[.ca] Classic Blue Note Recordings

From Amazon.com:
The Newark, New Jersey tenor and soprano saxophonist Wayne Shorter is the most evocative composer of the modern jazz era. His urgent, Coltrane-influenced sax sound, his stints with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Miles Davis, and Weather Report, and his classic compositions span the ebb of the hard bop era in the late '50s to the daring avant-garde and fusion period of the late '60s and early '70s. This two-CD set compiles the best of his songs from his recordings on the legendary Blue Note label, from 1960 to 1989. The first disc contains 12 selections from Shorter's recording dates as a leader, with drummers Elvin Jones and Tony Williams; pianists Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and McCoy Tyner; trumpeters Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard; and bassists Ron Carter and Reggie Workman. Shorter has the rare ability to simultaneously portray a specific visual image and evoke mystery. His angular and edgy tenor sound drives the straight-ahead and Afro-Latin swing of "Witch Hunt," "Speak No Evil," and "Black Nile." His version of "Footprints" is more meditative than the one recorded by Miles, while the soulful strut of "Adam's Apple" rocks with a jazzy boogalo beat. On "Super Nova," Shorter's soaring sound foreshadows his fearless forays in the "New Thing." The second disc highlights Shorter's work as a sideman. His post-bop classics with Art Blakey are included, from his swinging tribute to Lester Young ("Lester Left Town") to the Latinesque "United." This collection also includes Shorter's sides with ex-Jazz Messengers band mates Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan, with the dark and dancing "Marie Antoinette" from the LP Ready for Freddie, and the sophisticated bossa nova syncopations of "Rio" from Morgan's album The Procrastinator. The last two selections, a beautiful live version of "Limbo" from pianist Michel Petrucciani's 1986 CD, Power of Three, with guitarist Jim Hall, and a fusion-friendly take on "Nefertiti" with drummer Lenny White and bassist Stanley Clarke from the Manhattan Project, demonstrate the timelessness of Wayne Shorter's music and the soundscapes it charted. --Eugene Holley Jr.

• Black Nile
• Yes Or No
• Speak No Evil
• Infant Eyes
• Witch Hunt
• Angola
• Etcetera
• Adam's Apple
• Footprints
• Tom Thumb
• Super Nova
• Calm
• The Chess Players
• Lester Left Town
• Ping Pong
• United
• Marie Antoinette
• Children Of The Night
• Contemplation
• Rio
• Limbo
• Nefertiti