Search - Wayne Shorter :: Beyond the Sound Barrier

Feet on ground/ Head in orbit

K. Bryant | Christchurch, NZ | 03/28/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I bought two abstract paintings, the first ever, within weeks of purchasing this CD.No coincidence I suggest.Coming from a pop/rock/fusion/jazz (in that order) life journey, so-called "free" jazz was always a stretch, but this....???? I bought two grammy winning CD's, this and Pat Metheny's The way up, at the same time, but Wayne and Co have monopolised my car CD. The gamut of emotions and reactions it has provoked still confounds me. If life is the process of mining order from chaos, of perceiving the benevolent truth from the prevelant insanity this is it's soundtrack.

This is the first work of Wayne's I have heard since Weather Report, and had assumed his return to traditional quartet, was a retreat not an advance. Well...what a revelation! With this lineup he has been able to anchor free improvisation to a minimal amount of structure, creating such vivid dynamic pieces that never get stuck in cliches, that the listener is constantly challenged to keep up. The "ORDER" is there to be "MINED" from the apparent chaos. This is the reward for repeated listening.

Could another collection of individuals pull it off? Not that I'm aware of. Jazz has always been the perfect musical metaphor for the American political experiment, how to allow every individual the maximum amount of freedom of expression, whilst avoiding a collective descent into chaos.

Wayne is showing us the way ahead here......"

Comparison of Recent Albums from Shorter and Rollins

Roger Berlind | NY, USA | 02/28/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Different people will approach this and other recent Shorter albums along different paths. My primary points of reference were Shorter's "JuJu" and "Speak No Evil" albums from 1964. Many other listeners might approach Shorter along the same path. So, I think it's important to point out that this 2005 album and the similar 2002 album "footsteps live!" are very different from those classic Blue Note albums. While the new albums both feature an acoustic saxophone quartet just like "JuJu" had, the music on the new albums sounds much more contemporary.



One minor difference is that Shorter now plays both tenor and soprano saxophone. Another difference is that the recordings were of live performances. But the primary differences are that Shorter gives a lot more space to his rhythm section while playing shorter segments above it and that he seems intent on engaging in improvisational dialogue with them rather than in laying down the original melodies. While the quality of this musical conversation is of very high caliber, it is easy to lose track of the melodies. At times, it seems like the group is just jamming without any underlying framework; there probably is one that I just lack the ears to hear. As other reviewers have noted, this is music that requires careful listening. This album does convey more intensity than "footprints live!" did, which makes it a stronger effort. The sound is outstanding.



It is interesting to compare recent albums from Wayne Shorter and Sonny Rollins. While Rollins became a star earlier than Shorter, he is only 3 years older. Both musicians are still alive and still recording albums. However, Rollins' playing and albums are not really that different from his playing in the 50s and 60s; he still plays popular standards and calypsos and still lays down long solos that frequently return to the underlying melody. (Check out "Without a Song" and "Sonny, Please".) In contrast, Shorter has evolved through many phases during his long career and there is no mistaking any of his recent recordings for one from the 60s. Additionally, Shorter has assembled a quartet of truly outstanding musicians. While Sonny's working band is certainly competent, nobody in it is as talented as Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, or Brian Blade. (Or perhaps Sonny doesn't give them a chance to show off their talents.)



While one could criticize Rollins for his lack of evolution as well as for not challenging himself by playing with more talented musicians, his recent albums are full of good tunes and impressive sax solos and are a lot of fun to listen to. While I respect what Shorter and his quartet are doing and am impressed by their talents, the Shorter albums are not as fun or exciting as the Rollins albums. Shorter's quartet might be artistically superior, but I find Rollins' tunes more memorable and am more likely to pull out one of Sonny's albums when I'm in the mood for jazz."

Give this one some time

Van Isle Rev | Vancouver Island, British Columbia | 09/19/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I understand what it is about this disc that causes some fans of Shorter to regard it somewhat less than affectionately. This is taut, angular music: at times it almost seems more like modernist-classical music than like "true" jazz. But there is a power to these selections that only begin to reveal themselves upon repeated listens. For most listeners this will likely take some getting used to and--yes--some effort, but it is an effort that will repay itself many times over. Highly recommended."