It's hard to catch people off guard in jazz these days. In a genre that has accommodated everything from Pharoah Sanders' multiphonic saxophone wails to Sun Ra's solos on a squeaky door hinge, few things feel like they really push the envelope anymore. That's why audiences gave Wayne Shorter two rounds of standing ovations last Tuesday night at the Berklee Performance Center: He managed to bring something wholly new to the table.
Shorter has been at the top of the jazz world since his tenure with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in the 1960s, but his status was affirmed when he was part of Miles Davis' second great quintet during the second half of that decade, along with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams.
Shorter's golden reputation stems from his remarkably diverse talent. While he is undoubtedly an impassioned, virtuosic saxophonist, he is also one of the most innovative composers in jazz.
Shorter's unique, highly conceptualized pieces range from jazz standards like "Footprints" to the more involved symphonic work he unveiled several years ago. His recent concert capitalized on his compositional skills and his improvisational talent in equal parts. Rather than playing a series of tunes like most jazz musicians, Shorter had prepared an hour-long composition that deftly mixed pre-written passages with robust improvisation.
The quartet, comprised of drummer Brian Blade, bassist John Patitucci and pianist Danilo Perez, provided an organic, shifting rhythm section that responded perfectly to Shorter's playing. The level of communication between the quartet members approached telepathic levels at certain points of the show, as members cued each other's ideas with remarkable fluidity.
As the show progressed from its impressionistic, slow-paced opening passages, the audience had to settle into an unexpected musical environment. Shorter's shows usually consist of concise, highly developed renditions of his famous compositions. With the exception of a brief encore, this show was entirely comprised of one long, ceaseless set that segued amorphously from one movement to another.
Themes and melodies developed over long periods or spontaneously. Grooves would kick in for one minute and then fizzle out. Throughout the whole show, each member's footing in the piece was perpetually shifting. Without such a talented group, the ideas behind Shorter's piece could have fallen completely flat.
Thankfully, the remarkable skills of each band member made the show invigorating and captivating in a setting that could have been mired by its own nebulous construction. Even though it was often difficult to distinguish which parts of the performance were improvised and which were written, it became evident that Shorter created an open structure for the piece, allowing for the musicians to explore and expand ideas within certain movements organically.
Several times during the performance, Shorter put down his saxophone and cued up the next musical set by placing his hand on Perez's piano. One of these movements was surprisingly humorous, as Perez began rhythmically smacking the lid of the piano down while gargling water into a microphone. Shorter began to whistle as Blade played subdued Latin rhythms. Before the audience had time for more than a brief laugh, the group was back into a different groove.
One of the most impressive aspects of Shorter's performance was the diversity of his writing. Different themes conjured everything from references to "Tenor Madness" to marching band rhythms and percussive piano playing. In one particularly memorable moment, Patitucci began bowing his bass with long, mournful notes in a duet with Perez, whose Bartok-inflected chords gave the movement a classical feeling that gelled surprising well with the rest of the performance.
Blade's drumming was superb throughout the show. His ability to mix time keeping with highly textural and melodic playing was one reason the band could segue so effortlessly between radically different themes. His sense of space and energy filled the performance with anticipation, as he would transition from subtle, intricate percussion to bombastic snare hits and drum fills. His enthusiasm was infectious as he grooved behind the kit with a Cheshire Cat grin.
Even though nobody in the audience expected the show Wayne Shorter and his quartet ended up putting on, the evening was a remarkable success. Only the most talented musicians can present themselves so succinctly in such a context. Thankfully, each member of the quartet was more than up to the task.
