Shorter was born in Newark, New Jersey, and attended Newark Arts High School. He was encouraged by his father to take up the saxophone as a teenager (his brother Alan became a trumpeter). After graduating from New York University in 1956 Shorter spent two years in the US Army, during which time he played briefly with Horace Silver, and after his discharge from the army with Maynard Ferguson.
In 1959 Shorter joined Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers. He stayed with Blakey for five years, and eventually became musical director for the group. In 1964, Miles Davis persuaded Shorter to leave Blakey and join the Miles Davis Quintet alongside Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. Davis had been searching for a saxophonist to replace John Coltrane for some time, and the new quintet is considered by many to have been Davis's strongest working group. Shorter composed extensively for Davis ("Prince of Darkness", "ESP", "Footprints", "Sanctuary", and many others; on some albums he provided half of the compositions).
Herbie Hancock had this to say of Shorter's tenure in the group: "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." Davis said: "Wayne is a real composer. He writes scores, write the parts for everybody just as he wants them to sound. He 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."
Simultaneously with his time in the Miles Davis quintet, Shorter recorded several albums for Blue Note Records, featuring almost exclusively his own compositions. He also recorded occasionally as a sideman (again, mainly for Blue Note) with Donald Byrd, McCoy Tyner, Grachan Moncur III, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, and band mates Hancock and Williams. Until 1968 he played tenor saxophone exclusively; by the early 1970s, however, he chiefly played soprano saxophone.
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.
In 1970, along with keyboardist Joe Zawinul (also a veteran of the Miles Davis group), Shorter formed Weather Report. Other original members were bassist Miroslav Vitous, percussionist Airto Moreira, and drummer Alphonse Mouzon. Shorter and Zawinul co-led the group until late 1985 with a variety of other musicians, and separately wrote most of Weather Report's material. Shorter also recorded critically acclaimed albums as leader, notably Native Dancer, which featured Brazilian composer and vocalist Milton Nascimento, and Atlantis.
After leaving Weather Report, Shorter continued to record and lead groups in jazz fusion styles, and contributed to several albums by Joni Mitchell. He has also maintained an occasional working relationship with Herbie Hancock, including appearances on several of Hancock's albums, the VSOP band (essentially a revival of the 1960s Miles Davis quintet with Freddie Hubbard substituting for Davis), and a tribute album recorded shortly after Davis's death with Hancock, Carter, Williams and Wallace Roney.
Shorter formed his band in 2000, the first permanent acoustic group under his leadership. The quartet is composed of pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade. Two albums of live recordings featuring this quartet have been released (Footprints Live (2001) and Beyond the Sound Barrier (2005). The quartet has received great acclaim from fans and critics, and the musicians have come to consider themselves family on and off stage. Shorter's 2003 album Alegria received a 2004 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Jazz 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.
"I think that music opens portals and doorways into unknown sectors that it takes courage to leap into. I always think that there's a potential that we all have, and we can emerge, rise up to this potential, when necessary. We have to be fearless, courageous, and draw upon wisdom that we think we don't have." - Wayne Shorter
Footprints
Wayne Shorter Lyrics
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(lyrics - Kitty Margolis)
Thousands of years before history recorded
Deep in the jungle a woman stepped on wet clay
And the print remained there
Future reminder of ages ago
Many lives later a traveler crossed the same path
Under the vines he saw traces of that footprint
Silent testimony
Spiritual journey begun long ago
Eons of changes, illusion of some progress
Fearfulness leading us further from the soul power
Known in early ages
When nature's heartbeat rang loud on the earth
The key to our freedom lies not just in our thinking
The ancient intuition that's buried deep within us
Is waiting to be set free
The creator's gift to her children must flow
We call on the past now to show us where to go
We're closer to then than we may want to show
We're closer to then than we may really know
Footprints
Ancient footprints
Wayne Shorter's "Footprints" is a poignant song, which is powerfully rendered by Kitty Margolis. The lyrics of the song evoke the idea of the existence of ancient footprints left behind by humans that existed thousands of years before history was recorded. The first verse of the song refers to a woman who, deep in the jungle, steps on wet clay, and the imprints of her footsteps remain as a future reminder of ages ago. The second verse sees a traveler, who, many lives later, crosses the same path, noticing the traces of that footprint. The song cites the footprints as a silent testimony of a spiritual journey that began many years ago. The lyrics also refer to the idea that the ancient intuition buried deep within us holds the key to our freedom, and it is waiting to be set free.
The lyrics of "Footprints" can be seen as a metaphor for human history and the human experience. The idea of the footprints from ancient people existing thousands of years before history was recorded points to an idea of the cyclical nature of human history. The song suggests that we can look back to the past to understand where we are and where we are going. It is a reminder that, despite technological advancements, we are not that different from the people who existed many years ago.
Line by Line Meaning
Thousands of years before history recorded
Even long before human documented history, significant events occurred
Deep in the jungle a woman stepped on wet clay
An event of the past in which a woman walked on mud in a dense forest
And the print remained there
The impression of the woman's foot was left on the ground
Future reminder of ages ago
A lasting mark that serves as a reminder of a time long gone
Many lives later a traveler crossed the same path
Much later, a wanderer walked on the same track
Under the vines he saw traces of that footprint
He noticed evidence of the footmark under the thick vegetation
Silent testimony
An unspoken and permanent proof
Spiritual journey begun long ago
It is a path to the soul that dates back to ancient times
Eons of changes, illusion of some progress
Despite the continuous changes over the years, the development is only apparent
Fearfulness leading us further from the soul power
The state of being scared is driving us away from inner strength
Known in early ages
It was well documented in the early period
When nature's heartbeat rang loud on the earth
A time when the world's natural rhythm was pronounced and clear
The key to our freedom lies not just in our thinking
Attaining liberty is not only limited to the cognitive process
The ancient intuition that's buried deep within us
The intuitive sense that goes far back into the past and is concealed within us
Is waiting to be set free
Yearning to be liberated and expressed
The creator's gift to her children must flow
It's our obligation to let the creator's bestowal of talents transpire and flourish
We call on the past now to show us where to go
At this time, we seek guidance from the past to decide our course
We're closer to then than we may want to show
We are more connected to our past than we may wish to admit
We're closer to then than we may really know
We have a deeper connection to the past than we are consciously aware of
Footprints
The indication of a valued past occurrence
Ancient footprints
An incredibly meaningful long past event marked on soil.
Contributed by Hudson K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.