Saxophonist Wayne Shorter was one of the most fabulous instrumentalists in the history of jazz, a composer of great talent, an outstanding improviser, a musical adventurer and a free spirit. He was the partner of Miles Davis, the co-founder of the group Weather Report with Joe Zawinul, the faithful friend of Herbie Hancock, a precious interlocutor and an admirable soloist. Wayne Shorter left us on March 2, 2023 at the age of 89. Our archives will now revive his music, his being, his intelligence and his spirituality.
Wayne Shorter wanted to preserve the tranquility of his creative bubble to find the serenity necessary for his inspiration. He took refuge in a form of expression that his practice of Buddhism magnified on stage and on record. He was looking for purity, innocence, naivety and the calm of meditation. His playing was constantly changing, becoming ethereal. Wayne Shorter then reached the fullness to which he aspired. Artistic expression and contemplation became one. His words were as deep as they were unfathomable. The cosmic dimension of his music, however, followed an irrefutable reasoning and logic.
“I like this idea often expressed by astronauts or scientists and which consists in saying that our world is only a small blue dot lost in the immensity of the cosmos. The further away we go, the more difficult it becomes to distinguish our planet. So you have to imagine it… Isn’t it ridiculous to think that on this tiny planet, at the heart of the universe, two guys are fighting for a parking space! All this to tell you that, when we play music, we reflect the incongruity of our little pettiness. I can easily imagine Miles Davis drawing inspiration from that. He would have said to us: “Let’s play the little music of these two guys in the parking lot!” “. Shortly before his death, he had the idea of composing an orchestral work for an opera, as if to set the theatrical aspect of our lives to music. In other words, he wanted to highlight our wonderful little lives that make humanity great”. (Wayne Shorter on Joe Farmer’s microphone)
In recent years, Wayne Shorter had assembled a quartet with exceptional virtuosos: Danilo Perez on piano, John Patitucci on bass and Brian Blade on drums. It was certainly the formation in which he flourished the most. The music was demanding but in the image of this man whose fertile mind sometimes exceeded us. Was it a new musical revolution that he was trying to provoke? His modesty said otherwise.
“It is not urgent to launch a new musical revolution, especially since the most brutal are often infested with the virus of self-satisfaction. We had this attitude when we were children but it was spontaneous. We invented marvelous adventures, we created our own musical environment. Listen to your kids… We did that too and you have to try to keep that innocence but, don’t worry, that naivety is still there in me. Like in the movie Jurassic Park, in the end, life is always reborn ! “. (Wayne Shorter on RFI in 2003).
Wayne Shorter was a wise agitator of improvisation. We will continue to listen to it and celebrate it on the airwaves. This man was generous, attentive, and his absence will only be filled by his eternal and timeless music.
⇒ The website of Wayne Shorter.