Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's

Jazz Messengers The Jazz Messengers were a jazz combo that existed for over thirty-five years beginning in the early 1950s as a collective, and ending when long-time leader and founding drummer Art Blakey died in 1990. Blakey led or co-led the group from the o ...

. In the 1960s, he joined

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

's Second Great Quintet, and then co-founded the jazz fusion band Weather Report. He has recorded over 20 albums as a bandleader. Many Shorter compositions have become jazz standards, and his music has earned worldwide recognition, critical praise and commendation. Shorter has won 11 Grammy Awards. He is acclaimed for his mastery of the soprano saxophone since switching his focus from the

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

in the late 1960s and beginning an extended reign in 1970 as '' Down Beat''s annual poll-winner on that instrument, winning the critics' poll for 10 consecutive years and the readers' for 18. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

Ben Ratliff Ben Ratliff (born 1968 in New York City) is an American journalist, music critic and author. Ratliff is the son of an English mother and an American father, growing up in London and in Rockland County, New York. From 1996 to 2016, he wrote a ...

described Shorter in 2008 as "probably jazz's greatest living small-group composer and a contender for greatest living improviser".Ratliff, Ben
"Music Review: A Birthday Bash With a Harmonious Mix of Guests"
''

''. December 3, 2008. Retrieved 2013-06-04. In 2017, he was awarded the

Polar Music Prize The Polar Music Prize is a Swedish international award founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, best known as the manager of the Swedish band ABBA, with a donation to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The award is annually given to one contemporar ...

Early life and education

Wayne Shorter was born in Newark, New Jersey, and attended

Newark Arts High School Newark Arts High School is a four-year magnet public high school, serving students in Ninth through twelfth grades in Newark, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Newark Public Schools. The school is located in ...

, from which he graduated in 1952. He loved music, being encouraged by his father to take up the clarinet as a teenager; his older brother Alan played alto saxophone before switching to the

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

in college. While in high school Wayne also performed with the Nat Phipps Band in Newark. After graduating from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

with a degree in music education in 1956, Shorter spent two years in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, during which time he played briefly with

Horace Silver Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sc ...

. 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.

Career

His early influences include Sonny Rollins,

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raise ...

and

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...

. 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. 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.

With Miles Davis (1964–70)

Herbie Hancock said of Shorter's tenure in

'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." 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."

Ian Carr Ian Carr (21 April 1933 – 25 February 2009) was a Scottish jazz musician, composer, writer, and educator. Carr performed and recorded with the Rendell-Carr quintet and jazz-fusion band Nucleus, and was an associate professor at the Guildhall ...

, musician and

Rough Guide Rough Guides Ltd is a British travel guide book and reference publisher, which has been owned by APA Publications since November 2017. In addition to publishing guidebooks, the company also provides a tailor-made trips service based on customer ...

author, states 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 ''In a Silent Way'' is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis, released on July 30, 1969, on Columbia Records. Produced by Teo Macero, the album was recorded in one session date on February 18, 1969, at CBS ...

'' and '' Bitches Brew'' (both 1969). His last live dates and studio recordings with Davis were in 1970. Until 1968, he played

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

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 ''

'' and on his own ''

Super Nova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last stellar evolution, evolutionary stages of a mass ...

'' (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 favourites such as trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. His first Blue Note album (of 11 in total recorded from 1964 to 1970) was ''

Night Dreamer ''Night Dreamer'' is the fourth album by American jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter. It was released in November 1964 by Blue Note Records. With a quintet of trumpeter Lee Morgan, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Elvin Jones ...

'', recorded at

Rudy Van Gelder Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Theloni ...

's studio in 1964 with Lee Morgan (trumpet),

McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet (from 1960 to 1965) and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Master and five-time Gram ...

(piano),

Reggie Workman Reginald "Reggie" Workman (born June 26, 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey. Career Early in his career, Workman wo ...

(bass) and

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such widely celebrate ...

(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 Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wit ...

'' (rec. 1967, rel. 1969) with Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, trombonist Curtis Fuller, alto saxophonist/flautist

James Spaulding James Ralph Spaulding Jr. (born July 30, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, United states, Spaulding attended the Chicago Cosmopolitan School of Music. Between 1957 and 1961, he was a member of Sun ...

and strong rhythms by drummer

Joe Chambers Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

. 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, and bandmates Herbie Hancock and drummer Tony Williams.

Weather Report (1971–1986)

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 Vitous Miroslav may refer to: * Miroslav (given name), a Slavic masculine given name * ''Young America'' (clipper) or ''Miroslav'', an Austrian clipper ship in the Transatlantic case oil trade * Miroslav (Znojmo District), a town in the Czech Republic S ...

. The other original members were percussionist Airto Moreira, and drummer

Alphonse Mouzon Alphonse Lee Mouzon (November 21, 1948 – December 25, 2016) was an American jazz fusion drummer and the owner of Tenacious Records, a label that primarily released Mouzon's recordings. He was a composer, arranger, producer, and actor. He ga ...

. After Vitous' 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 John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1976 to 1981. ...

) helping the band produce many high quality recordings in diverse styles, with funk,

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

Latin jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, which ...

, 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 Milton Nascimento (; born October 26, 1942), also known as Bituca, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has toured across the world. Nascimento has won five Grammy Awards, including Best World Music Album for his alb ...

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 Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

Jazz Festival in 1987, with

Jim Beard James Arthur Beard (born August 26, 1960 in Philadelphia) is an American jazz pianist and keyboardist, composer, arranger and producer who has worked with Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Mike Stern, Dennis Chambers ...

(keyboards), Carl James (bass),

Terri Lyne Carrington Terri Lyne Carrington (born August 4, 1965) is an American jazz drummer, composer, producer, and educator. She has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Yellowjackets, and ma ...

(drums), and

Marilyn Mazur Marilyn Mazur (born January 18, 1955) is an American-born Danish percussionist. Since 1975, she has worked as a percussionist with various groups, among them Six Winds with Alex Riel. Mazur is primarily an autodidact, but she has a degree in ...

(percussion). In 1989, he contributed to a hit on the rock charts, playing the sax 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 has 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 Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simon ...

. Shorter composed all the compositions on the album and co-produced it with the bassist Marcus Miller. ''High Life'' received the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for best Contemporary Jazz Album in 1997. 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

In 2000, Shorter formed the first permanent acoustic group under his name, a quartet with pianist Danilo Perez, bassist

John Patitucci John Patitucci (born December 22, 1959) is an American jazz bassist and composer. Biography John James Patitucci was born in Brooklyn, New York. When he was 12, he bought his first bass and decided on his career. He listened to bass parts in R ...

, 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 Emanon is an American musical duo formed in 1995, in Los Angeles, California, composed of rapper and singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc and record producer Exile (producer), Exile. Allmusic history History Emanon released the extended play (EP) ...

'' (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. ''Beyond the Sound Barrier'' received the 2006

for Best Instrumental Jazz Album. Shorter's 2003 album '' Alegría'' (his first studio album for 10 years, since ''High Life'') received the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Jazz Album; it features the quartet with a host of other musicians, including pianist

Brad Mehldau Bradford Alexander Mehldau (; born August 23, 1970) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Mehldau studied music at The New School, and toured and recorded while still a student. He was a member of saxophonist Joshua Redman's Qua ...

, drummer Terri Lynn Carrington and former Weather Report percussionist

Alex Acuña Alejandro Neciosup Acuña (born December 12, 1944), known professionally as Alex Acuña, is a Peruvian-American drummer and percussionist. Background Born in Pativilca, Peru, Acuña played in local bands such as La Orquesta de los Hermanos Nec ...

. Shorter's compositions, some new, some reworked from his Miles Davis period, feature the complex Latin rhythms that he specialised 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''. A number of high-profile musicians, including Herbie Hancock,

Esperanza Spalding Esperanza Emily Spalding (born October 18, 1984) is an American bassist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, a Boston Music Award, and a Soul Train Music Award. A native of Portland, Oregon, Spalding ...

, and

, 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.

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. Their first show together was on August 24, 2016 at the Hollywood Bowl.

''(Iphigenia)''

In 2018, Shorter retired from his near 70-year performing career due to health issues. He has continued working as a composer, creating a "new operatic work" titled ''(Iphigenia)'', with

writing the libretto and architect Frank Gehry designing the sets, which premiered on 12 November 2021, at the

Cutler Majestic Theatre The Cutler Majestic Theatre at Emerson College, in Boston, Massachusetts, is a 1903 Beaux Arts style theater, designed by the architect John Galen Howard. Originally built for theatre, it was one of three theaters commissioned in Boston by Ebe ...

Honors and recognition

In 1999, Shorter received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the Berklee College of Music. On September 17, 2013, Shorter received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. On December 18, 2014, the Recording Academy announced that Shorter was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of his "prolific contributions to our culture and history". In 2016, Shorter was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in the field of music composition, the only jazz artist to receive the honor that year. In 2017, Shorter was announced as the joint winner of the

. 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.

Awards

, -! scope="row" , Year, , ''Work'', , Category , , Award , , , , Notes , , Citation , - , 1962, , Wayne Shorter, , New Star Saxophonist , , '' DownBeat Readers Poll'', , , , , , , - , , 1972, , '' I Sing The Body Electric'', , Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental, , Grammy Award, , , , with Weather Report , , , - , 1979, , '' 8:30'', , Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental , ,

, , , , with Weather Report, , , - , , 1981, , '' Night Passage'', , Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental, , Grammy Award, , , , with Weather Report , , , - , , 1982, , '' Weather Report'', , Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental, , Grammy Award, , , , with Weather Report , , , - , , 1983, , ''

Procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...

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

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...

'', , Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental, , Grammy Award, , , , , , , - , 1987, , "Call Sheet Blues", ,

Best Instrumental Composition The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition (including its previous names) has been awarded since 1960. The award is presented to the composer of an original piece of music (not an adaptation), first released during the eligibility year. I ...

, , Grammy Award, , , , with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Billy Higgins from '' The Other Side of Round Midnight Featuring

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gi ...

'', , , - , rowspan="2" , 1994, , '' A Tribute to Miles'', , Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group , , Grammy Award, , , , , , , - , "Pinocchio ", , Best Jazz Instrumental Solo , , Grammy Award, , , , from '' A Tribute to Miles'' , , , - , rowspan="4", 1996, , Wayne Shorter, , Lifetime achievement , , Miles Davis Award , , , , The Miles Davis Award is given by the

Montreal International Jazz Festival The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal ( en, Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz fes ...

to "honor a great international jazz musician for the entire body of his or her work and influence in regenerating the jazz idiom." , , , - , '' High Life'', , Best Contemporary Jazz Album , , Grammy Award , , , , , , , - , "Children Of The Night", , Best Instrumental Arrangement , , Grammy Award , , , , from '' High Life'', , , - , "Midnight In Carlotta's Hair", ,

, , Grammy Award , , , , from '' High Life'' , , , - , 1997, , "Aung San Suu Kyi", , Best Instrumental Composition , , Grammy Award, , , , from Herbie Hancock's'' 1+1'' , , , - , 1998, , Wayne Shorter, , Lifetime achievement , , NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship, , , , NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships are awarded by

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

to "musicians who have reached an exceptionally high standard of achievement in this very specialized art form." Each fellowship includes a monetary award., , , - , 1999, , "In Walked Wayne", , Best Jazz Instrumental Solo , , Grammy Award , , , , from J.J. Johnson's ''Heroes'' , , , - , rowspan="2", 2002, , ''Footprints Live!'', , Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group , , Grammy Award, , , , , , , - , Wayne Shorter, , Significant contributions to the evolution of jazz , , Beacons in Jazz Award, , , , bestowed by The New School's Jazz & Contemporary Music Program , , , - , rowspan="2", 2003, , "Sacajawea", ,

, , Grammy Award, , , , from '' Alegría'' , , , - , , '' Alegría, , Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group , , Grammy Award , , , , , , , - , 2005, , '' Beyond the Sound Barrier'', , Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group , , Grammy Award, , , , , , , - , rowspan="3", 2006, , Wayne Shorter , , Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year , , Downbeat Critics' Poll, , , , , , , - , rowspan="2", Wayne Shorter Quartet , , Jazz Group of the Year , , Downbeat Critics' Poll, , , , , , , - , Small Ensemble Group of the Year , ,

Jazz Journalists Association The Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) is an international organization of all types of media professionals who document, promulgate, or appreciate jazz. As of 2016, it has approximately 250 members, including professional journalists, students, ind ...

Jazz Award, , , , , , , - , , 2008 , , Wayne Shorter, , Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year , , ''DownBeat'' Critics Poll, , , , , , , - , rowspan="5", 2013, , '' Without A Net'', , Jazz Album of the Year , , ''DownBeat'' Critics Poll, , , , with Wayne Shorter Quartet, , , - , rowspan="2", Wayne Shorter, , Artist of the Year , , ''DownBeat'' Critics Poll, , , , , , , - , Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year , , ''DownBeat'' Critics Poll, , , , , , , - , rowspan="2", Wayne Shorter Quartet, , rowspan="2", Jazz Group , , ''DownBeat'' Critics Poll, , , , , , , - , ''DownBeat'' Readers Poll, , , , , , , - , rowspan="3", 2014, , "Orbits", , Best Jazz Instrumental Solo , , Grammy Award, , , , from '' Without a Net'' , , , - , Wayne Shorter, , Achiever , , Golden Plate Award, , , , bestowed by

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

; presented by Awards Council member Willie L. Brown Jr. , , , - , Wayne Shorter Quartet, , Jazz Group , , ''DownBeat'' Critics Poll, , , , , , , - , , 2015 , , Wayne Shorter, , Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year , , ''DownBeat'' Critics Poll, , , , , , , - , rowspan="2", 2016, , rowspan="2", Wayne Shorter, , rowspan="2" , Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year , , ''DownBeat'' Critics Poll, , , , , , , - , ''DownBeat'' Readers Poll, , , , , , , - , rowspan="3", 2017, , rowspan="3", Wayne Shorter, , Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year , , ''DownBeat'' Critics Poll, , , , , , , - , Exceptional achievement , ,

, , , , , , , - , Musical Arts , , Rolf Schock Prizes, , , , , , , - , rowspan="4", 2019 , , rowspan="2", Wayne Shorter, , Jazz Artist , , rowspan="3", ''DownBeat'' Readers Poll, , , , , , , - , Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year , , , , , , , - , rowspan="2", ''

'', , Jazz Album , , , , , , , - , Best Jazz Instrumental Album , , Grammy Award, , , , , , , - , 2021, , Wayne Shorter , , On-going innovation and impact in the field of jazz , , Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, , , , sponsored by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, , , - , rowspan="2", 2023 , , "Endangered Species" , , Best Improvised Jazz Solo , , rowspan="2", Grammy Award , , , , with Leo Genovese , , rowspan="2", , - , ''Live at the Detroit Jazz Festival'' , , Best Jazz Instrumental Album , , , , with

, Leo Genovese, and

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) *''

'' (

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

, 1964) *'' JuJu'' (Blue Note, 1964) *'' Speak No Evil'' (Blue Note, rec. 1964, rel. 1966) *'' The Soothsayer'' (Blue Note, rec. 1965, rel. 1979) *''

Et Cetera ''Et Cetera'' ( or (proscribed) , ), abbreviated to ''etc.'', ''etc'', ''et cet.'', ''&c.'' or ''&c'' is a Latin expression that is used in English to mean "and other similar things", or "and so forth". Translated literally from Latin, means 'an ...

'' (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) *''

'' (Blue Note, rec. 1967, rel. 1969) *''

'' (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

*''

'' (Columbia, 1985) *''

Phantom Navigator ''Phantom Navigator'' is the seventeenth album by jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter, that was released on Columbia in 1986. Reception The Allmusic review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 1.5 stars stating "On a sheer technical level, Wayne's s ...

'' (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 ''Live at Montreux Jazz Festival'' is a live album by guitarist Carlos Santana and saxophonist Wayne Shorter that was released in 2005. The album is a record of their performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 14, 1988. Background Santan ...

'' (

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

, 2007) with Carlos Santana *'' Without a Net'' (Blue Note, rec. live 2010, rel. 2013) as Wayne Shorter Quartet *''

'' (Blue Note, 2018)

Personal life

Shorter met Teruko (Irene) Nakagami in 1961. They were later 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. Shorter met Ana Maria Patricio in 1966 and they were married in 1970. In 1986, their daughter Iska died of a

grand mal Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commun ...

seizure at age 14. Ana Maria and the couple's niece, Dalila, were both killed on July 17, 1996, on

TWA Flight 800 Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA800) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31pm. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy Internationa ...

, while travelling to visit him in Italy. Dalila was the daughter of Ana Maria Shorter's sister and her husband, jazz vocalist

Jon Lucien Lucien Leopold Harrigan (January 8, 1942 – August 18, 2007), known professionally as Jon Lucien, was a singer from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. His parents were Eric "Rico" Lucien Harrigan and Eloise Turnbull Harrigan of Tortolan famil ...

. In 1999, Shorter married Carolina Dos Santos, a close friend of Ana Maria. The Shorters practice

Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism ( ja, 日蓮仏教), also known as Hokkeshū ( ja, 法華宗, meaning ''Lotus Sect'') is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one o ...

and are longtime members of the Buddhist association

Soka Gakkai International Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is an international Nichiren Buddhist organisation founded in 1975 by Daisaku Ikeda, as an umbrella organization of Soka Gakkai, which declares approximately 12 million adherents in 192 countries and territorie ...

. Composer and producer Rick Shorter (1934-2017) was Shorter's cousin.''Old Times'', Winter / Spring 2012
p. 12, UCC principal's son makes beautiful music, Nick Krewen
/ref>

References

External links

Wayne Shorter biography, discography and album reviews, credits & releases
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

Wayne Shorter discography, album releases & credits
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

Wayne Shorter
at

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

Wayne Shorter discography
at JazzDisco.org
Wayne Shorter biography, discography, album credits & user reviews
at ProgArchives.com
Wayne Shorteralbums to be listened
on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

Wayne Shorter albums to be listened
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

"An Interview with Wayne Shorter"
by Bob Blumenthal at jazz.com
Wayne Shorter Quartet with NEC Philharmonia, Boston
at AllAboutJazz.com
Wayne Shorter's artist file on Montreal Jazz Festival's website

DTM interview

Interview with Wayne Shorter
on The Music Show, ABC Radio (Australia), June 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shorter, Wayne 1933 births Living people Musicians from Newark, New Jersey Newark Arts High School alumni Modal jazz saxophonists Crossover jazz saxophonists Jazz fusion saxophonists Hard bop saxophonists Post-bop saxophonists African-American jazz composers American jazz composers American male jazz composers American Buddhists American jazz soprano saxophonists American jazz tenor saxophonists American male saxophonists African-American saxophonists African-American United States Army personnel The Jazz Messengers members Miles Davis Quintet members Kennedy Center honorees Members of Sōka Gakkai Converts to Buddhism Converts to Sōka Gakkai Blue Note Records artists Vee-Jay Records artists Weather Report members Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development alumni Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners 21st-century saxophonists V.S.O.P. (group) members