
Wayne Shorter and the Art of Now Berklee faculty share their favorite Shorter tracks as a tribute to the legendary saxophonist and composer, who passed away earlier this month.
By
Bryan Parys
March 17, 2023
The Wayne Shorter Quartet, which formed in 2000, was the late saxophone legends longest running permanent band. From left: Brian Blade (drums), Danilo P rez (piano), Wayne Shorter (saxophone), John Patitucci (bass).
Image by Erica Gannett
Debates about the evolution of jazz-what jazz is now, compared to what it was, back then-are endless. These discussions can sometimes make it sound as if the era of Miles Davis is as far away in history as Mozart-even though Davis was still winning Grammys into the 1990s. Any kind of then-versus-now argument breaks down when we turn to the work of saxophonist Wayne Shorter '99H.
Shorter, who passed away earlier this month at age 89, was always now, even back then. He was a member of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Miles Davis's second great quintet, and Weather Report, groups that are still required listening in the history of jazz. But even that list leaves out his 11-album run of solo recordings for Blue Note Records (recorded from 1964 to 1970) and only takes you through the first half of his career. His first permanent quartet as a leader didn't even form until 2000, and it became the longest-running band of his career, and for that matter, one of the longest in jazz.
Terri Lyne Carrington (left) with Wayne Shorter in August 2022.
Image by Kelly Davidson
These facts don't even scratch the surface in terms of his collaborators, which ranged from Horace Silver to Joni Mitchell to architect Frank Gehry, who designed the sets for Iphigenia, an operatic composition that debuted in 2021.
But the music-that's where the facts fade and the history gets made. A tireless innovator, Shorter simply never stopped growing. Danilo P rez, artistic director of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute and pianist for the Wayne Shorter Quartet, says, Wayne Shorter is a genius and a world treasure. Several generations of artists have absorbed his musical language, giving birth to a new sound color.
Getting to the heart of Shorter's timelessness, P rez went on to say, His improvisational and compositional approach has no attachments to beginnings or endings; it resembles change, search, and research. He dedicated his art to creating music that celebrates life, and the awareness of the power of individuality within collectivity embodies his legacy.
And while that legacy can't be summed up in a few songs, P rez, along with fellow Berklee colleagues and Shorter collaborators Terri Lyne Carrington and John Patitucci, took the time to select a few of their favorite tracks from the saxophonist's canon, which you can listen to below.
Track Notes
Infant Eyes, Speak No Evil, Wayne Shorter. Selected by Danilo P rez.
Pegasus, EMANON, the Wayne Shorter Quartet with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Selected by John Patitucci.
Elegant People, Black Market, Weather Report. Selected by Terri Lyne Carrington.
She Moves Through the Fair, Alegr a, the Wayne Shorter Quartet. Selected by John Patitucci.
Encontros e Despedidas (Live), Live at the Detroit Jazz Festival, Wayne Shorter with Terri Lyne Carrington, esperanza spalding, Leo Genevese. Selected by Terri Lyne Carrington.
Prometheus Unbound, EMANON, the Wayne Shorter Quartet with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Selected by Danilo P rez.
Plaza Real, Procession, Weather Report. Selected by Terri Lyne Carrington.
Adventures Aboard the Golden Mean, Beyond the Sound Barrier, the Wayne Shorter Quartet. Selected by Danilo P rez.
Angola, Alegr a, the Wayne Shorter Quartet. Selected by John Patitucci.
Endangered Species (Live), Live at the Detroit Jazz Festival, Wayne Shorter with Terri Lyne Carrington, esperanza spalding, Leo Genevese. Selected by Terri Lyne Carrington.
Related Categories
News
Playlists
Most Popular
The Berklee Indian Ensemble
Image by Holy Smoke Photography
Berklee Indian Ensemble Presents BIE Live: The Shuruaat Tour The 15-city U.S. tour will kick off on March 10 at the Berklee Performance Center.
Latest
Loretta J. Ross
Image by Dave Green
A Remedy for Cancel Culture MacArthur Fellow Loretta J. Ross spoke about toxic internet culture and the virtues of calling in instead of calling out at a recent campus lecture.
Groton Hill Music Centers main concert hall combines elegant and thoughtful architecture with leading-edge acoustic design-surrounded by 110 acres of rustic landscape on a former apple orchard in Groton, Massachusetts.
Robert Benson Photography
Embrace Spring with Boston Conservatory Orchestra at Groton Hill Music Center On April 8, the orchestra celebrates the changing seasons at an exciting new concert venue.
Bernice Chan B.M. '22 will speak on a panel at Career Jam on March 31.
Bernice Chan on How Berklee Helped Jumpstart Her Career as a Publicist A panelist at Career Jam 2023, the recent alum discusses landing her current position and how shes adjusted to life after graduation.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
25/11/2025
Tracy Bonareri Onchoke, an investigative journalist from Kenya is the winner of the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2025.
The 26-year-old-sele...
25/11/2025
SVG All-Stars: Blayke Scheer, Senior Director, Creative Content, YES NetworkThe Indiana alum has turned storytelling into an artform for more than two decadesBy...
25/11/2025
Op-Ed: With FCC's C-Band Auction on the Horizon, Broadcasters Need Proven, C...
25/11/2025
Analysis: Is Baller League really the future of sport? By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 - 10:10
Print This Story
With KSI on...
25/11/2025
Platinum Whitepaper: The Growth of Broadcast in the World of Major Large Scale E...
25/11/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: SVG Women's Sports WorkshopBy Samantha Gabay
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 - 10:27 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlig...
25/11/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: CacheFly's Matt Levine on the Evolving Role of th...
25/11/2025
Peacock's EA SPORTS Madden NFL Cast Levels Up on Thanksgiving With SkyCam as...
25/11/2025
Mathias Broe attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Sauna at Library Center Theatre. (Photo by Michael Hurcomb/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Fes...
25/11/2025
The best playlists, podcasts, and audiobooks bring a little extra magic to your daily routine. With new features and offerings, Spotify Premium delivers even mo...
25/11/2025
Comprehensive new research confirms what we already knew: Australian music fans love the quality, quantity, and access they have to new and local music on strea...
25/11/2025
Applicable Products
Objectives The purpose of this application note is to give a brief background on 5G (NR) wireless communication an explain the reason a SN...
25/11/2025
Nielsen will now measure both Lionsgate's FAST channel MovieSphere and Movie...
25/11/2025
FREMONT, Calif. Blackmagic Design said the Associated Press has completed the transition of its global video-editing platform to DaVinci Resolve Studio....
25/11/2025
Berklees Inaugural Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole Scholarship Awarded to Paris P...
25/11/2025
NEW YORK NFL and college football coverage, the MLB postseason and the new fall broadcast-TV season contributed to major gains for traditional media companies a...
25/11/2025
SAUGERTIES, N.Y. Tower Products, a manufacturer and distributor of pro video and audio equipment here, said President and CEO Jim Veltrie will retire from the c...
25/11/2025
Following last week's disclosure that it had acquired a 8.2% stake in E.W. Scripps, Sinclair has filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission pr...
25/11/2025
25 Nov 2025
VEON's QazCode and MeetKai Sign Agreement to Power National LLM...
25/11/2025
UKTV has acquired a high-profile slate of US dramas from Paramount Global Conten...
25/11/2025
A symphony of genius, rivalry and vengeance, boldly reimagined from Peter Shaffe...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of Cinematography World
Read the article
FilmLight has finalised the prestigious 2025 FilmLight Colour Awards jury and welcomed award-winning...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of Prensario
Read the article
La serie fue dirigida por Juli n de Tavira, Rodrigo Santos, y David Leche Ruiz, con direcci n de fotograf a a...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter
Read the article
The awards, celebr...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of Televisual
Read the article
Already live in Los Angeles and rolling out in New York and London, Nara gives producers, colourists, conform ...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of Digital Media World
Read the article
ARTONE post-house in Tokyo is the first facility in Japan to integrate Baselight M, choosing its prec...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter
Read the article
Once hidden in post-production suites, the artists who make movies and TV shows look the way they ...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of Deadline
Read the article
The Brutalist' & Bad Bunny's Nuevayol' Music Video Among 2025 FilmLight Colour Award Winners - Cam...
25/11/2025
Black Forest Labs - the frontier AI research lab developing visual generative AI models - today released the FLUX.2 family of state-of-the-art image generation ...
24/11/2025
HBO's The Shuffle' Reveals Longtime Connection of Sports and Entertainm...
24/11/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Hiroshi Kiriyama, Sony Broadcast (and Ind...
24/11/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: FIFA, NBC Olympics, Fox Sports, CBS Sports, Netflix, NF...
24/11/2025
Case Study: YES Network Streamlines Broadcast Operations with Beam DynamicsBy SVG Staff
Monday, November 24, 2025 - 11:18 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
...
24/11/2025
Platinum White Paper: More of Everything: How Broadcasters are Changing Their Ap...
24/11/2025
Versant Media USA Sports President Matt Hong on How Versant Has Best of Both Wor...
24/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: NABA Director-General Rebecca Hanson on How FCC's C-Band Aucti...
24/11/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Bolin Technology's Sapan Doshi on the Proliferati...
24/11/2025
Robyn made her long-awaited return to the stage this week, as Spotify and Acne Studios brought friends and top fans together for an unforgettable evening at the...
24/11/2025
After more than two years of redevelopment, FC Barcelona returned to its spiritual home on November 22, hosting Athletic Club in the first La Liga match at the ...
24/11/2025
The L3Harris next-generation imager for NOAA's GeoXO satellite system will c...
24/11/2025
Mumbai - November 24, 2025 - In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in coll...
24/11/2025
Disney Achieves Largest Monthly Share Increase, Followed by FOX and Paramount, w...
24/11/2025
ROCHESTER, N.Y. Sinclair said it has elevated Sean LaRose, director of sales at WUHF and partner station WHAM here, to vice president and general manager, effec...
24/11/2025
Back to All News
Chaos and Connection: Meet the Unfiltered Cast of Reality Dati...