{"id":9431,"date":"2024-08-19T20:51:50","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T01:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=9431"},"modified":"2024-08-19T22:01:53","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T03:01:53","slug":"laboratory-perez-patitucci","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/laboratory-perez-patitucci\/","title":{"rendered":"Laboratory: A Conversation with Danilo P\u00e9rez and John Patitucci on the Legacy of Wayne Shorter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There is a tendency to mythologize someone like Wayne Shorter, who seems larger than life. Or to put the subject on a pedestal with the label  \u201cgreat\u201d without providing a sufficient and accurate discussion of why they truly are so. It becomes all too easy for people with little understanding of the facts to jump onto the bandwagon. On the other side are people who essentially list accomplishments as evidence of worth. True appreciation of a person requires more than broad statements or an overview of one\u2019s CV. A fuller picture of Wayne Shorter is obtainable only through the words of those who knew him well. And that is what makes a conversation with Danilo P\u00e9rez and John Patitucci about their friend so special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both P\u00e9rez and Patitucci are well-established artists who have led incredible careers in their own right. But those paths are inextricably tied to their roles – alongside Brian Blade – in Shorter\u2019s quartet. The music of the saxophonist\u2019s only permanent acoustic band was not dropped off by some “Visitor from Nowhere.” The blurring of lines between precomposition and improvisation shaped much of Shorter’s writings for Art Blakey, Miles Davis, and his own Blue Note classics. The cross-cultural obliteration of forced categories formed the core of Weather Report and Native<\/em> Dancer<\/em> (Columbia, 1975). The quartet rocketed music to new heights by taking guidance from both paths, combining them through artistic fearlessness. When jazz – as the bandleader contended –  \u201cmeans I dare you,\u201d the group was eternally willing to tackle a bolder challenge than the one that came before. Like the heroes in the science fiction films he held dear, Shorter always sought and explored new hitherto undiscovered territories and brought his younger crew with him as he did. This is particularly evident in Celebration, Volume 1<\/em> (Blue Note, 2024). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Towards the end of his life, Shorter was tasked with going through many unreleased live recordings to see which he felt should be made public. The one that truly blew him away was a date captured at the 2014 Stockholm Jazz Festival. The performance heard in this first in a series of planned Celebration<\/em> releases, well captures the brilliance of the undefined space between \u201cjazz\u201d and \u201cWestern classical\u201d and that between creating in the moment and in advance, which was so capably inhabited by Shorter\u2019s last group. The entirety of the album flows as if to reflect a single journey. Songs, in their traditional sense, are mere guideposts along the way. Some of these landmarks are built around ideas the saxophonist has held for many years. For one, Shorter wrote \u201cOrbits\u201d over a half-century earlier. However, the familiarity of these moments is used primarily to provide momentary comfort to the listener as the group propels forward. Half the album consists of moments of \u201cZero Gravity\u201d through different numbered dimensions, where the group doesn\u2019t rely upon the gravity of the familiar to slow them down. It is easy to see why Shorter was so enthusiastic about Celebration, Volume 1<\/em>; it\u2019s one of the quartet\u2019s finest journeys in an incredible two-decade trek. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This conversation with P\u00e9rez and Patitucci was captured on August 3, 2024, at the Newport Jazz Festival. It occurred immediately following their performance in a group called “The Legacy of Wayne Shorter.” Although functionally a quartet- with the other two seats filled that day by Terri Lyne Carrington and Ravi Coltrane – it often seemed like a fifth musician was on stage. This author had the good fortune to see Shorter perform a handful of times, all but one at Newport. The configurations were often different – a group with Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, and Brian Blade; the quartet both by itself and augmented by Hancock; a duo between Shorter and Hancock. But, regardless of the particular setting, each time, Shorter\u2019s music had a certain ineffably magical quality that incomprehensibly made you feel more connected to the Earth even as it transported you to faraway galaxies. The Legacy group captured this same essence, providing a beautiful reminder that though the maestro has passed, he is still, in many ways, very much with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>