BLUE NOTE ANNOUNCES AUG. 23 RELEASE OF WAYNE SHORTER CELEBRATION, VOLUME 1 THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF ARCHIVAL RELEASE THAT THE LEGENDARY SAXOPHONIST CURATED BEFORE HE PASSED AWAY IN 2023 THRILLING 2014 RECORDING CAPTURES SHORTER’S QUARTET WITH DANILO PEREZ, JOHN PATITUCCI & BRIAN BLADE LIVE IN STOCKHOLM
Blue Note Records has announced an August 23 release of Celebration, Volume 1, the first in a series of archival releases that the legendary saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter curated before he passed away in 2023. This thrilling 2014 live recording captured Shorter’s acclaimed quartet with pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade at the Stockholm Jazz Festival in Sweden. The intrepid set includes some of the band’s favorite vehicles of exploration including “Zero Gravity,” “Smilin’ Through,” “Orbits,” “Lotus,” and “She Moves Through The Fair.” The album is introduced today with the single “Edge of the World (End Title),” a theme by composer Arthur B. Rubinstein from the 1983 film WarGames.
“In the fall of 2022, Rob Griffin started sending a lot of unreleased music for Wayne to sort thru,” writes Carolina Shorter in the album’s liner notes. “He started listening around the clock. I’d be doing something around the house, talking on the phone, doing work and he’d yell ‘Carolina! You’ve got to come and hear this shit! Check out what these guys are doing!’ Wayne made detailed notes – some of them are reprinted on this album jacket.”
“When he heard the Stockholm concert, he said ‘this is the album!,’” she continues. “Then he started listening to more things and, over time, realized that it was going to have to be more than one record. He originally wanted to call the collection Unidentified Flying Objects – thinking of the notes everyone played as being UFOs! In January 2023, when he was hospitalized for the last time, he continued picking tracks and laying out the albums. His ‘Never Give Up’ spirit, which underlines his entire mission, was stronger than ever and he was excited to release more music. It was only in the last 10 days of his life that he realized he was not going to be around to see it to fruition. He started feeling the urgency of celebrating life and decided to change the name of the collection to Celebration. I said ‘Yes Wayne! Let’s celebrate!!! That’s what it should be called. A celebration!’”
Blue Note will also be celebrating Shorter’s legacy with several reissues of his classic albums including a Tone Poet Vinyl Edition of Odyssey of Iska (1970) out July 5, a Classic Vinyl Edition of JuJu (1964) out August 16, and a Blue Note Authorized Dealer exclusive blue vinyl reissue of Speak No Evil (1964) which will be available August 9 at participating independent record stores. Celebration, Volume 1 is available for pre-order now on limited edition Blue Note Store exclusive color vinyl, black vinyl, CD, and digital download. The credits are as follows:
CREDITS
Side A
1. Zero Gravity to the 15th Dimension
Written by Wayne Shorter, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, Brian Blade
2. Smilin’ Through
Written by Arthur A. Penn
Side B
1. Zero Gravity to the 11th Dimension
Written by Wayne Shorter, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, Brian Blade
2. Zero Gravity to the 12th Dimension
Written by Wayne Shorter, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, Brian Blade
3. Zero Gravity – Unbound
Written by Wayne Shorter, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, Brian Blade
4. Orbits
Written by Wayne Shorter
5. Edge of The World (End Title)
Written by Arthur B Rubinstein
Side C
1. Zero Gravity to the 90th Dimension
Written by Wayne Shorter, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, Brian Blade
2. Lotus
Written by Wayne Shorter
Side D
1. She Moves Through The Fair
Written by Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter: tenor and soprano saxophone
Danilo Perez: piano
John Patitucci: bass
Brian Blade: drums
Produced by Wayne Shorter and Don Was
Recorded live October 18, 2014 by Rob Griffin and Nicolas Poitrenaud at Stockholm Concert Hall, Stockholm Jazz Festival, Stockholm, Sweden
Assisted by Olivier Chambin
Re-Recorded and Mixed by Rob Griffin at AcousTech, Casco Viejo, Panama
Mastered by Harold LaRue at Harold LaRue Mastering, Houston, Texas
Vinyl Mastering by Chris Muth at Taloowa Corporation, Yonkers, NY
Vinyl Manufactured at Record Technology Incorporated (RTI)
* * *
Born August 25, 1933 in Newark, New Jersey, Wayne Shorter left an indelible mark on the development of music for more than 60 years. He first rose to prominence in 1959 when he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, a precocious 26-year-old tenor saxophonist who transformed the group into a modern jazz juggernaut with his inventive improvisations and brilliant compositions such as “Lester Left Town,” “Children of the Night,” and “Free for All” which were heard on Blue Note albums including The Big Beat, Mosaic, and Indestructible. Alfred Lion eventually signed him to his own recording deal and Shorter went on to make a spectacular run of classic albums for Blue Note between 1964-1970 including Night Dreamer, Juju, Speak No Evil, Adam’s Apple, Schizophrenia, Super Nova, and Odyssey of Iska. These albums introduced some of Shorter’s most beloved compositions such as “Witch Hunt,” “Infant Eyes,” “Footprints,” and many more.
This time period also paralleled Shorter’s years with Miles Davis, first as a member of the trumpeter’s trailblazing quintet with Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams (Davis called him the “intellectual musical catalyst” of the band), and later as a part of Davis’ early fusion masterpieces. Shorter went on to cofound the pioneering group Weather Report in 1970 with keyboardist Joe Zawinul. In 2001, he formed his own quartet with Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, and Brian Blade which would become one of the most acclaimed jazz groups of the 21st Century.
Shorter made a momentous return to Blue Note in 2013 with the release of Without a Net, a musical thrill ride that featured his quartet with special guests The Imani Winds. In 2018, Shorter returned with EMANON, an extraordinary musical and visual experience that presented a triple album of original music by Shorter performed by the quartet and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. The music was accompanied by a graphic novel penned by Shorter with Monica Sly and illustrated by Randy DuBurke.
Shorter’s works have been performed by the Chicago Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Lyon Symphony, National Polish Radio Symphonic Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic, Royal Concertge-bouw Orchestra, and he received commissions from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony, and others. In all, Shorter realized over 200 compositions, and dozens of these works have become modern standards. Shorter was named an NEA Jazz Master and his many accolades include 13 GRAMMY Awards and a 2018 Kennedy Center Honor.