A new beginning for Wayne Shorter

Wayne Shorter’s return to acoustic music with his new quartet signaled a new beginning for the veteran composer and saxophonist.

Wayne Shorter – Footprints Live! (Verve, 2023)

Wayne Shorter’s return to playing acoustic music with his then newly formed quartet was big news in the jazz world in the early 2000s. This, their first album, was recorded in 2002. It is Shorter recorded on tour in France, Spain, and Italy with pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade.

The group chemistry is there from the start. Already on this album they are deconstructing Shorter’s many familiar songs, taking long abstracted detours from the themes, while still always coming back to base.

It works since Shorter’s fans are so familiar with his music. Most of the songs are from his period with Miles Davis in the 1960s, or from his Blue Note albums from the same period. It is like meeting old friends who has evolved in unexpected new ways. 

Sibelius by Shorter

There are many high points. One is the performance of “Juju” which Shorter originally recorded in 1964 with pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones who worked with John Coltrane at the time. On this version Shorter starts by whistling an abstract introduction before Blade builds to a climax. Shorter enters on the tenor saxophone as on the original recording but then switches to the soprano saxophone, playing an intense solo with a piercing tone reminiscent of the one Coltrane would play on the instrument.

Shorter plays softer and more melodic on the tenor saxophone as on his melancholic “Go” from the less well-known Blue Note album Schizophrenia (1969), or on the more recent title track from the album Atlantis (1985).

All of the compositions are by Shorter except “Valse Triste” by Finnish 20th century composer Jean Sibelius. Shorter is even original in the material he chooses to interpret. Shorter first recorded the song in 1965. On this album his originality is mostly shown in the interpretation of old material in new ways. It is great music which still sounds very alive.