Wayne Shorter | |
|---|---|
 Wayne Shorter in Amsterdam (1980) | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1933-08-25)August 25, 1933 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | March 2, 2023(2023-03-02) (aged 89) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education | New York University |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1958–2021 |
| Labels | |
| Formerly of | |
| Website | wayneshorter.com (archived) |
Wayne Shorter (August 25, 1933 – March 2, 2023) was an Americanjazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader.[1] Shorter came to mainstream prominence in 1959 upon joiningArt Blakey'sJazz Messengers, for whom he eventually became the primary composer. In 1964 he joinedMiles Davis'Second Great Quintet, and then co-founded thejazz fusion bandWeather Report in 1970. He recorded more than 20 albums as a bandleader.
Many Shorter compositions have becomejazz standards. His music earned worldwide recognition, critical praise, universal commendation, and 12Grammy Awards.[2] He was acclaimed for his mastery of thesoprano saxophone since switching his focus from thetenor in the late 1960s, and began an extended reign in 1970 asDownBeat's annual poll-winner on that instrument, winning the critics' poll for 10 consecutive years and the readers' for 18.[3]The New York Times music criticBen Ratliff described Shorter in 2008 as "probably jazz's greatest living small-group composer and a contender for greatest livingimproviser".[4] In 2017, he was awarded thePolar Music Prize.[5]
Wayne Shorter was born inNewark, New Jersey,[1] the son of Louise and Joseph Shorter.[6] He graduated fromNewark Arts High School[7][8] in 1952. He loved comic books and science fiction as well as music while growing up. Shorter began takingclarinet lessons at age 16, encouraged by his parents, and later switched totenor saxophone before enrolling atNew York University in 1952. His older brotherAlan playedalto saxophone before switching to thetrumpet in college. While in high school, Wayne also performed with the Nat Phipps Band in Newark. After graduating from NYU with a degree inmusic education in 1956, Shorter spent two years in theU.S. Army, during which time he played briefly withHorace Silver. After his discharge, he played withMaynard Ferguson. In his youth, Shorter had acquired the nickname "Mr. Gone", which later became an album title for Weather Report.[9]
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His early influences includeSonny Rollins,John Coltrane andColeman Hawkins. In 1959, Shorter joinedArt Blakey's Jazz Messengers where he stayed for four years, eventually becomingmusical director and composing pieces for the band.[10] Together they toured the US, Japan, and Europe, recording several albums. During this time, Shorter "established himself as one of the most gifted of the young saxophonists" and received international acknowledgment.[11]
Herbie Hancock said of Shorter's tenure inMiles Davis'sSecond Great Quintet: "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."[12] Davis said, "Wayne is a real composer. He writes scores, writes 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."[13]
Ian Carr, musician andRough Guide author, said that with Davis, Shorter found his own voice as a player and composer. "Blakey's hard-driving, straight-ahead rhythms had brought out the muscularity in Shorter's tenor playing, but the greater freedom of the Davis rhythm-section allowed him to explore new emotional and technical dimensions."[11]
Shorter remained in Davis's band after the breakup of the quintet in 1968, playing on earlyjazz fusion recordings includingIn a Silent Way andBitches Brew (both 1969). His last live dates and studio recordings with Davis were in 1970.
Until 1968, he playedtenor saxophone exclusively. The final album on which he played tenor in the regular sequence of Davis albums wasFilles de Kilimanjaro. In 1969, he played thesoprano saxophone on the Davis albumIn a Silent Way and on his ownSuper Nova (recorded with then-current Davis sidemenChick Corea andJohn McLaughlin). When performing live with 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.
Simultaneous with his time in the Davis quintet, Shorter recorded several albums forBlue Note Records, featuring, almost exclusively, his own compositions, with a variety of line-ups, quartets and larger groups, including Blue Note favorites such as trumpeterFreddie Hubbard. His first Blue Note album (of 11 in total recorded from 1964 to 1970) wasNight Dreamer, recorded atRudy Van Gelder's studio in 1964 withLee Morgan (trumpet),McCoy Tyner (piano),Reggie Workman (bass) andElvin Jones (drums). Two more albums were recorded in 1964,JuJu andSpeak No Evil.
Of the three Blue Note albums Shorter recorded in 1965,The All Seeing Eye (rec. 1965, rel. 1966) was a workout with a larger group, whileAdam's Apple (rec. 1966, rel. 1967) was back to carefully constructed melodies by Shorter leading a quartet. Then a sextet again in the following year forSchizophrenia (rec. 1967, rel. 1969) with Herbie Hancock, bassistRon Carter, trombonistCurtis Fuller, alto saxophonist/flautistJames Spaulding and strong rhythms by drummerJoe Chambers.
Shorter also recorded occasionally as asideman (again mainly for Blue Note) with trumpeterDonald Byrd, McCoy Tyner, trombonistGrachan Moncur III, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, as well as bandmates Herbie Hancock and drummerTony Williams.
Following the release ofOdyssey of Iska in 1970, Shorter formed the fusion groupWeather Report with Davis veteran keyboardistJoe Zawinul and bassistMiroslav Vitouš. The other original members were percussionistAirto Moreira, and drummerAlphonse Mouzon. After Vitouš's departure in 1973, Shorter and Zawinul co-led the group until the band's break-up in late 1985. A variety of musicians would make up Weather Report over the years (most notably the revolutionary bassistJaco Pastorius and drummersPeter Erskine andOmar Hakim) helping the band produce many high quality recordings in diverse styles, with funk,bebop,Latin jazz, ethnic music, andfuturism being the most prevalent denominators.
Shorter also recorded critically acclaimed albums as a bandleader, notably 1974'sNative Dancer, which featured Hancock and Brazilian composer and vocalistMilton Nascimento.
In the late 1970s and the early 1980s, he toured in theV.S.O.P. quintet. This group was a revival of the 1960s Davis quintet, except that Freddie Hubbard filled the trumpet chair. Shorter appeared with the same former Davis bandmates on theCarlos Santana double LPThe Swing of Delight (1980), for which he also composed a number of pieces.
From 1977 through 2002, he appeared on 10Joni Mitchell studio albums, gaining him a wider audience. He played an extended solo onthe title track ofSteely Dan's 1977 albumAja.[14]
After leaving Weather Report in 1986, Shorter continued to record and lead groups injazz fusion styles, including touring in 1988 with guitaristCarlos Santana, who appeared onThis is This! (1986), the last Weather Report disc. There is a concert video recorded at theLugano Jazz Festival in 1987, withJim Beard (keyboards), Carl James (bass),Terri Lyne Carrington (drums), andMarilyn Mazur (percussion). In 1989, he contributed to a hit on the rock charts, playing the soprano saxophone solo onDon Henley's song "The End of the Innocence" and also produced the albumPilar by the Portuguese singer-songwriterPilar Homem de Melo. He also maintained an occasional working relationship with Herbie Hancock, includinga tribute album recorded shortly after Miles Davis's death with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Tony Williams andWallace Roney. He continued to appear on Mitchell's records in the 1990s and can be heard on the soundtrack of theHarrison Ford filmThe Fugitive (1993).
In 1995, Shorter released the albumHigh Life, his first solo recording for seven years. It was also his debut as a leader forVerve Records. Shorter composed all the compositions on the album and co-produced it with the bassistMarcus Miller with pianist,synthesist, and sound designerRachel Z.High Life received theGrammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 1996.
Shorter worked with Herbie Hancock once again in 1997, on the much acclaimed and heralded album1+1. The song "Aung San Suu Kyi" (named for theBurmese pro-democracyactivist) won both Hancock and Shorter a Grammy Award.
In 2009, he was announced as one of the headline acts at theGnaoua World Music Festival in Essaouira, Morocco. His 2013 live albumWithout a Net (rec. 2010) is his first with Blue Note Records sinceOdyssey of Iska (rec. 1970, rel. 1971).
In 2000, Shorter formed the first permanent acoustic group under his name, a quartet with pianistDanilo Perez, bassistJohn Patitucci, and drummerBrian Blade, playing his own compositions, many of them reworkings of tunes going back to the 1960s. Four albums of live recordings have been released:Footprints Live! (rec. live 2001, rel. 2002);Beyond the Sound Barrier (rec. live 2002–2004, rel. 2005);Without a Net (rec. live 2010, rel. 2013); andEmanon (2018), with the latter, in addition to live material, including Shorter's quartet in a studio session with the 34-pieceOrpheus Chamber Orchestra. The quartet has received great acclaim from fans and critics, especially for the strength of Shorter's tenor saxophone playing. The biographyFootprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter by journalist Michelle Mercer examines the working life of the musicians as well as Shorter's thoughts and Buddhist beliefs.[15]Beyond the Sound Barrier received the 2006Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.
Shorter's 2003 albumAlegría (his first studio album for 10 years, sinceHigh Life) received the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album; it features the quartet with a host of other musicians, including pianistBrad Mehldau, drummerTerri Lyne Carrington and former Weather Report percussionistAlex Acuña. Shorter's compositions, some new, some reworked from his Miles Davis period, feature the complex Latin rhythms that he specialized in during his Weather Report days.
In 2015, producer/director Dorsay Alavi began filming a documentary about the life of Wayne Shorter calledWayne Shorter: Zero Gravity.[16] A number of high-profile musicians, includingHerbie Hancock,Esperanza Spalding, andTerri Lyne Carrington, performed at a donor event to raise funds for the documentary; two of the largest donations came from theHerb Alpert Foundation andCarlos Santana.[17] In 2018, a four-hour preliminary cut was completed. Subsequently,Brad Pitt joined the project with his production company. After some delay, partly due to the Covid crisis, from August 2023, the documentary is available as a three-hour miniseries onAmazon Prime Video.[18][19]
In 2016, it was announced that Shorter, Carlos Santana, and Herbie Hancock would begin touring under the name Mega Nova. Also included within thesupergroup was bassistMarcus Miller and drummerCindy Blackman Santana.[20] Their first show together was on August 24, 2016, at theHollywood Bowl.[21][22]
In 2018, Shorter retired from his near 70-year performing career due to health issues. He continued working as a composer, creating a "new operatic work" titledIphigenia, a loose adaptation of theancient Greek myth; withEsperanza Spalding writing the libretto and architectFrank Gehry designing the sets, which premiered on November 12, 2021, at theCutler Majestic Theatre.[23][24][25]
Shorter met Teruko (Irene) Nakagami in 1961. They married and had a daughter, Miyako. Some of his compositions are copyrighted as "Miyako Music" and Shorter dedicated the pieces "Miyako" and "Infant Eyes" to his daughter. The couple separated in 1964.[26]
Shorter metAna Maria Patricio in 1966 and they married in 1970.[26] In 1986, their daughter Iska died of agrand mal seizure at age 14.[27] Ana Maria and the couple's niece, Dalila, were killed on July 17, 1996, in the crash ofTWA Flight 800, while travelling to visit Shorter in Italy.[28] Dalila was the daughter of Ana Maria Shorter's sister and her husband, jazz vocalistJon Lucien.[26] Composer and producerRick Shorter (1934–2017) was Shorter's cousin.[29] In 1999, Shorter marriedCarolina Dos Santos, a close friend of Ana Maria.
Shorter practicedNichiren Buddhism for more than 50 years as a longtime member of the Buddhist associationSoka Gakkai International.[30]
Singer and actressTina Turner credits Shorter with saving her life. In Turner's 2020 spiritual memoirHappiness Becomes You, she states that Shorter and Ana Maria gave her critical refuge at their home for six months after Turner left her abusive husband,Ike Turner, in 1976.[31]
Shorter died in Los Angeles, California, on March 2, 2023, aged 89.[32]
In 1999, Shorter received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from theBerklee College of Music.[33]
On September 17, 2013, Shorter received a Lifetime Achievement Award from theHerbie Hancock Institute of Jazz (formerlyThelonious Monk Institute of Jazz).[34]
On December 18, 2014, the Recording Academy announced that Shorter had been awarded theGrammy Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of his "prolific contributions to our culture and history".[35]
In 2016, Shorter was awarded aGuggenheim Fellowship in music composition, the only jazz artist to receive the honor that year.[36]
In 2017, Shorter was announced as the joint winner of thePolar Music Prize. The award committee stated: "Without the musical explorations of Wayne Shorter, modern music would not have drilled so deep."[5]
In 2018, Shorter received theKennedy Center Honors Award from theJohn F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for his lifetime of contributions to the arts.[37]
On April 29, 2022, Shorter's hometown of Newark renamed a street in his honor. Park Place was renamed "Wayne Shorter Way".[38]
On April 22, 2023, theBBC Radio Three magazine programJ to Z broadcast a 90-minute tribute to Shorter, hosted byJulian Joseph.[39]
In August 2023, Herbie Hancock hosted a tribute concert atHollywood Bowl, featuring a large number of performers including Carlos Santana and Joni Mitchell.[40]
| Year | Nominated work | Category | Award | Result | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Wayne Shorter | New Star Saxophonist | DownBeat Readers Poll | Won | ||
| 1972 | I Sing The Body Electric | Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental | Grammy Award | Nominated | withWeather Report | [2] |
| 1979 | 8:30 | Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental | Grammy Award | Won | with Weather Report | [2] |
| 1981 | Night Passage | Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental | Grammy Award | Nominated | with Weather Report | [2] |
| 1982 | Weather Report | Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental | Grammy Award | Nominated | with Weather Report | [2] |
| 1983 | Procession | Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental | Grammy Award | Nominated | with Weather Report | [2] |
| 1985 | Sportin' Life | Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental | Grammy Award | Nominated | with Weather Report | [2] |
| Atlantis | Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental | Grammy Award | Nominated | [2] | ||
| 1987 | "Call Sheet Blues" | Best Instrumental Composition | Grammy Award | Won | withHerbie Hancock,Ron Carter andBilly Higgins fromThe Other Side of Round Midnight FeaturingDexter Gordon | [2] |
| 1994 | A Tribute to Miles | Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group | Grammy Award | Won | [2] | |
| "Pinocchio " | Best Jazz Instrumental Solo | Grammy Award | Nominated | fromA Tribute to Miles | [2] | |
| 1996 | Wayne Shorter | Lifetime achievement | Miles Davis Award | Won | The Miles Davis Award is given by theMontreal International Jazz Festival to "honor a great international jazz musician for the entire body of his or her work and influence in regenerating the jazz idiom." | [41] |
| High Life | Best Contemporary Jazz Album | Grammy Award | Won | [2] | ||
| "Children Of The Night" | Best Instrumental Arrangement | Grammy Award | Nominated | fromHigh Life | [2] | |
| "Midnight In Carlotta's Hair" | Best Instrumental Composition | Grammy Award | Nominated | fromHigh Life | [2] | |
| 1997 | "Aung San Suu Kyi" | Best Instrumental Composition | Grammy Award | Won | fromHerbie Hancock's1+1 | [2] |
| 1998 | Wayne Shorter | Lifetime achievement | NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship | Won | NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships are awarded byNational Endowment for the Arts to "musicians who have reached an exceptionally high standard of achievement in this very specialized art form." Each fellowship includes a monetary award.[42] | |
| 1999 | "In Walked Wayne" | Best Jazz Instrumental Solo | Grammy Award | Won | fromJ.J. Johnson'sHeroes | [2] |
| 2002 | Footprints Live! | Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group | Grammy Award | Nominated | [2] | |
| Wayne Shorter | Significant contributions to the evolution of jazz | Beacons in Jazz Award | Won | bestowed byThe New School's Jazz & Contemporary Music Program | [43] | |
| 2003 | "Sacajawea" | Best Instrumental Composition | Grammy Award | Won | fromAlegría | [2] |
| Alegría | Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group | Grammy Award | Won | [2] | ||
| 2005 | Beyond the Sound Barrier | Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group | Grammy Award | Won | [2] | |
| 2006 | Wayne Shorter | Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year | Downbeat Critics' Poll | Won | [44] | |
| Wayne Shorter Quartet | Jazz Group of the Year | Downbeat Critics' Poll | Won | [44] | ||
| Small Ensemble Group of the Year | Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Award | Won | ||||
| 2008 | Wayne Shorter | Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year | DownBeat Critics Poll | Won | [45] | |
| 2013 | Without A Net | Jazz Album of the Year | DownBeat Critics Poll | Won | with Wayne Shorter Quartet | [46] |
| Wayne Shorter | Artist of the Year | DownBeat Critics Poll | Won | [46] | ||
| Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year | DownBeat Critics Poll | Won | [46] | |||
| Wayne Shorter Quartet | Jazz Group | DownBeat Critics Poll | Won | [46] | ||
| DownBeat Readers Poll | Won | [46] | ||||
| 2014 | "Orbits" | Best Jazz Instrumental Solo | Grammy Award | Won | fromWithout a Net | [2] |
| Wayne Shorter | Achiever | Golden Plate Award | Won | bestowed byAmerican Academy of Achievement; presented by Awards Council memberWillie L. Brown Jr. | [47][48] | |
| Wayne Shorter Quartet | Jazz Group | DownBeat Critics Poll | Won | |||
| 2015 | Wayne Shorter | Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year | DownBeat Critics Poll | Won | [49] | |
| 2016 | Wayne Shorter | Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year | DownBeat Critics Poll | Won | ||
| DownBeat Readers Poll | Won | [50] | ||||
| 2017 | Wayne Shorter | Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year | DownBeat Critics Poll | Won | [51] | |
| Exceptional achievement | Polar Music Prize | Won | ||||
| Musical Arts | Rolf Schock Prizes | Won | [52] | |||
| 2019 | Wayne Shorter | Jazz Artist | DownBeat Readers Poll | Won | [53] | |
| Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year | Won | [53] | ||||
| Emanon | Jazz Album | Won | [53] | |||
| Best Jazz Instrumental Album | Grammy Award | Won | [2] | |||
| 2021 | Wayne Shorter | On-going innovation and impact in the field of jazz | Doris Duke Performing Artist Award | Won | sponsored by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation | [54][55] |
| 2023 | "Endangered Species" | Best Improvised Jazz Solo | Grammy Award | Won | withLeo Genovese | [56] |
| Live at the Detroit Jazz Festival | Best Jazz Instrumental Album | Nominated | withTerri Lyne Carrington, Leo Genovese, andEsperanza Spalding |
Shorter, a graduate of Newark Arts High School, began his professional career more than six decades ago and shows no sign of slowing down.
Academy guest of honor and jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter accompanies Esperanza Spalding in a duet performance at the 2014 International Achievement Summit in San Francisco.
