Wayne Shorter

{{Short description|American jazz saxophonist and composer (1933–2023)}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Wayne Shorter

| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist

| image = Wayne Shorter 2012.jpg

| caption = Shorter in 2012 at North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1933|08|25}}

| birth_place = Newark, New Jersey, U.S.

| origin =

| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|3|02|1933|8|25}}

| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

{{Infobox person

| embed = yes

| education = New York University}}

| genre = Modal jazz, crossover jazz, post-bop, hard bop, jazz fusion, third stream

| occupation = Musician, composer

| instrument = Tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone

| years_active = 1958–2021

| label = Blue Note, Columbia, Verve

| past_member_of = {{flat list|

}}

| website = {{URL|https://web.archive.org/web/20160330174015/http://www.wayneshorter.com/|wayneshorter.com (archived)}}

}}

Wayne Shorter (August 25, 1933 – March 2, 2023) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Shorter came to mainstream prominence in 1959 upon joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, for whom he eventually became the primary composer. In 1964 he joined Miles Davis' Second Great Quintet, and then co-founded the jazz fusion band Weather Report in 1970. He recorded more than 20 albums as a bandleader.

Many Shorter compositions have become jazz standards. His music earned worldwide recognition, critical praise, universal commendation, and 12 Grammy Awards.{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/wayne-shorter/14191|title=Wayne Shorter {{!}} Artist|access-date=July 19, 2022|website=Grammy Awards|publisher=Recording Academy}} He was acclaimed for his mastery of the soprano saxophone since switching his focus from the tenor in the late 1960s, and began an extended reign in 1970 as DownBeat{{'}}s annual poll-winner on that instrument, winning the critics' poll for 10 consecutive years and the readers' for 18.[http://www.downbeat.com/default.asp?sect=cpollindex Down Beat Poll Archive]. DownBeat.com. Retrieved June 2, 2013 The New York Times music critic Ben Ratliff described Shorter in 2008 as "probably jazz's greatest living small-group composer and a contender for greatest living improviser".{{Cite news|last=Ratliff|first=Ben|date=December 3, 2008|title=A Birthday Bash With a Harmonious Mix of Guests|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/arts/music/04shor.html|access-date=March 2, 2023|issn=0362-4331}} In 2017, he was awarded the Polar Music Prize.{{cite web | url= https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/07/arts/music/sting-and-wayne-shorter-win-polar-music-prize.html?_r=0 | title= Sting and Wayne Shorter Win Polar Music Prize | newspaper=The New York Times | first=Andrew R. | last=Chow | date=February 7, 2017 | access-date=February 8, 2017}}

Early life and education

Wayne Shorter was born in Newark, New Jersey,{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=978-1-85227-745-1|page=1081/2}} the son of Louise and Joseph Shorter.{{Cite news |last=Williams |first=Richard |date=2023-03-02 |title=Wayne Shorter obituary |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/mar/02/wayne-shorter-obituary |access-date=2023-03-06 |issn=0261-3077}} He graduated from Newark Arts High School[http://www.nps.k12.nj.us/arts/a_brief_history.htm A Brief History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080419035207/http://www.nps.k12.nj.us/arts/a_brief_history.htm |date=April 19, 2008 }}, Newark Arts High School. Accessed August 10, 2008.{{Cite web|last=Pompilio |first=Natalie|date=April 20, 2017|title=Celebrating one of Newark's own, a living jazz legend, at NJPAC|url=https://www.nj.com/entertainment/2017/04/jazz_legend_wayne_shorter_weekend_njpac.html|access-date=March 2, 2023|website=nj|language=en|quote=Shorter, a graduate of Newark Arts High School, began his professional career more than six decades ago and shows no sign of slowing down.}} in 1952. He loved comic books and science fiction as well as music while growing up. Shorter was encouraged by his parents to take clarinet lessons at age 16 and then switched to tenor saxophone prior to enrolling at New York University in 1952. His older brother Alan played alto saxophone before switching to the trumpet in college. While in high school, Wayne also performed with the Nat Phipps Band in Newark. After graduating from NYU with a degree in music education in 1956, Shorter spent two years in the U.S. Army, during which time he played briefly with Horace Silver. After his discharge, he played with Maynard Ferguson. In his youth, Shorter had acquired the nickname "Mr. Gone", which later became an album title for Weather Report.{{cite web|url=https://www.bigtakeover.com/recordings/weather-report-forecast-tomorrow-columbia-legacy|title=Weather Report – Forecast: Tomorrow (Columbia Legacy)|website=BigTakeOver.com|access-date=October 22, 2018}}

Career

His early influences include Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane and Coleman Hawkins. In 1959, Shorter joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers where he stayed for four years, eventually becoming musical director and composing pieces for the band.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/mar/02/wayne-shorter-icon-of-jazz-saxophone-dies-aged-89|title=Wayne Shorter, icon of jazz saxophone, dies aged 89|first=Beaumont-Thomas|last=Ben|work=The Guardian|date=2 March 2023|accessdate=21 April 2024}} Together they toured the US, Japan, and Europe, recording several albums. During this time, Shorter "established himself as one of the most gifted of the young saxophonists" and received international acknowledgment.{{cite book | last1=Carr | first1=Ian | last2=Fairweather | first2=Digby | last3=Priestley | first3=Brian | title=The Rough Guide to Jazz – The Essential Companion to Artists and Albums | publisher=Rough Guides Ltd. | date=1995 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/jazzroughguide00carr/page/584 584–585] | isbn=978-1-85828-137-7 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/jazzroughguide00carr/page/584}}

=With Miles Davis (1964–70)=

Herbie Hancock said of Shorter's tenure in Miles Davis's Second Great Quintet: "The master writer to me, in that group, was Wayne Shorter. He still is a master. Wayne was one of the few people who brought music to Miles that didn't get changed."{{cite book|title=The Great Jazz Pianists: Speaking Of Their Lives And Music|url=https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=%22The+master+writer%22+%22didn't+get+changed%22+intitle:The+intitle:Great+intitle:Jazz+intitle:Pianists|year=1989|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0-306-80343-7|author=Len Lyons|page=274|chapter=Herbie Hancock}} Davis said, "Wayne is a real composer. He writes scores, writes the parts for everybody, just as he wants them to sound. ... Wayne also brought in a kind of curiosity about working with musical rules. If they didn't work, then he broke them, but with musical sense; he understood that freedom in music was the ability to know the rules, in order to bend them to your own satisfaction and taste."{{cite book |title=Miles: The Autobiography |last=Davis |first=Miles |author-link=Miles Davis |author2=Troupe, Quincy |author2-link=Quincy Troupe |year=1990 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-671-72582-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/milesautobiograp0000davi/page/274 274] |chapter=Chapter 13 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/milesautobiograp0000davi/page/274}}

Ian Carr, musician and Rough Guide author, said that with Davis, Shorter found his own voice as a player and composer. "Blakey's hard-driving, straight-ahead rhythms had brought out the muscularity in Shorter's tenor playing, but the greater freedom of the Davis rhythm-section allowed him to explore new emotional and technical dimensions."

Shorter remained in Davis's band after the breakup of the quintet in 1968, playing on early jazz fusion recordings including In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew (both 1969). His last live dates and studio recordings with Davis were in 1970.

Until 1968, he played tenor saxophone exclusively. The final album on which he played tenor in the regular sequence of Davis albums was Filles de Kilimanjaro. In 1969, he played the soprano saxophone on the Davis album In a Silent Way and on his own Super Nova (recorded with then-current Davis sidemen Chick Corea and John McLaughlin). When performing live with Davis, and on recordings from summer 1969 to early spring 1970, he played both soprano and tenor saxophones: by the early 1970s, however, he chiefly played soprano.

==Solo Blue Note recordings==

Simultaneous with his time in the Davis quintet, Shorter recorded several albums for Blue Note Records, featuring, almost exclusively, his own compositions, with a variety of line-ups, quartets and larger groups, including Blue Note favorites such as trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. His first Blue Note album (of 11 in total recorded from 1964 to 1970) was Night Dreamer, recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in 1964 with Lee Morgan (trumpet), McCoy Tyner (piano), Reggie Workman (bass) and Elvin Jones (drums). Two more albums were recorded in 1964, JuJu and Speak No Evil.

Of the three Blue Note albums Shorter recorded in 1965, The All Seeing Eye (rec. 1965, rel. 1966) was a workout with a larger group, while Adam's Apple (rec. 1966, rel. 1967) was back to carefully constructed melodies by Shorter leading a quartet. Then a sextet again in the following year for Schizophrenia (rec. 1967, rel. 1969) with Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, trombonist Curtis Fuller, alto saxophonist/flautist James Spaulding and strong rhythms by drummer Joe Chambers.

Shorter also recorded occasionally as a sideman (again mainly for Blue Note) with trumpeter Donald Byrd, McCoy Tyner, trombonist Grachan Moncur III, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, as well as bandmates Herbie Hancock and drummer Tony Williams.

=Weather Report (1971–1986)=

File:Wayne-Shorter in Amsterdam, 1980.jpg in Amsterdam, in 1980]]

Following the release of Odyssey of Iska in 1970, Shorter formed the fusion group Weather Report with Davis veteran keyboardist Joe Zawinul and bassist Miroslav Vitouš. The other original members were percussionist Airto Moreira, and drummer Alphonse Mouzon. After Vitouš's departure in 1973, Shorter and Zawinul co-led the group until the band's break-up in late 1985. A variety of musicians would make up Weather Report over the years (most notably the revolutionary bassist Jaco Pastorius and drummers Peter Erskine and Omar Hakim) helping the band produce many high quality recordings in diverse styles, with funk, bebop, Latin jazz, ethnic music, and futurism being the most prevalent denominators.

==Solo and side projects==

Shorter also recorded critically acclaimed albums as a bandleader, notably 1974's Native Dancer, which featured Hancock and Brazilian composer and vocalist Milton Nascimento.

File:Wayne Shorter Berkeley 1980.jpg, May 25, 1980]]

In the late 1970s and the early 1980s, he toured in the V.S.O.P. quintet. This group was a revival of the 1960s Davis quintet, except that Freddie Hubbard filled the trumpet chair. Shorter appeared with the same former Davis bandmates on the Carlos Santana double LP The Swing of Delight (1980), for which he also composed a number of pieces.

From 1977 through 2002, he appeared on 10 Joni Mitchell studio albums, gaining him a wider audience. He played an extended solo on the title track of Steely Dan's 1977 album Aja.

=Later career=

After leaving Weather Report in 1986, Shorter continued to record and lead groups in jazz fusion styles, including touring in 1988 with guitarist Carlos Santana, who appeared on This is This! (1986), the last Weather Report disc. There is a concert video recorded at the Lugano Jazz Festival in 1987, with Jim Beard (keyboards), Carl James (bass), Terri Lyne Carrington (drums), and Marilyn Mazur (percussion). In 1989, he contributed to a hit on the rock charts, playing the soprano saxophone solo on Don Henley's song "The End of the Innocence" and also produced the album Pilar by the Portuguese singer-songwriter Pilar Homem de Melo. He also maintained an occasional working relationship with Herbie Hancock, including a tribute album recorded shortly after Miles Davis's death with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Tony Williams and Wallace Roney. He continued to appear on Mitchell's records in the 1990s and can be heard on the soundtrack of the Harrison Ford film The Fugitive (1993).

In 1995, Shorter released the album High Life, his first solo recording for seven years. It was also his debut as a leader for Verve Records. Shorter composed all the compositions on the album and co-produced it with the bassist Marcus Miller with pianist, synthesist, and sound designer Rachel Z. High Life received the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 1996.

Shorter worked with Herbie Hancock once again in 1997, on the much acclaimed and heralded album 1+1. The song "Aung San Suu Kyi" (named for the Burmese pro-democracy activist) won both Hancock and Shorter a Grammy Award.

In 2009, he was announced as one of the headline acts at the Gnaoua World Music Festival in Essaouira, Morocco. His 2013 live album Without a Net (rec. 2010) is his first with Blue Note Records since Odyssey of Iska (rec. 1970, rel. 1971).

==Quartet==

File:Wayne Shorter quartet.jpg, 2010]]

In 2000, Shorter formed the first permanent acoustic group under his name, a quartet with pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade, playing his own compositions, many of them reworkings of tunes going back to the 1960s. Four albums of live recordings have been released: Footprints Live! (rec. live 2001, rel. 2002); Beyond the Sound Barrier (rec. live 2002–2004, rel. 2005); Without a Net (rec. live 2010, rel. 2013); and Emanon (2018), with the latter, in addition to live material, including Shorter's quartet in a studio session with the 34-piece Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. The quartet has received great acclaim from fans and critics, especially for the strength of Shorter's tenor saxophone playing. The biography Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter by journalist Michelle Mercer examines the working life of the musicians as well as Shorter's thoughts and Buddhist beliefs.{{cite web|url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=15937|title=Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter |website=AllAboutJazz.com|date=December 19, 2004 |access-date=November 19, 2010}} Beyond the Sound Barrier received the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.

Shorter's 2003 album Alegría (his first studio album for 10 years, since High Life) received the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album; it features the quartet with a host of other musicians, including pianist Brad Mehldau, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and former Weather Report percussionist Alex Acuña. Shorter's compositions, some new, some reworked from his Miles Davis period, feature the complex Latin rhythms that he specialized in during his Weather Report days.

==''Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity''==

In 2015, producer/director Dorsay Alavi began filming a documentary about the life of Wayne Shorter called Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity.[https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/wayneshorter "Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity Documentary"], Pledgemusic. A number of high-profile musicians, including Herbie Hancock, Esperanza Spalding, and Terri Lyne Carrington, performed at a donor event to raise funds for the documentary; two of the largest donations came from the Herb Alpert Foundation and Carlos Santana.{{cite web |last1=Chagollan |first1=Steve |title=For the Love of Wayne: Shorter Doc Fundraiser Attracts A-List Jazz Talent |url=https://variety.com/2014/film/news/for-the-love-of-wayne-shorter-doc-fundraiser-attracts-a-list-jazz-talent-1201317508/ |website=Variety |access-date=March 6, 2021 |date=September 30, 2014}} In 2018, a four-hour preliminary cut was completed. Subsequently, Brad Pitt joined the project with his production company. After some delay, partly due to the Covid crisis, from August 2023, the documentary is available as a three-hour miniseries on Amazon Prime Video.{{cite web |last1=Bramesco |first1=Charles |title='How a man grew to greatness': the incredible story of saxophonist Wayne Shorter |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/aug/28/wayne-shorter-saxophone-zero-gravity-amazon |website=The Guardian |access-date=August 28, 2023 |date=August 28, 2023}}{{Cite web |last=Linden |first=Sheri |date=2023-08-22 |title='Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity' Review: Amazon's Docuseries Aims Beyond Formula to Hit the High Notes |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/wayne-shorter-zero-gravity-review-amazon-1235570106/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}

== Mega Nova ==

In 2016, it was announced that Shorter, Carlos Santana, and Herbie Hancock would begin touring under the name Mega Nova. Also included within the supergroup was bassist Marcus Miller and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/inside-carlos-santanas-new-jazz-rock-supergroup-w434803|title=Inside Carlos Santana's New Jazz-Rock Supergroup|last=Smith|first=Steve|date=August 17, 2016|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=August 26, 2016|archive-date=March 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307022657/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/inside-carlos-santanas-new-jazz-rock-supergroup-w434803|url-status=dead}} Their first show together was on August 24, 2016, at the Hollywood Bowl.{{cite web|url=http://www.vibe.com/2016/08/carlos-santana-mega-nova-super-group/|title=Carlos Santan's Magical Supergroup Is Here To Break Barriers|last=Collins|first=Shanna|date=August 24, 2016|website=Vibe.com|access-date=August 26, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828174009/http://www.vibe.com/2016/08/carlos-santana-mega-nova-super-group/ |archive-date= Aug 28, 2016 }}{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-carlos-santana-mega-nova-review-20160822-snap-story.html|title=Review: Carlos Santana, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock rarely take off with Mega Nova at the Hollywood Bowl|last=Barton|first=Chris|date=August 25, 2016|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=August 26, 2016}}

==''Iphigenia''==

In 2018, Shorter retired from his near 70-year performing career due to health issues. He continued working as a composer, creating a "new operatic work" titled Iphigenia, a loose adaptation of the ancient Greek myth; with Esperanza Spalding writing the libretto and architect Frank Gehry designing the sets, which premiered on November 12, 2021, at the Cutler Majestic Theatre.{{Cite web|url=https://downbeat.com/news/detail/patitucci-soul-of-bass|title=Patitucci Juggles 'All the Elements of Music'|first=Allen |last=Morrison|date=May 10, 2019|website=DownBeat Magazine}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.opb.org/article/2021/01/12/esperanza-spalding-is-the-21st-century-s-jazz-genius/|title=Esperanza Spalding is the 21st Century Jazz Genius|date=January 12, 2021|last=Pellegrinelli|first=Lara|website=opb.org|access-date=March 8, 2021|archive-date=January 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119215945/https://www.opb.org/article/2021/01/12/esperanza-spalding-is-the-21st-century-s-jazz-genius/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2021/11/esperanza-spalding-opera-iphigenia|title=World Premiere of esperanza spalding and Wayne Shorter's Opera, (Iphigenia)|first=Nancy Kathryn |last=Walecki|date=November 18, 2021|website=Harvard Magazine}}

Personal life

Shorter met Teruko (Irene) Nakagami in 1961. They married and had a daughter, Miyako. Some of his compositions are copyrighted as "Miyako Music" and Shorter dedicated the pieces "Miyako" and "Infant Eyes" to his daughter. The couple separated in 1964.{{cite web|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20122768,00.html|title=A Separate Peace|first=Kyle|last= Smith|website=People.com|access-date=February 21, 2010|archive-date=March 31, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110331023014/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20122768,00.html|url-status=dead}}

Shorter met Ana Maria Patricio in 1966 and they married in 1970. In 1986, their daughter Iska died of a grand mal seizure at age 14.{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/22/arts/with-this-composer-the-work-is-never-done.html | title= With This Composer, The Work Is Never Done | newspaper=The New York Times | first=Ben | last=Ratliff | date=April 22, 1998 | access-date=March 1, 2021}} Ana Maria and the couple's niece, Dalila, were killed on July 17, 1996, in the crash of TWA Flight 800, while travelling to visit Shorter in Italy.{{Cite news|title=Wayne Shorter|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/wayne-shorter|access-date=March 2, 2023|issn=0362-4331}} Dalila was the daughter of Ana Maria Shorter's sister and her husband, jazz vocalist Jon Lucien. Composer and producer Rick Shorter (1934–2017) was Shorter's cousin.Old Times, Winter / Spring 2012 – [https://web.archive.org/web/20181202224217/https://issuu.com/uppercanadacollege/docs/old_times_spring_2012/14 p. 12, UCC principal's son makes beautiful music, Nick Krewen] In 1999, Shorter married Carolina Dos Santos, a close friend of Ana Maria.

Shorter practiced Nichiren Buddhism for more than 50 years as a longtime member of the Buddhist association Soka Gakkai International.{{cite news |last1=Meade Sperry |first1=Rod |title=Remembering Wayne Shorter, Rogue Philosopher |url=https://www.lionsroar.com/wayne-shorter-rogue-philosopher/ |work=Lion's Roar Magazine |date=March 2, 2023 |access-date=March 2, 2023}}

Singer and actress Tina Turner credits Shorter with saving her life. In Turner's 2020 spiritual memoir Happiness Becomes You, she states that Shorter and Ana Maria gave her critical refuge at their home for six months after Turner left her abusive husband, Ike Turner, in 1976.{{cite book |last=Turner |first=Tina |author-link=Tina Turner |date=2020 |title=Happiness Becomes You |url= |location= |publisher=Atria Books |pages=93, 104 |isbn=978-1-9821-5215-4}}

Shorter died in Los Angeles, California, on March 2, 2023, aged 89.{{cite news |last1=Chinen |first1=Nate |title=Wayne Shorter, Intrepid Saxophonist and Composer, Dies at 89 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/arts/music/wayne-shorter-dead.html |work=The New York Times |date=March 2, 2023 |access-date=March 2, 2023}}

=Honors and recognition=

File:Wayne Shorter.jpg

In 1999, Shorter received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the Berklee College of Music.{{cite web|last1=Hochschild|first1=Rob|title=1999 Commencement at Berklee: David Bowie and Wayne Shorter|website=Berklee College of Music|date=June 15, 1999|url=https://college.berklee.edu/news/4531/1999-commencement-at-berklee-david-bowie-and-way}}

On September 17, 2013, Shorter received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz (formerly Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz).{{cite web|url=http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwgeeks/article/Wayne-Shorter-Receives-Lifetime-Achievement-Award-Alongside-Special-Tribute-to-George-Duke-at-2013-Thelonious-Monk-International-Jazz-Competition-and-All-Star-Gala-Concer-20130917|title=Thelonious Monk Lifetime Achievement Award|website=Broadwayworld.com|access-date=December 18, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220012043/http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwgeeks/article/Wayne-Shorter-Receives-Lifetime-Achievement-Award-Alongside-Special-Tribute-to-George-Duke-at-2013-Thelonious-Monk-International-Jazz-Competition-and-All-Star-Gala-Concer-20130917|archive-date=February 20, 2017|url-status=dead}}

On December 18, 2014, the Recording Academy announced that Shorter had been awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of his "prolific contributions to our culture and history".{{cite web|url=http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/press-release/the-bee-gees-pierre-boulez-buddy-guy-george-harrison-flaco-jimenez|title=Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Press Release|website=Grammy.com|date=December 18, 2014|access-date=December 18, 2014|archive-date=June 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611033851/https://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/press-release/the-bee-gees-pierre-boulez-buddy-guy-george-harrison-flaco-jimenez|url-status=dead}}

In 2016, Shorter was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in music composition, the only jazz artist to receive the honor that year.[http://jazztimes.com/articles/171862-wayne-shorter-awarded-guggenheim-fellowship Wayne Shorter awarded Guggenheim Fellowship]. Jazz Times. April 8, 2016.

In 2017, Shorter was announced as the joint winner of the Polar Music Prize. The award committee stated: "Without the musical explorations of Wayne Shorter, modern music would not have drilled so deep."

In 2018, Shorter received the Kennedy Center Honors Award from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for his lifetime of contributions to the arts.{{cite web | url=https://www.kennedy-center.org/video/digital-stage/other/2018/kennedy-center-honors-highlights-2018/ | title=Kennedy Center Honors Highlights 2018 | Kennedy Center}}

On April 29, 2022, Shorter's hometown of Newark renamed a street in his honor. Park Place was renamed "Wayne Shorter Way".{{cite web | url=https://www.wbgo.org/wbgo/2022-04-28/watch-the-renaming-ceremony-for-wayne-shorter-way-which-honors-wayne-shorter-as-newarks-pride |title=Watch the renaming ceremony for Wayne Shorter Way |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=WBGO|date=April 28, 2022 }}

On April 22, 2023, the BBC Radio Three magazine program J to Z broadcast a 90-minute tribute to Shorter, hosted by Julian Joseph.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001l4fq |title=J to Z: Wayne Shorter |publisher=bbc.co.uk |date=April 22, 2023 |access-date=April 22, 2023}}

In August 2023, Herbie Hancock hosted a tribute concert at Hollywood Bowl, featuring a large number of performers including Carlos Santana and Joni Mitchell.{{Cite web |last=Hochman |first=David |title=Joni Mitchell Makes Surprise Appearance At The Hollywood Bowl To Honor Wayne Shorter |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhochman/2023/08/24/joni-mitchell-makes-surprise-appearance-at-the-hollywood-bowl-to-honor-wayne-shorter/ |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=Forbes |language=en}}

==Awards==

|-! scope="row" | Year|| Work|| Category || Award || {{won}} || Notes || Citation

| 1962|| Wayne Shorter|| New Star Saxophonist || DownBeat Readers Poll|| {{won}}|| ||

||1972|| I Sing The Body Electric|| Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental|| Grammy Award|| {{nom}}||with Weather Report ||

| 1979|| 8:30|| Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental || Grammy Award|| {{won}}||with Weather Report||

||1981|| Night Passage|| Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental|| Grammy Award|| {{nom}}||with Weather Report ||

||1982|| Weather Report|| Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental|| Grammy Award|| {{nom}}||with Weather Report ||

||1983|| Procession|| Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental|| Grammy Award|| {{nom}}||with Weather Report ||

|rowspan="2"| 1985|| Sportin' Life|| Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental|| Grammy Award|| {{nom}}||with Weather Report ||

| Atlantis|| Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental|| Grammy Award|| {{nom}}|| ||

| 1987|| "Call Sheet Blues"|| Best Instrumental Composition || Grammy Award|| {{won}}|| with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Billy Higgins from The Other Side of Round Midnight Featuring Dexter Gordon||

|rowspan="2" |1994|| A Tribute to Miles|| Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group ||Grammy Award|| {{won}}|| ||

| "Pinocchio "|| Best Jazz Instrumental Solo ||Grammy Award|| {{nom}}|| from A Tribute to Miles ||

|rowspan="4"| 1996|| Wayne Shorter||Lifetime achievement ||Miles Davis Award || {{won}} || The Miles Davis Award is given by the Montreal International Jazz Festival to "honor a great international jazz musician for the entire body of his or her work and influence in regenerating the jazz idiom." || {{cite web |url=https://www.montrealjazzfest.com/en/About/Prix |title=Festival Awards |website=Festival International de Jazz de Montreal |accessdate= July 20, 2022}}

|High Life|| Best Contemporary Jazz Album || Grammy Award || {{won}} || ||

|"Children Of The Night"|| Best Instrumental Arrangement || Grammy Award || {{nom}} ||from High Life||

|"Midnight In Carlotta's Hair"|| Best Instrumental Composition || Grammy Award || {{nom}} ||from High Life ||

| 1997|| "Aung San Suu Kyi"|| Best Instrumental Composition ||Grammy Award|| {{won}}||from Herbie Hancock's1+1 ||

| 1998|| Wayne Shorter||Lifetime achievement || NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship|| {{won}} || NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships are awarded by National Endowment for the Arts to "musicians who have reached an exceptionally high standard of achievement in this very specialized art form." Each fellowship includes a monetary award.{{cite web|url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/brief-history-nea-jazz-masters-fellowships |title=A Brief History of the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships|website=Arts.gov|access-date=July 19, 2022}}||

| 1999|| "In Walked Wayne"|| Best Jazz Instrumental Solo || Grammy Award || {{won}} || from J.J. Johnson's Heroes ||

|rowspan="2"| 2002|| Footprints Live!|| Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group || Grammy Award|| {{nom}}|| ||

| Wayne Shorter|| Significant contributions to the evolution of jazz || Beacons in Jazz Award|| {{won}}||bestowed by The New School's Jazz & Contemporary Music Program || {{cite web|url=https://downbeat.com/news/detail/wayne-shorter-to-receive-beacons-in-jazz-award|website=Downbeat|date=January 30, 2002|title=Wayne Shorter To Receive Beacons In Jazz Award}}

|rowspan="2"|2003|| "Sacajawea"|| Best Instrumental Composition || Grammy Award||{{won}}|| from Alegría ||

||Alegría|| Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group ||Grammy Award ||{{won}}|| ||

| 2005|| Beyond the Sound Barrier|| Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group || Grammy Award|| {{won}}|| ||

|rowspan="3"| 2006|| Wayne Shorter || Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year || Downbeat Critics' Poll|| {{won}}|| ||{{cite web |url=https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/20060718_bmi_jazz_greats_sweep_downbeat_critics_poll |title=BMI Jazz Greats Sweep 'Downbeat' Critics Poll |website=BMI |date=July 17, 2006 |accessdate= July 20, 2022}}

|rowspan="2"| Wayne Shorter Quartet || Jazz Group of the Year || Downbeat Critics' Poll|| {{won}}|| ||

| Small Ensemble Group of the Year || Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Award|| {{won}}|| ||

||2008 || Wayne Shorter|| Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year || DownBeat Critics Poll|| {{won}}|| || {{cite web |url=https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/bmi_jazz_composers_top_downbeat_readers_poll |title=BMI Jazz Composers Top 'Downbeat' Readers Poll |website=BMI |date=November 11, 2008 |accessdate=July 20, 2022}}

| rowspan="5"|2013|| Without A Net|| Jazz Album of the Year || DownBeat Critics Poll|| {{won}}|| with Wayne Shorter Quartet||{{cite web |url=https://downbeat.com/news/detail/wayne-shorter-tops-61st-annual-downbeat-critics-poll |title=Wayne Shorter Tops 61st Annual DownBeat Critics Poll |website=DownBeat |date= June 19, 2013 |accessdate= July 20, 2022}}

|rowspan="2"| Wayne Shorter|| Artist of the Year || DownBeat Critics Poll|| {{won}}|| ||

| Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year || DownBeat Critics Poll|| {{won}}|| ||

|rowspan="2"| Wayne Shorter Quartet||rowspan="2"| Jazz Group || DownBeat Critics Poll|| {{won}}|| ||

| DownBeat Readers Poll|| {{won}}|| ||

|rowspan="3"|2014|| "Orbits"|| Best Jazz Instrumental Solo ||Grammy Award|| {{won}}||from Without a Net ||

|Wayne Shorter||Achiever || Golden Plate Award|| {{won}}||bestowed by American Academy of Achievement; presented by Awards Council member Willie L. Brown Jr. ||{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/}}{{cite news |title=2014 Summit Highlights Photo |url=https://achievement.org/summit/2014/|quote=Academy guest of honor and jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter accompanies Esperanza Spalding in a duet performance at the 2014 International Achievement Summit in San Francisco.}}

| Wayne Shorter Quartet|| Jazz Group || DownBeat Critics Poll|| {{won}}|| ||

||2015 || Wayne Shorter|| Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year || DownBeat Critics Poll|| {{won}}|| || {{cite web |url=https://jazz.fm/bennett-mcbride-krall-among-winners-in-downbeat-readers-poll/ |title=Bennett, McBride winners in DownBeat Readers Poll |website=JAZZ.FM 91 |date=October 27, 2015 |accessdate= July 20, 2022}}

|rowspan="2"|2016||rowspan="2"| Wayne Shorter||rowspan="2" |Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year || DownBeat Critics Poll|| {{won}}|| ||

| DownBeat Readers Poll|| {{won}}|| || {{cite web |url=https://downbeat.com/news/detail/schneider-washington-among-downbeat-readers-poll-winners |title=Schneider & Washington Among DownBeat Readers Poll Winners |website=DownBeat |date=October 28, 2006 |last1=Washington|first1=Kamsi |access-date= July 20, 2022}}

|rowspan="3"|2017||rowspan="3"| Wayne Shorter||Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year || DownBeat Critics Poll|| {{won}}|| ||{{cite web|url=https://downbeat.com/?/news/detail/marsalis-krall-corea-among-readers-poll-winners |date=October 24, 2017| title=Marsalis, Krall, Corea Among DownBeat Readers Poll Winners|website=DownBeat| access-date=January 19, 2021}}

|Exceptional achievement || Polar Music Prize|| {{won}}|| ||

|Musical Arts || Rolf Schock Prizes|| {{won}}|| ||[https://www.kva.se/en/pressrum/pressmeddelanden/rolf-schockprisen-2017-till-fyra-epokgorande-personligheter "Rolf Schock Prize Recipients 2017"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602212417/https://www.kva.se/en/pressrum/pressmeddelanden/rolf-schockprisen-2017-till-fyra-epokgorande-personligheter |date=June 2, 2021 }}, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Retrieved November 15, 2018.

|rowspan="4"|2019 ||rowspan="2"|Wayne Shorter|| Jazz Artist ||rowspan="3"| DownBeat Readers Poll|| {{won}}|| ||{{cite web|url=https://downbeat.com/news/detail/shorter-salvant-and-benson-among-readers-poll-winners |date=October 21, 2019| title=Shorter, Salvant and Benson Among DownBeat Readers Poll Winners |website=DownBeat|access-date=January 20, 2021}}

|Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year || {{won}}|| ||

|rowspan="2"|Emanon|| Jazz Album || {{won}}|| ||

| Best Jazz Instrumental Album || Grammy Award|| {{won}}|| ||

|2021|| Wayne Shorter ||On-going innovation and impact in the field of jazz ||Doris Duke Performing Artist Award|| {{won}}|| sponsored by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation||{{cite web|url=https://www.ddcf.org/news--insights/articles/doris-duke-charitable-foundation-announces-2021-doris-duke-artists/|title= Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Announces 2021 Doris Duke Artists|publisher= Doris Duke Charitable Foundation|date= October 21, 2021|access-date= October 28, 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://jazz.fm/doris-duke-artist-awards-2021-wayne-shorter-kris-davis-danilo-perez/ |title= Wayne Shorter, Kris Davis and Danilo Pérez win 2021 Doris Duke Artist Awards|first=Adam |last=Feibel|publisher= JAZZ.FM91|date= October 25, 2021|access-date= October 28, 2021}}

|rowspan="2"|2023 || "Endangered Species" || Best Improvised Jazz Solo || rowspan="2"|Grammy Award || {{won}} || with Leo Genovese || rowspan="2"|{{cite web |title=Grammy Awards 2023: The Full List of Nominees |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/15/arts/music/grammys-nominee-list-2023.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=November 21, 2022 |date=November 15, 2022}}

| Live at the Detroit Jazz Festival || Best Jazz Instrumental Album || {{nominated}} || with Terri Lyne Carrington, Leo Genovese, and Esperanza Spalding

Discography

Introducing Wayne Shorter (aka Blues a la Carte, Vee-Jay, 1959)
Second Genesis (Vee-Jay, rec. 1960, rel. 1974)
Wayning Moments (Vee-Jay, 1962)
Night Dreamer (Blue Note, 1964)
JuJu (Blue Note, 1965)
Speak No Evil (Blue Note, rec. 1964, rel. 1966)
The Soothsayer (Blue Note, rec. 1965, rel. 1979)
Et Cetera (Blue Note, rec. 1965, rel. 1980)
The All Seeing Eye (Blue Note, rec. 1965, rel. 1966)
Adam's Apple (Blue Note, rec. 1966, rel. 1967)
Schizophrenia (Blue Note, rec. 1967, rel. 1969)
Super Nova (Blue Note, 1969)
Moto Grosso Feio (Blue Note, rec. 1970, rel. 1974)
Odyssey of Iska (Blue Note, rec. 1970, rel. 1971)
Native Dancer (Columbia, rec. 1974, rel. 1975) with Milton Nascimento
Atlantis (Columbia, 1985)
Phantom Navigator (Columbia, rec. 1986, rel. 1987)
Joy Ryder (Columbia, 1988)
High Life (Verve, 1995)
1+1 (Verve, 1997) with Herbie Hancock
Footprints Live! (Verve, 2002)
Alegría (Verve, 2003)
Beyond the Sound Barrier (Verve, rec. live 2002–2004, rel. 2005) as Wayne Shorter Quartet
Carlos Santana and Wayne Shorter – Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1988 (Image Entertainment, 2007) with Carlos Santana
Without a Net (Blue Note, rec. live 2010, rel. 2013) as Wayne Shorter Quartet
Celebration Volume 1 (Blue Note, 2024){{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/celebration-vol-1-mw0004314577 | title=Celebration, Vol. 1 - Wayne Shorter | Album | AllMusic | website=AllMusic }}

References

External links

{{Facebook|wayneshortermusic}}
{{AllMusic|id=wayne-shorter-mn0000250435|title=Wayne Shorter}}
{{Discogs artist|29979-Wayne-Shorter}}
[https://www.jazzdisco.org/wayne-shorter/discography/ Wayne Shorter discography] at JazzDisco.org
[https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=4713 Wayne Shorter biography, discography, album credits & user reviews] at ProgArchives.com
{{IMDb name|0795147}}
[https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ZqhrTXYPA9DZR527ZnFdO Wayne Shorter albums to be listened] on Spotify
[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3X4afoYfFCLWw1LTfeLCqA Wayne Shorter albums to be listened] on YouTube
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080612230621/http://www.jazz.com/features-and-interviews/2008/3/21/in-conversation-with-wayne-shorter "An Interview with Wayne Shorter"] by Bob Blumenthal at jazz.com
[https://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=34718 Wayne Shorter Quartet with NEC Philharmonia, Boston] at AllAboutJazz.com
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110927022101/http://www.montrealjazzfest.com/artists/artist.aspx?id=28#artOnglets Wayne Shorter's artist file on Montreal Jazz Festival's website]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20130730003215/http://www.sgiquarterly.org/feature2012Jan-5.html Wayne Shorter on creativity]
[https://ethaniverson.com/interview-with-wayne-shorter/ DTM interview]
[https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/musicshow/wayne-shorter/7495698 Interview with Wayne Shorter] on The Music Show, ABC Radio (Australia), June 2016.