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To put a word on the first 20 minutes of this episode on Wayne Shorter, it’s a meditation. I always think that is a bit pretentious, that concept. But I am going to stick with it. The song is Nefertiti by Wayne Shorter, performed back in 1968 with Miles Davis on the record of the same name. We approach it from three sides and then take one step away and look at the new mesmerizing jazz saxophonist, Immanuel Wilkins.
Equally pleased with our look at some shining examples of Wayne’s work with Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. In particular, we listen to selections from A Night in Tunisia. And then our third big focal point, the 1963 45 rpm release Lester’s Leaving Town/It’s Only a Paper Moon, paying close attention to this delightful song from 1932, the movie Paper Moon, and then The Jazz Messenger version to close the show.
Words from the jazz great, David Kikoski.
Wayne is one of the great composers of the 20th Century.
Dave Kikoski
Wayne Shorter | Jazz Messenger (S3 | E126)
Wayne Shorter (August 25, 1933 – March 2, 2023) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Davis’s Second Great Quintet, and then co-founded the jazz fusion band Weather Report. He recorded more than 20 albums as a bandleader.
Many Shorter compositions have become jazz standards, and his music has earned worldwide recognition, critical praise, and commendation. Shorter won 12 Grammy Awards. He was acclaimed for his mastery of the soprano saxophone since switching his focus from the tenor in the late 1960s and beginning an extended reign in 1970 as DownBeat‘s annual poll-winner on that instrument, winning the critics’ poll for 10 consecutive years and the readers’ for 18. The New York Times music critic Ben Ratliff described Shorter in 2008 as “probably jazz’s greatest living small-group composer and a contender for greatest living improviser”. In 2017, he was awarded the Polar Music Prize.
Wayne Shorter | Jazz Messenger | Show Playlist
| Track | Artist | Album | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nefertiti | Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter | Nefertiti | 1968 |
| Nefertiti | Chick Corea | The Song of Singing | 1971 |
| Fall (Nefertiti) | Terence Blanchard | Absence | 2021 |
| Part 1. The Key | Immanuel Wilkins | Omega | 2020 |
| Sincerely Diana | Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers | One Night in Tunisia | 1960 |
| Yama | Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers | One Night in Tunisia | 1960 |
| So Tired | Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers | One Night in Tunisia | 1963 |
| Lester’s Left Town | Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers | Single | 1963 |
| Only a Paper Moon | Claire Carleton | Single | 1933 |
| Only a Paper Moon | Bunny Berigan | Single | 1933 |
| Only a Paper Moon | Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers | Single | 1963 |
You lucky radio stations – for finding LTNF you get this fabulous show on your air! Well done!
Circling Wayne Shorter (S3 | E125)
