Rest In Peace – Wayne Shorter

RIP to Wayne Shorter who passed away on Thursday . One of the eternal greats of jazz who was a central force in three of the 20th Century’s most important jazz groups: Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Miles Davis’ second great quintet in the late 60’s (leading into Davis’ electric period) and the globally revered Weather Report which Shorter co-founded alongside pianist Joe Zawinul in 1970. A man who redrew the boundaries of modern music and won 11 Grammy’s in so doing, his name is synonymous with high quality song writing and an ever evolving musical creativity which kept him at the vanguard of his instrument for well over half a century. His compositions will always have a dear place in my heart, especially those from the albums Adam’s Apple and Speak No Evil where he was at the peak of his hard-bop/Blue Note powers while writing songs for Miles Davis’ quintet alongside Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. An irrepressible giant of modern music. Rest in peace, Wayne.