Saturday, July 23, 2016

Wayne Shorter: Philosophy of Life Through Jazz


Wayne Shorter is undoubtedly a jazz legend whose lofty reputation is entirely deserved. Shorter, a product of an African-American working-class family from Newark, has always interested me as a composer and innovative saxophonist in the jazz idiom. Moreover, I still appreciate his early interest in Brazilian and fusion styles, although Weather Report was kinda ruined by Zawinul and his gimmicky sounds effect-like approach to the band. Anyway, I think we often forget the intellectual and philosophical thought of jazz musicians, so it's brilliant to hear Shorter speak so candidly about a variety of topics, including literature, science, science fiction and politics. I believe his brother, Alan Shorter, was similarly interested in philosophy and even wrote about it, but good luck trying to locate his brother's words.

No comments:

Post a Comment