Leighton
saxophone
Orlando Madrid
saxophone, alto

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

A Supreme Love

Confront Recordings
2023

buy

The Electric Years...

Columbia Records / VMP Anthology
2023

buy

Videos

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