Wayne Shorter Quartet -- a show worth seeing

Thanks, Jla, sounds like I have some catching up to do. I appreciate the recommendations.

Joebone -- I wasn't implying that Patitucci carried the show, he was simply the member of the band that I was the least familiar with and I was curious to learn more about him. On this particular night, Blade was the most captivating to watch -- speed, control, emotion, and exuberance all wrapped up together.

Then again, there's a fair amount of stylistic tension from what I can see. Blade and Patitucci tended to play in a more "hot," attention-getting style, while Shorter and Perez were more on the cool side. I personally enjoyed the contrast, because I could spend some left-brain time trying to appreciate Shorter's compositions and the complexities of Perez's playing and then just switch over to letting the right brain enjoy the fun of trying to keep up with what Blade and Patitucci were doing. I don't mean to imply that they're not deserving of analytical listening also -- they are, and vice versa for appreciating Perez and Shorter. That's just how I found myself listening this particular night. I like complex things and I liked how they pulled all of this together and made something from it.

And I will admit that I'm still new enough to jazz that the quirks and egos of the performers have not yet started to grate on me. That may change, but hopefully not too much. Right now it's still fun and still drawing me in deeper.

Well, maybe I caught Shorter on an off-night last spring, but I'd have renamed the group, "The Danilo Perez Trio, with cameo appearances by Wayne Shorter." The trio was fantastic, however.

Joebone....I simply answered Swingman's question regarding John Patitucci. If you noticed I recommened several releases that Brian Blade appears on as well as mentioning Danilo Perez on the Roy Haynes album.
If you wan to study the playing of Wayne Shorter go pick up the Mile Davis Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965. Inspirational to say the least.....Miles best band with Tony Williams, Ron Carter and Herbie Hancock.

Saw this band last winter at USC. A phenomenal show - great interplay among an accomplished bunch, and at that time, Patitucci's general tendancy towards showy excess was not evident, as everyone genuninely communed in an excellent evening of music. I don't get why this thread is devolving into a discussion of Patitucci - not taking anything away from him, but Brian Blade and Danilo Perez are also both powerhouses in their own right, and in particular, I came away from that show with tremendous respect for Perez's sensitivity and breadth of vocabulary in providing the harmonic and rhythmic glue that really held this band together. I had not previously appreciated how good this guy is. But as the band came forward to take a collective bow at the end of the show, Mr. Patitucci demonstrated a degree of self-awareness not evident from his sweaty but exhilerated colleagues, as he primped his hair and grabbed his sports jacket before stepping up. For all of his achievements, he just didn't seem to be as fully absorbed by the gestalt of the moment as his colleagues. And of course, there is Wayne, who plays one hell of a lot of horn for a guy his age, and whose conceptual vision is the reason for this group in the first instance. Bottom line - see these folks if you have the chance.

I'd second that Roy Haynes album. Nice recording and tunes in a trio format with a Latin tinge.

5{ 't believe I forgot to put this on the Patitucci list:

Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, Roy Hardgrove / Directions In Music, Celecbrating the Music of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, Live at Massey Hall. Featuring John Patitucci and Brian Blade.

Also, if you like Brian Blade check out Chris Potter / Gratitude, Joshua Redman's newest release Elastic and Yaya3.

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Swingman,

Here are my top 10 favorite titles that John Patitucci plays on.

1) Steve Kahn / Got My Mental

2) Chick Corea Akoustic Band / Live From The Blue Note Tokyo (Import) Also includes Vinnie Colaiuta on drums....this is an absoulte must have. I think you can get on Amazon or better yet try Audiphileimports.com.

3)Jeff Beal / Three Graces

4) John Patitucci / Sketchbook

5) The Randy Waldman Trio / Wigged Out

6)Mike Stern / Give And Take

7)The Roy Haynes Trio Featuring Danilo Perez & John Patitucci

8) Gary Burton & Friends / Departure

9) Andy Laverne / Pleasure Seekers

10) Chick Corea Elektric Band / Beneath The Mask

I know all these jazzmen well from the band. Wayne Shorter was once working in Material project of Bill Laswel along with speach performer William Burroghs. He was so different there from Weather Report! As to John Patitucci, he not once played for Chick Corea and created some of the solo albums as well on brilliant Concord Jazz label that i consider as reference for all red-book CDs. I have his album "One More Angel" which has a great music and superb recording.

Jla, I have to confess that I was not very familiar with Pattitucci before going to the show -- do you have any recommendations for albums on which he's played?

Great band....awesome show. Saw them a few weeks ago at the Carpenter Center on the campus of California State University Long Beach. Patitucci actually attended CSULB's music program.

caught them at Jazzfest in New Orleans in May

very tight quartet
Brian Blades is incredible

don't miss

Haven't seen Shorter since Weather Report. Sounds like a pretty high quality band, they're scheduled to play here (Davis CA) at the new Mondavi center. Thanks for the tip Swingman.