This month, we mourn the passing of a titanic jazz figure, Wayne Shorter. As a saxophonist, Shorter is undoubtedly regarded as one of the greatest to wield the mighty tenor, ranked alongside artists like Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, John Coltrane, and Sonny Rollins. In the latter part of his career, he embraced the soprano saxophone and dominated that landscape as well, arguably transcending Coltrane’s work with the instrument and could be considered on-par with specialists like Dave Liebman and Jane Ira Bloom.

For many, his prowess as a saxophonist would be enough to be considered among the greatest jazz artists of the century. But beyond his phenomenal capabilities as a soloist, Shorter will certainly be remembered (and missed) for his compositional gifts. It’s true that jazz music epitomizes a paradigm centered on the performer, thus many musicians are responsible for having composed a number of unique works. But again, Shorter ranks among the most prodigious in this category as well and is widely considered one of the finest jazz composers who ever lived, alongside Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. Shorter’s canon is both broad and deep, and jazz musicians everywhere continue to mine the depths of his compositions and perform his works widely.

After schooling and a brief stint in the U.S. Army, Shorter cut his teeth with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the early 1960s, becoming the band’s music director and playing a pivotal role in cementing the group’s sonic identity that would help carry it for decades (The Jazz Messengers were active until Blakey’s death in1990). Shorter was Miles Davis’ first choice to replace John Coltrane on tenor when he began rebuilding his quintet in 1960, but ended up performing and recording with many other saxophonists instead until Shorter moved on from Blakey’s group in 1964. Of that Second Great Quintet, Herbie Hancock said, “The master writer to me, in that group, was Wayne Shorter. Wayne was one of the few people who brought music to Miles that didn’t get changed.” Miles himself recalled, “Wayne is a real composer. . . [and] brought in a kind of curiosity about working with musical rules.” After setting the template for post-bop with the Miles Davis unit and his own albums like Juju and Speak No Evil, Shorter went on to form one of the most iconic jazz fusion groups with keyboardist Joe Zawiunul, the band Weather Report. Over the past thirty years, Shorter continued to expand his musical visions and tread new waters with an all-star quartet with Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, and Brian Blade, winning Grammy Awards for Jazz Album of the Year and Best Instrumental Jazz Performance for Without a Net (2014) and Emanon (2018).

The scope and impact of Shorter’s incredible music and persona cannot be summed up in any single volume, but we are grateful for the wealth of music created by this iconic artist. Though we mourn his passing, we will forever celebrate the life, times, and works of Wayne Shorter here on Jazz 93.5.