Wayne Shorter is one of the great masters of modern jazz saxophone. His sound is unique and innovative, instantly recognizable and completely his own. The styles he plays vary from straight-ahead acoustic jazz to fusion to pop, delighting vastly different audiences while maddening purists. With each tune he plays, Wayne creates marvelous musical journeys, building tension by combining fragments, colors, angular phrases, and fast runs, then easing into a melody or crying out to provide release. He can be lyrical, wailing, technical, and soulful all in the same solo.
I first heard Wayne when I was in high school and he was in Weather Report. I loved his music and have been a natural fan of his ever since. But making a playlist encompassing his entire 63-year discography was a daunting task even for an obsessive like me. Though I've owned and listened to most of Wayne's albums for decades, it took six months of intensive review to find all the tracks I wanted to include. The result is this massive 366-track catalog in recording session order, the largest playlist I've ever compiled.
So what good is a playlist this big? Well, big playlists are good for a few things. First, listen to it on shuffle. You'll hear a lot of great music in different styles while unified by Wayne's sound, and you'll never get bored from repetition. Second, if you're interested in a specific album of Wayne's, a period in his career or a transitional moment, you can start listening there. Since this playlist is in timeline order, you can hear some interesting transitions and juxtapositions that way. Last, it's raw material to make mixtapes and more specialized playlists, so expect more content to follow (a few derived playlists are mentioned below), and of course, feel free to make your own copies and alter it to your own taste.
Most critics describe Wayne's career in terms of his time as a sideman with Art Blakey, then with Miles Davis, and then as co-leader of Weather Report and beyond. After the exercise of listening to his entire discography, I hear 5 distinct phases that I call: apprentice, up and coming, modal master, fusion master, and guest star/award winner. Wayne also played in different genres: hard bop jazz, modal jazz, avant-garde jazz, jazz fusion, Brazilian pop, and American pop.
Wayne was born in 19331, and played tenor saxophone professionally in high school and college, but didn't create any recordings that are widely available until after he completed his Army service. His first recording was in 1956 with Johnny Eaton, but that survives only as out-of-print vinyl. He was 26 in 1959 when he first recorded as a sideman for Wynton Kelly2. His first track from that session, Wrinkles, leads off this playlist. Art Blakey hired him late that same year, and recorded at a furious pace with 40 releases over the next 4 years. Early in that time from 1959 until mid-1961, Wayne was experimenting with different styles and influences. You can hear a lot of Sonny Rollins influence, some Coltrane, and even some swing-era influences like Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. You can also hear some struggle in this period; Wayne takes a lot of chances that sometimes work great, but sometimes don't, and sometimes he sounds boxed in by Blakey's relentless energy. I call this Wayne's apprentice period, and it includes his first albums as a leader (check out Blues A La Carte, one of Wayne's first recorded originals) as well as recordings with Blakey (check out Lester Left Town and Sincerely Diana, more early Wayne originals), Wynton Kelly, and the "Young Lions." (Check out Seeds Of Sin.)
Then in late summer of 1961, around the time Wayne records Ready for Freddie with Freddie Hubbard, his playing starts to take on a new maturity. He is still trying new things and taking chances, but now he's landing all his phrases, driving his own energy level, and projecting his individual style more than his influences. He is recognized as a new star in the 1962 Downbeat reader's poll, and Blakey taps him as musical director. During this period, Freddie, Donald Byrd, and Lee Morgan all hire Wayne for sessions. (Check out Birdlike with Freddie, French Spice with Donald Byrd, and Search For The New Land with Lee Morgan.) He also makes his first recording with Miles Davis in a session with singer Bob Dorough, as well as his best recordings with Blakey, including the incredible Free For All. I call this Wayne's "up and coming" period, and he gets better with each recording.
By 1964, Wayne is at the top of his game as a composer and improviser. He records 2 landmark albums with Coltrane's classic rhythm section, Night Dreamer and Juju, which showcase Wayne's innovations in modal jazz harmony. The entire albums are worth listening to, and I've included most of the tracks from both in this playlist, but for sample standout tracks, check out the title track on Night Dreamer, and Yes Or No, on Juju. Then the biggest change in Wayne's career comes when he agrees to join Miles Davis's quintet. The band's sound changes dramatically when Wayne joins, and his playing just as dramatically takes on new dimensions as the rhythm section gives him space and Miles' experiments with structure and harmony give him inspiration. Over the next 4 years, Miles' "Second Great Quintet" will release 6 studio albums, all classics. You could choose any one of these as the "best," but my favorite album is Miles Smiles, and favorite tracks include Eighty-One, Orbits, Circle, and Pee Wee. In the same period Wayne will release 6 of his own albums as a leader, including my favorites Speak No Evil and Adam's Apple, where I won't even try to pick favorite tracks. Listen to both albums all the way through. During this period Wayne will also record some sessions as a sideman with Lee Morgan (check out The Gigolo), and Miles will record some live sessions that aren't released until decades later, including the spectacular Live at the Plugged Nickel. (There are so many great tracks here; check out Stella By Starlight as a sample. If you want more, check out this playlist.) I call this Wayne's "modal master" period.
As Miles continues his restless experimentation, the band's sound becomes more abstract and introspective through the releases of the albums Sorcerer and Nefertiti. (Check out Masqualero and Nefertiti as sample tracks.) Then Miles starts searching for what he calls a new "direction." He pushes the band to simpler harmonies, harder beats, blues riffs, and a new rhythm section that includes electric instruments. With this new style, Wayne tries a new horn, and in late 1968 on the long-unreleased track Ascent come Wayne's first recorded explorations on soprano sax. Miles must have liked the sound, and Wayne solos on soprano on Miles' early jazz fusion releases: In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew. (Try It's About That Time and Miles Runs The Voodoo Down as sample tracks, but be forewarned they are long tracks with relatively short contributions from Wayne.) Wayne tours with Miles over the next year with "The Lost Quintet," a band that never made it to the studio, but lucky for us a few concert tapes have recently been found3. Their concert from 1970 at the Fillmore East is Wayne's last recording with Miles (check out Spanish Key). He records a few solo albums flirting with avante-garde jazz and his first experiments in Brazilian music. (Try Water Babies and De Pois Do Amor, O Vazio.) Then in 1971 at age 37, Wayne starts Weather Report with Joe Zawinul.
Weather Report will be Wayne's next musical focus, releasing 15 albums in as many years. Weather Report's style changes with every record, starting as a direct offshoot from Mile's electric band with abstract, spacey grooves (check out their version of Directions), and evolving to take on more R&B and world music influences (for example, Black Market). Wayne's compositions and solos will become more catchy and melodic, though he still balances abstract explorations and concrete melodies, keeping his music deep and sophisticated, no matter how accessible it becomes. I love his music from this period so much it is harder to find tracks to leave out than to include, though if I had to pick my favorite Weather Report albums it would be Tale Spinnin' and Black Market, and for tracks it would be Cucumber Slumber, Man in the Green Shirt, Elegant People, and A Remark You Made. Wayne also finds time to record with Brazilian crooner Milton Nascimento, and their styles complement each other so perfectly that their collaborations form a significant body of work on their own. If you haven't heard this sound yet, try From the Lonely Afternoons and Nothing Will Be As It Was. If you love those, check out this playlist.
During this period, Wayne is flying high as the co-leader of Weather Report and arguably the first saxophonist people think of in jazz fusion, so it's easy to call this Wayne's "fusion master" period. But there is another career dynamic starting to happen for Wayne in parallel in the mid 1970's. Some hipster pop musicians are fans, and want to get Wayne's sound on their records. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan are the first to try and Wayne turns them down. But after some sleight-of-hand by veteran promoter Dick LaPalm, Wayne is convinced to show up to the Village Recorder studio4. In 35 minutes, he lays down a solo on the title track of their album Aja. The result is my favorite saxophone solo to make it to the top 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 1005. Joni Mitchell, who meets Wayne through Jaco Pastorius6, tries next, and finds a kindred spirit for her musical explorations. She has Wayne come in 13 minutes into Paprika Plains on her Don Juan's Reckless Daughter session, and will tap him for 9 more albums over the next 25 years. (There are so many great tracks to choose from here, but I keep coming back to A Bird That Whistles, Joni's version of "Corinna, Corinna" where Wayne does a cool multitrack birdsong imitation at the end.) Several others will succeed in luring Wayne into guest solos on pop records, including Carlos Santana (Love Theme From Spartacus), Don Henley (The End Of The Innocence), and even the Rolling Stones (How Can I Stop).
Also in the mid-70's, old friend Herbie Hancock will ask Wayne to join in on a "Very Special One Time Performance7" and "V.S.O.P" will end up recording 4 more times with a reunion of Miles' "Second Great" rhythm section and Freddie Hubbard filling the trumpet chair. This is Wayne's first straight-ahead jazz gig in 5 years since Weather Report began. V.S.O.P plays mostly in large arenas, and though the combined talent in the band is undeniably colossal, they sound more like an all-star side project than the ground-breaking original quintet. (Though they have their moments - check out the interplay between Wayne and Freddie on Lawra.) Herbie will continue to tap Wayne for projects such as his Round Midnight film soundtrack and most of his later concept albums. (Check out Una Noche Con Francis to hear Wayne trading eights with Dexter Gordon, and Summertime, your only chance to hear Wayne, Stevie Wonder, and Joni Mitchell on the same track.)
After Weather Report plays out in 1985, Wayne will release his first solo album in 11 years, the composition-heavy Atlantis. (Check out The Three Marias and Endangered Species.) Wayne is now 52, and he will release 3 more solo fusion albums over the next 10 years (check out Joy Rider). After a few years off, Wayne will re-emerge touring with an acoustic jazz quartet and release 5 more records as a leader in his '70s and '80s, racking up a pile of Grammys and Downbeat Reader's Poll awards along the way. Though Wayne is now past his prime, he is still taking chances (check out Over Shadow Hill Way), creating new complex orchestrations (with a real orchestra on Prometheus Unbound), and generally making great music. He is still also playing in tune, which is amazing in itself for a saxophonist in his '80s. Several younger musicians who Wayne inspired tap him for recordings during this time, and he shows he's still got it. (Check out Naima with Lionel Loueke and Upstairs by a Chinese Lamp with Billy Childs and Esperanza Spalding.) I call this Wayne's "guest star/award winner" period. As of this writing in 2022, Wayne is approaching his 89th birthday, and last year was a featured guest on Esperanza Spalding's Songwrights Apothecary Lab. If he releases any more music, I'll add it in updates.
Notes
1. Biographical info is from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Shorter, as well as from Michelle Mercer's excellent biography of Wayne: Michelle Mercer, Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter (New York: Penguin Group, 2007 paperback)
2. Discography is mostly from the Jazz Discography Project: https://www.jazzdisco.org/wayne-shorter/discography/, though that page does get spotty later in Wayne's career, and I had to supplement with the Wikipedia discography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Shorter_discography. For the order of tracks in the playlist I used recording-session order rather than album order where session information was available.
3. Though unfortunately, only the one concert referenced above is available for streaming. There is a boxed set available on CD if you want more: https://www.milesdavis.com/news/miles-davis-quintet-live-in-europe-1969-the-bootleg-series-vol-2-coming-january-29th/
4. This is a fun story, worth reading the source article at https://www.jazzwax.com/2011/07/how-steely-dan-got-wayne-shorter.html
5. A round-up of which saxophone solos made it into the billboard pop charts is a topic for another playlist. Lucky for you I've done it already: John's Fave Pop Sax Anthems I'll get to blogging about that one too at some point...
6. https://bassmagazine.com/artists/joni-mitchells-bass-desires
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