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Wayne Shorter in 1987Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty
“You had been a champion and nonetheless are. You’re at all times gonna be a champion to me,” saxophonist Wayne Shorter instructed drummer Roy Haynes in our Mother Jones tribute on Haynes’ 96th birthday this yr—and the popularity runs each methods. Shorter, who turns 88 right this moment, is, as one listener summed up in a quote highlighted by Michelle Mercer in her biography Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter, “jazz’s all-around genius, matchless in his discipline as composer, totally unique as an improviser.”
Shorter is a pillar of the postwar canon and an evolving adventurer, from laborious bop to fusion to operatic ballads boundlessly open with area and time. For his 88th birthday, begin with the traditional “Footprints.” Herbie Hancock, who’s on there, will get straight to the guts of Shorter’s music within the foreword of Mercer’s e book: “Wayne has gleaned deeper that means from a query by utilizing it as a springboard for a solution that can ‘knock your socks off’ and maybe change your life for the higher.”
For a reside hear, spin “Free for All” by Shorter and Artwork Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. For those who’re trying to tussle, electronic mail us at recharge@motherjones.com to spar over whether or not Shorter’s model of “Free for All” is extra electrifying than, or equally as jolting as, Bobby Watson’s “Free for All” on Blakey’s personal birthday at Bubba’s in Florida on October 11, 1980.
Additionally in right this moment’s birthday lineup is Linda Could Han Oh, the fast-rising bassist who turns 37 and who was named 2021’s bassist of the year by the Jazz Journalists Affiliation. Her important, expansive music is extraordinary in settings with pianist Vijay Iyer and drummer Tyshawn Sorey—a towering trio—most lately on Uneasy, an album that traces the contours and connections of jazz, justice, and social change.
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