''Shorter by Two'', subtitled ''The Music of Wayne Shorter Played on Two Pianos '', is an album by pianists

Kirk Lightsey Kirkland "Kirk" Lightsey (born February 15, 1937, Detroit, Michigan) is an American jazz pianist. Biography Lightsey had piano instruction from the age of five and studied piano and clarinet through high school. After service in the Army, Lights ...

and

Harold Danko Harold Danko (born June 13, 1947 in Ohio) is an American jazz pianist. Danko attended Youngstown State University. Among his credits are work in the big bands of Woody Herman and Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, as well as smaller ensembles with Gerry Mul ...

, featuring compositions by

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz 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. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Dav ...

, that was recorded in 1983 and released by the Sunnyside label.Sunnyside Records: album details
accessed March 7, 2019 The 1989 CD reissue included an additional track.

Reception

The

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 dat ...

review states "This CD is an off-the-wall project that was a big success. Kirk Lightsey and Harold Danko perform duo piano versions of 11 Wayne Shorter compositions ... bringing out unexpected beauty during their very different interpretations of the complex and often haunting material. Highly recommended". In

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of grow ...

, Michael J. West wrote "Even the conscientious jazz collector might have missed ''Shorter by Two'' upon its original 1984 release, performed as it was by Kirk Lightsey and Harold Danko, two of the most underrated pianists in jazz then and now. But 33 years later, Wayne Shorter having assumed elder statesmanship and acclaim as jazz’s greatest living composer, the music therein has greater prestige even as its players continue to get shortchanged".West, M. J
JazzTimes Review
accessed March 7, 2019

Track listing

All compositions by Wayne Shorter # "Ana Maria" – 9:26 # "Delores" – 4:23 # "Dance Cadaverous" – 6:51 # "Pinocchio" – 2:54 # "Marie Antoinette" – 4:06 Bonus track on CD reissue # "Armageddon" – 3:35 # "Lester Left Town" – 3:01 # "Witch Hunt" – 5:46 # "Iris" – 6:35 # "El Gaucho" – 4:11 # "Nefertiti" – 3:57

Personnel

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

References

{{Authority control Kirk Lightsey albums Harold Danko albums 1984 albums Sunnyside Records albums