Wayne Shorter’s latest album: Without A Net
Washington, DC – American saxophone legend Wayne Shorter is touring Europe to promote his new album, Without A Net. While in Europe, the multi-Grammy winner performed for a few days ago at the EFG London jazz festival. His European tour included performances with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Orchestra for his upcoming new album next year.
in November, Shorter and his quartet toured the United States and performed with several orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and the Washington Symphony Orchestra.
“We are going to do more with Chamber orchestras,” Shorter tells VOA’s Jazz Beat. Those “different compositions” will come out on another album as soon as they finish mixing it. “We already recorded a chamber orchestral stuff that I wrote with the Orpheus Chamber orchestra in New York City. That album is coming out with a science fiction graphic-novel.”
I talked with Shorter about his new album. The release coincided this October with a gala at the Kennedy Center celebrating his 80th birthday.
For more than 65 years, the iconic saxophonist has been on what he describes as “a kind of fantasy journey in the music.” Shorter was part of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the early 1960s. He came to fame playing with Miles Davis, and later co-founded the band Weather Report with pianist Joe Zawinul.
From left, Wayne Shorter, Joni Mitchell and Sting listen to a program on stage during an all-star tribute concert for Herbie Hancock, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)
“In the early 70s, I had left Miles Davis and Joe Zawinul left the Cannonball Adderley group. We were on the telephone talking to each other about getting our own band,” Shorter said. “Why don’t we get a band together? So that’s what we did. And that’s how we started Weather Report.”
Earlier this year, Shorter received the UNESCO Medal of the Five Continents award for his lifetime contribution to jazz.
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