Wayne Shorter's 1980s Electronic Albums

[Tenor Freak]

Nobody seems to talk about them any more, which is a pity as there's some great stuff in there. The first one I want to mention is Atlantis, which was released in 1984 and has a cover in pastels drawn by Billy Dee Williams (!) aka Lando Calrissian from The Empire Strikes Back.



There's only one track (Endangered Species) which is sequenced on a Synclavier, and most of the tracks are recorded with a live band including Jim Walker on various flutes. This album is very strong in the composition department, and includes a number which became regulars for his quartet: Atlantis, Endangered Species, The Three Marias. But anyone expecting a blowing session a la the Messengers or loose explorations will be disappointed. There's not much room for improvisation, and a particular sore point for me is the shortage of decent tenor solos on it; Wayne was well into the soprano at this point, probably as a result of fighting to be heard over Zawinul's keys. He also has intonation problems with his soprano, which is most painful on the closing track On The Eve of Departure, a pity because it's a great composition which I hope he has played since. The whole album is tightly structured, and is marred only by the vomit-inducing lyrics of When You Dream which are too corny to reproduce here. It deserves better than the lousy 1.5 stars Allmusic rates it.


In 1986 he released Phantom Navigator which is a lot more electronic in character, and is a real gem. It is my favourite of the three albums.



From the opening track Condition Red there's a real sense of trying something new.

The synth textures possess that late-80s digital sheen: a lot of hardware was used in the making of this LP. That may put some listeners off; and again, the improvisations are found in and around the beats and synth patches. Some may be waiting for a meaty solo, but that is not the point of this album. It's about the integration of man and technology. If some of the beats become too oppressive (Remote Control has a particularly piercing sampled snare drum) it's offset by some wonderful playing from the humans. Mahogany Bird is the standout track for me (it features Chick Corea and John Patitucci) which is one of his great compositions. I would love to hear an orchestral version of this. Again Allmusic rates this at only 1.5 stars (have they got cloth ears or what?).

More to follow tomorrow about Joy Ryder if I can be arsed.

[Tenor Freak]

NPThe closing track.

[Ian Thumwood]

Bruce

I avoided Wayne Shorter like the plague when I discovered jazz in the 1980's as anything that resembled "Weathe Report" seemed really cheesy and old-fashioned. A friend of mine bought "Phantom Navigator" and disliked it so much he asked if I wanted it. I gave it a listen but was horrified at how dated it sounded even though tunes like "Flagships" still illustrate what a good composer he is. In the end, I gave it a few spins and gave it back. In the light of what was happening in jazz at the time with the last florish of ECM, the emergence of players like Frisell and Scofield, it sounded to me like Shorter was wasting his talent. In fact, I never really started to listen to Shorter at all until the late 90's and the creation of the quartet that I saw at Vienne for the first time in 2001 was the point at which I became a fan.

Incidentally, if you want to make a call for a "good" forgotten Shorter album prior to the quartet I would point you in the direction of "High Life" which does has a few electronic elements in it but they are mixed up within a large ensemble. The writing in hugely impressive (I was listening to it in the car last night) and in some ways is like a kind of Shorter-esque Miles & Gil record. The more you listen to this record, the more rewarding it is. Marcus Miller's bass playing is incredible and anchors the everything down in an extremely musical fashion. The most overtly "poppy" track is one of my favourite Shorter compositions "On the milky way express" but this is atypical of the more thoughtful and introspective nature of the album as a whole. I would say that "High life" effectively succeeds at achieving what the composer was hoping to do with the 1980's work where he got swamped in 1980's aural goo. Does anyone know where you can get the lead sheets to this and other obscure Wayne sorter compositions?

As with everything he produces, there is very much a musical mind at work.

[Tenor Freak]

OK, third and last in the series is 1988's Joy Ryder. Just to prove that he really doesn't have a Scooby Doo about these albums, Scott Yanow gives this one only which is too bloody low.



A while back I was talking with Denys Baptiste about these albums; I said Phantom Navigator was my favourite; his is this. And I can see why; there's some fine stuff here, with the standouts for me being Over Shadow Hill Way and Anthem.

Here's a nice version (though I know Ian will hate it) of Over Shadow Hill Way featuring Jason Rebello:

(Reminds me of the time I saw Wayne's group at the Astoria in around '87 I think)

Whilst sounding of its time, this album sounds more focused than its predecessor. The arrangements are tight, and there's plenty of complexity and trademark weirdness. Even the song at the end is actually quite good.

I give this

[Tenor Freak]

One for Ian...and I like this version too: the same tune but a completely different take on it. (With strings!)

[Tenor Freak]

I wanted to find a clip of Anthem but all I could find was this...still, better than nowt:

[Serial_Apologist]

One for Ian...and I like this version too: the same tune but a completely different take on it. (With strings!)

Well I dunno 'bout Ian, but I really enjoyed that track, thanks, TF.

See? It is possible to go "out" on a funky line? You've got to get right inside the polyrhythmic to be able to get outside... if that makes any sense...

Oh - and one other thing to the "Proggers" on another thread - it doesn't need to be loud. Loud would kill "it"