Wayne Shorter wrote tunes for Art Blakey, Miles Davis, Weather Report and his own bands, and many of them are now jazz standards. These are 10 Wayne Shorter songs, from “Lester Left Town” in 1960 to “Aung San Suu Kyi” in 1997, with the story behind each one and a recording to start with.
The first was written for Lester Young, who died in March 1959, a few months before Shorter joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Blue Note recorded it that November, then kept the session in the vaults until 1981; the version most people know was cut in March 1960 for The Big Beat.
And at the end, the opera he was still finishing at 88.
From Newark to Weather Report
Wayne Shorter is one of the most influential saxophonists in jazz. Originally citing his influences, such as Coleman Hawkins, Sonny Rollins, and John Coltrane, he sounds like none of them, and by the mid-1960s, had developed his own sound and language for the tenor saxophone.
Born on 25 August 1933, Wayne Shorter took up the clarinet at the age of 16, switching to tenor saxophone three years later. Shorter’s great passions were music and an interest in comic books and science fiction.
After serving two years in the US Army, where he also played with pianist Horace Silver, he joined the band of trumpeter Maynard Ferguson before joining Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in 1959. He would remain with the band for five years, becoming their musical director and principal composer.
In 1964, Shorter joined Miles Davis’s band, which would become known as the Second Great Quintet. Although Davis disbanded the group in 1968, the saxophonist would continue to play in Davis’s groups until 1970 and contributed his playing on soprano saxophone to the groundbreaking albums In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew.
After leaving Miles, he formed the group Weather Report with fellow Davis associate and keyboard player Joe Zawinul, who would record a series of highly successful fusion albums between 1971 and their demise in 1985. After the band broke up, Shorter focused on his solo career, continuing to compose for his own projects and always with his unique sound on both soprano and tenor saxophone.
As the new millennium began, Shorter formed his first permanent acoustic jazz quartet, playing his own compositions with a younger generation of musicians that included pianist Danilo Pérez, bassist John Patitucci, and Brian Blade on drums, with the group releasing four highly acclaimed albums that would often be referred to as the ‘Footprints Quartet.’
Wayne Shorter retired from active touring and performing in 2018 but would continue to compose music up until his death at age 89 on 2 March 2023. In a career spanning almost 70 years, Shorter contributed many compositions that have now become standards and won 12 Grammy Awards.
Below, you’ll find 10 Wayne Shorter songs.
“Lester Left Town” from The Big Beat by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers (1960)
This is one of Shorter’s compositions that has entered the standard repertoire and was written as a dedication to saxophonist Lester “Prez” Young, who had died in 1959. On this version with Art Blakey, the other horn soloist is trumpeter Lee Morgan, whose bright and brassy solo is in contrast to Shorter’s more formal approach to the chord changes. The distinctive and individual tenor sound is already fully formed.
Start with: Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers on The Big Beat (1960). Listen for the hand-over from Morgan’s solo to Shorter’s, two very different ways through the same chords.
“Night Dreamer” from Night Dreamer (Blue Note 1964)
The saxophonist’s first album as a leader for Blue Note with Shorter entering into a purple patch in his recorded output for the label as we will hear. Shorter’s tune is tough and authoritative, as is his solo on this piece. Lots of interesting and original phrases that at first sound a little disjointed but quickly reveal their inner logic as the solo progresses.
Start with: Wayne Shorter on Night Dreamer (1964). Listen for McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones, borrowed from John Coltrane’s quartet, behind Shorter and Lee Morgan.
“Infant Eyes” from Speak No Evil (Blue Note 1964/1966)
Recorded at the end of 1964 but not released until June 1966, this album builds on the rapport between pianist Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter on bass, with whom Shorter was playing in the Miles Davis Quintet. From Hancock’s beautiful piano introduction to this ballad, Shorter enters on tenor with a tender reading of the melody and develops a solo of extraordinary beauty.
Start with: Wayne Shorter on Speak No Evil (1966). Shorter wrote it for his daughter, Miyako; listen for how much of it is just tenor and piano.
“Lost” from The Soothsayer (Blue Note 1965/1979)
Blue Note was recording the saxophonist on a regular basis, almost as if stockpiling material from this incredibly productive period from Shorter. Recorded in March 1965, it sat in the label’s vaults unreleased until 1979. This set features a sextet with the addition of altoist James Spaulding to boost the frontline with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. The trumpeter is now a regular presence on Shorter’s albums and has found his pace in the music. Spaulding acquits himself well with a plangent solo, but again it is the leader who makes the most telling contribution.
Start with: Wayne Shorter on The Soothsayer (1979). “Lost” opens the album; listen for Tony Williams on drums, recorded the same year he was driving the Davis quintet.
“Miyako” from Schizophrenia (Blue Note 1967/1969)
Another Shorter album featuring James Spaulding but playing flute as well as alto, and the trumpet being replaced by trombone with the presence of Curtis Fuller. Shorter’s writing and arranging here is exceptional, and this beautiful ballad is sparsely arranged but full of details. Wayne’s solo is a beauty, and Hancock by now knows exactly what is required to bring out the best in the composition.
Start with: Wayne Shorter on Schizophrenia (1969). Another tune for his daughter, Miyako, three years after “Infant Eyes”.
“Eurydice” from Weather Report by Weather Report (Columbia 1971)
After finally leaving Miles after the two groundbreaking jazz-rock albums In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew, Wayne Shorter joined forces with Joe Zawinul to co-lead Weather Report. From the band’s debut album, this composition by Shorter takes its cue from Davis’s small group work. This still features an electric quintet sound and clearly defined solos, with Shorter now playing more soprano than tenor. Elsewhere, Shorter and Zawinul would explore more textural music, where, as Zawinul told Down Beat in 1971, “we don’t solo; we just play with one another.”
Start with: Weather Report on Weather Report (1971). Zawinul called it the one track on the album where they solo a little; listen for how close it sits to the Davis quintet.
“Mysterious Traveller” from Mysterious Traveller by Weather Report (Columbia 1974)
This was the album that marked a new departure for Weather Report. Bassist Miroslav Vitous, who had co-founded the band with Shorter and Zawinul, left due to creative differences. His place was taken by the first of a succession of electric bass guitarists, heralding a new rhythmic style for the band in Alphonso Johnson. The compositions were more tightly structured, and any solos constituted only a small part of the overall arrangement. This is immediately evident in this composition by Shorter, in which he again plays soprano and the use of Zawinul’s ever-expanding and elaborate keyboard setup.
Start with: Weather Report on Mysterious Traveller (1974). Zawinul arranged Shorter’s tune; listen for Johnson’s electric bass, new to the band on this album.
“Elegant People” from Black Market by Weather Report (Columbia 1976)
From the album that preceded the immensely successful Heavy Weather the following year, this is the set that would also introduce virtuoso bassist Jaco Pastorius. However, on this composition by Shorter, Alphonso Johnson was the bassist, playing a supportive rather than soloistic role. The composition and album as a whole have an African influence, as can be heard in the use of percussion. Effective use is made in Shorter’s arrangement of the electric piano and synthesiser, as well as the saxophonist’s full-toned and beefy tenor.
Start with: Weather Report on Black Market (1976). Listen for the melody passing between saxophone and Zawinul’s synthesisers; the whole piece is written out.
“The Three Marias” from Atlantis (Columbia 1985)
This is one of Shorter’s albums that again focuses on the compositions and arrangements as opposed to long solos. The music is often funky with a strong bassline, but on this superb composition that preserves a narrative feeling from beginning to end, the use of acoustic piano and keyboards is particularly effective, as is Wayne’s contribution on soprano saxophone, although he does weigh in with some meaty tenor towards the end of the piece.
Start with: Wayne Shorter on Atlantis (1985). Listen for the acoustic piano under Shorter’s soprano, then the switch to tenor near the end.
“Aung San Suu Kyi” from 1+1 by Wayne Shorter & Herbie Hancock (Verve 1997)
The saxophonist has always had a long and fruitful association with pianist Hancock, and this duet album seemed inevitable. In a delightful way to celebrate the glorious music they have made together, this recording features ten tracks for piano and soprano saxophone. This delightful and poignant rendition of “Aung San Suu Kyi” is just one of many highlights. Shorter won a Grammy for this composition that was dedicated to and named after the Burmese pro-democracy activist.
Start with: Herbie Hancock & Wayne Shorter on 1+1 (1997). No bass or drums, so every gap between the two players is audible.
The opera he was still finishing at 88
As a music education student at New York University in the 1950s, Shorter had wanted to write opera. He finally did it with Iphigenia, with a libretto by the bassist and singer esperanza spalding and sets by the architect Frank Gehry. The first fully staged production opened at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston in November 2021.
Shorter was 88 and on dialysis, and he couldn’t travel to Boston. In the pit sat his quartet’s rhythm section: Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci and, in Boston, Jeff “Tain” Watts in place of Brian Blade.
“I come to this opera with the idea that nothing is thrown away,” he told NPR. He died in Los Angeles on 2 March 2023, aged 89.
Those are 10 Wayne Shorter songs, from the Jazz Messengers in 1960 to his duets with Herbie Hancock in 1997. Iphigenia reached the stage almost a quarter of a century after that.
Long before any of these songs, a young Shorter on leave from the Army went to hear Lester Young, the man “Lester Left Town” was written for, at a crowded Toronto club. What happened next is in our story of the night Wayne Shorter met Lester Young. For more, see our pick of the best Wayne Shorter albums and our guide to the ever-changing Weather Report line-up, from Miroslav Vitous to Jaco Pastorius.
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Which Wayne Shorter tune would you play to someone who has never heard him: “Infant Eyes”, “Elegant People” or something else? Tell us in the comments.