IN A SILENT WAY
Jazz giant Wayne Shorter has put down his saxophone aged 89. Shorter’s first childhood hero was Captain Marvel, and though his superhero love would never leave him, a new idol would inspire his career path – Charlie Parker. He joined a local bebop band alongside his brother, where their eccentric Columbo-ish dress style of rumpled suits and galoshes earned him the moniker “Mr. Weird”. From there, he was something of a jazz journeyman before finding a home as tenor saxophonist for Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. With the influential hard bop collective, he became known as the “Newark Flash” (that’s a better nickname) and delivered sophisticated compositions for the group such as “Ping Pong” and “Children of the Night”.
Now acclaimed in the industry as a master improviser, he long rebuffed recruitment attempts by Miles Davis out of a fealty to Blakey before finally agreeing to join Davis’s Second Great Quintet. He was a key creative force in the band, contributing multiple tracks to each album including the enigmatic “Nefertiti”. After the Quintet dissolved, Shorter remained a collaborative partner for Davis’s ambitious new directions, and he co-founded with Joe Zawinul jazz fusion collective Weather Report. He lent his sax talents to many others including Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Don Henley, and former Quintet bandmate Herbie Hancock, and helped save Tina Turner’s life by granting her shelter in the months after she fled Ike.
Shorter retired from performing in 2018, though remained active as a composer. He received the last of his dozen Grammys weeks before his death, and remained a delightfully cryptic creative presence til the end. A Great Quartet of theme teams improvise the points.
Wayne Shorter
25 August 1933 – 2 March 2023, aged 89
4 TEAMS (💀💀💀💀💀💀 6 POINTS)