Tag Archives: “Wayne Shorter”

Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity

There’s a new documentary project underway about Wayne titled WAYNE SHORTER: ZERO GRAVITY. According to project’s website, “ZERO GRAVITY is an intimate portrait of an artist who has influenced music for over six generations. Wayne Shorter continues to break through the imposed limitations of jazz with even more innovative compositions and recordings than he has achieved in the last 50 years. The inception of ZERO GRAVITY began in 2006 and principal photography is now in progress. Join us in celebrating Wayne Shorter’s life and musical legacy by pledging to help us complete this film by 2014.”

The production team is using crowdsourcing to raise funding. You can contribute to the project at their PledgeMusic site.

In other news, the Jazz Journalist Association voted Wayne a three-time winner in the 17th annual JJA Jazz Awards voting in the categories of Lifetime Achievement in Jazz, Small Ensemble of the Year, and Soprano Saxophonist of the Year.

“Jazz shouldn’t have any mandates”

Wayne Shorter, speaking to NPR in February:

Jazz shouldn’t have any mandates. Jazz is not supposed to be something that’s required to sound like jazz. For me, the word ‘jazz’ means, ‘I dare you.’ The effort to break out of something is worth more than getting an A in syncopation. This music, it’s dealing with the unexpected. No one really knows how to deal with the unexpected. How do you rehearse the unknown?

Mysterious Travellers

Wayne on the title Mysterious Traveller:

Mysterious Traveller meant that comet Kohoutek [the overhyped celestial event of 1973/74], which was a mysterious visitor–so we had that cover of a comet over Madagascar. It was a mystery about where was it born, and that means our life too, here we are: all mysterious travelers. The title also came from a radio show that came on every Friday when I was growing up: this guy got on a train and told you a story.”

JazzTimes, June 2002