This year's Footprints Live! marked Wayne Shorter"s first all-acoustic record since 1967. So you"d think the cat might"ve been a little rusty, maybe? Not a chance. The saxophone legend merely delivered the kind of recording that"s heard too little in today"s jazz — one with true unpredictability, one that defies formula, one with varied textures and a rich dynamic tapestry. Shorter accomplished such a feat with three new collaborators. He may have dusted off old compositions like "Masqualero," "JuJu," "Go" and the title track, but he did the opposite with personnel: Rather than enlist some past compadres (Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and the like), the 69-year-old master recruited a trio of relative youngbloods: pianist Danilo Perez, 35; bassist John Patitucci, 42; and drummer Brian Blade, 31. The rhythm section brought an obvious reverence for tunes that were surely part of their early training; they imbue the music with youthful exuberance. But it"s more than that. The trio taps into the telepathic interaction that has been a hallmark of Shorter"s music since his days in the early "60s with Art Blakey"s Jazz Messengers, with Miles Davis" fabled "60s quintet, through his decade-and-a-half stint with fusion torchbearers Weather Report, and in the myriad solo albums strewn throughout his career.
Frankly, it would have been easier, and safer, for Shorter to add another horn or two to his Footprints band. It would"ve made the sound bigger. He acknowledges that one of the toughest parts about being a jazz senior citizen is "wind, lung power," but, "right now we prefer to keep it as a quartet because of the unspoken agreement that when we start to perform nobody knows what"s coming," Shorter said in a phone interview from his home near Miami. "A fifth or sixth guy at this point would be a stumbling block between us."
While relatively young, Shorter"s sidemen are mature. "One of the components of being ready to do this music is, let me use an analogy, to have the arteries clear," Shorter says. "Carlos Santana once told me he liked having a band where he doesn"t have to be a psychiatrist, a policeman and a babysitter. My guys are clear. They haven"t allowed things to come into their lives that are destructive. Their time on the planet has been one of seeking and pure-mindedness.
"There"s an old idea that you"re not saying anything on your instrument unless you"re suffering, going through a whole lot of shit. I don"t buy it. Would I like to have a surgeon work on me who"s going through a whole lot of shit — a soulful surgeon?"
This is how Shorter, a devout Buddhist, talks — elliptically, introspectively, loftily, passionately.
It"s how he plays.
Most jazz improvisers, even good ones, employ some measure of licks and stock lines as signposts, elements that they use to fall back on, to steer them out of dead ends, to sustain themselves if inspiration cannot be tapped. Shorter"s playing sounds thoroughly linear, one idea leading to the next, a true horn narrative. (He rarely speaks of musical theory or technique but characterizes improvisation as telling stories.)
Some saxophonists are like great orators. Shorter is more like an intimate conversationalist, albeit with moments of bluster. His dark, burnished tone has a distinctly conversational feel. His work on Footprints Live!, mostly on tenor, with a bit of soprano, is often understated, featuring plenty of quiet moments and pregnant pauses. His tendency is to leave space rather than fill it up. At the end of "Valse Triste" on the new disc he sits on a simple two-note phrase for several bars, mining it for texture and subtle rhythmic variation. The effect is mesmerizing, and quite unorthodox.
Despite his brilliance, Shorter is not the spotlight attraction in his quartet. It"s very much a collective effort. Most conventional jazz groups pass off solos like a relay baton; with the Shorter band it"s more like shifting sands, with one player sliding up to make a statement while the others comment.
"Those guys can go anywhere at any time," says Rob Griffin, the band"s sound engineer. "Inside a tune, they come up with different sections that are just remarkable, as if they"ve been composed for 10 years. (Renowned saxophonist) Michael Brecker has told me a few times that this is the best jazz group ever. I believe it"s a fact."
The best jazz group ever… There are plenty of jazz-o-philes who"d take exception to such a statement. In the Shorter canon, you"d start with Miles Davis" "60s Quintet, a consummately interactive group that included legends Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Shorter.
Their leader — known as a trailblazer, a genius — was also widely regarded as irascible and arrogant.
Shorter saw another side of the man. "We had a lot of fun with Miles," he says. "He was that way (arrogant) outside the circle of the group. He could be tough, but he didn"t attack us."
Davis died in 1991, but not before calling some of the guys. "He said," and here Shorter drops into Davis" trademark rasp, ""Hey Wayne — that band we had. We covered a lot of ground. Didn"t we, boy?""
Shorter chuckles affectionately. During his lifetime, Davis tended to publicly downplay, even disparage, his prior work.
After leaving Davis" band in "69, Shorter joined forces with mercurial keyboardist Joe Zawinul to form Weather Report. A bevy of top players passed through the ranks, most notably the late electric bass wizard Jaco Pastorius. Weather Report was lumped into the fusion movement, which history has not treated kindly. The band should not share in the derision, though. Zawinul, Shorter and company artfully employed electronic instruments, overdubbing techniques and R&B-based rhythms, but did not resort to the instrumental gymnastics so common to the genre. In fact, it was with Weather Report that Shorter"s playing became so sparse at times it approached minimalism.
Recent reissues of four "70s Weather Report albums, and a new set of unreleased live material, prove that the band"s music remains vital and timeless. If Shorter were interested in cashing in, he and Zawinul would round up some of the fellas and launch a reunion tour. Shorter says his relationship with Zawinul is fine, but:
"Art Blakey used to tell guys, "It"s time to get out. Go make your own band. We need a lot of help out there,"" the saxophonist says. "If (Weather Report did reunite), the actual patrols would be left unattended; you wouldn"t have the soldiers out there doing the mercenary work in the trenches. It"s better to get people to make up their minds about something new than to continue something refurbished."
In other words, don"t expect a Weather Report reunion any time soon. But do expect to get your mind blown when Shorter plays Tampa Theatre, his first area appearance since the mid-"80s with Weather Report.
Contact Associate Editor Eric Snider at snider@weeklyplanet.com or call him at 813-248-8888, ext. 114.
This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2002.