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Wayne Shorter | Essential albums and listening guide
Explore Wayne Shorter through Speak No Evil. Discover what to listen for and follow related styles to your next record.
Wayne Shorter
Meet the artist
A composer and saxophonist who developed new musical languages with both Miles Davis’s celebrated quintet and Weather Report. Unpredictable melodies and shaded harmonies give even short compositions a narrative depth.
His work spans close-knit acoustic groups, Weather Report's electric textures and encounters with Brazilian song. The saxophone can be forceful or quietly questioning. Rather than simply confirming a composition's outline, his playing invites partners toward unforeseen developments, creating a distinctive balance of suspense, openness and lyricism.
Where to start listening
Learn the theme before following the solos, and the connection between composition and improvisation becomes clearer. Notice how the instrumental colors change with each ensemble.
1966Speak No Evil
Wayne Shorter
A defining Wayne Shorter album, bringing complex compositions and an otherworldly atmosphere to hard bop with musicians including Freddie Hubbard.
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1975Native Dancer
Wayne Shorter / Milton Nascimento
A meeting of jazz and Brazilian music with Wayne Shorter, influential in the development of American jazz fusion.
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Years follow the Atlas catalogue. Recording dates, original release dates and digital reissue dates may differ.
Explore related genres
Hard Bop · Modal Jazz · Fusion