Wayne Shorter, who is among jazz’s greatest saxophonists AND composers, died on Thursday, as the New York Times reported. He was 89 years old.
Shorter is right up there with Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane as the titans of the instrument. He also moved through different genres, going from jazz to fusion both as a solo artist and as part of Miles Davis’s second famous quintet before moving to Weather Report to find even more success.
But he also was a composer who had an unbelievable run of albums as a leader.
Let’s run through some of his greatest songs to listen to:
1
Footprints
I happen to favor this more straight-ahead version, but the interpretation from him and Miles’s quintet was fascinating:
2
Night Dreamer
This whole album is incredible.
3
Juju
So is this one.
4
Speak No Evil
… And this one.
5
Birdland (by Weather Report)
Weather Report is not for everybody, but this song is a classic.
6
Aja (by Steely Dan)
Shorter’s solo on this all-timer of a Steely Dan tune is unbelievable.
7
Infant Eyes
Gorgeous.
8
Down in the Depths
A personal favorite from early in his career.
