Adams Apple (180gm analogue BN classic series)

£29.99

Format: LP, Vinyl

In stock

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Format: LP, Vinyl
Grade: New (About gradings)
Number of discs: 1
SKU: 56888
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Wayne Shorter – Adams Apple

 

Adams Apple is the tenth album in the solo cannon of saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Recorded in 1966 and released in 1967, the set is a combination of post and hard bop styles of playing, featuring an experienced quartet of Herbie Hancock on Keys, Reginald Workman on bass, Joe Chambers on drums and Shorter on reeds. The album was recorded while Shorter was a prominent member of Miles Davis’ second great quintet—alongside Hancock, an invaluable member of the lineup whose calculated and skilful playing on this date are crucially important factors behind its sound.

 

Shorter was writing a great deal of high quality material for Miles During this period, experiences that would surely deepen his musical palette and presage the quality of his own compositions. Adam’s Apple comes off the back of one of his finest outings on Blue Note—and arguably one of the finest albums in the hard-bop genre—Speak No Evil. It showcases Shorter’s talismanic abilities, backed up in full by the sheer quality of the enlisted personell. It is an album that condensed the excellence of Shorter’s contemporary musical output, while sitting in a comfortable and easily approachable medium.

 

The set features the first recorded version of the original composition Footprints, subsequently popularised by Miles Davis on the 1967 recording Miles Smiles. The original version, featured on this album, is resplendent, characterised by its cool changes and its effortless, invigorating smoothness. Hancock’s initial phrasing and Shorter’s vamp culminate to great effect: the interplay between both musicians is mercurial, a clear demonstration of their musical symbiosis—presumably cultivated through their joint stints under Miles. The seemingly intrinsic musical understanding that they share with each other is nothing short of telekinetic, Hancock gently scrambling on his keys to piece together the right notes to sit underneath Shorter’s playing, while Shorter responds to his keysman with the most harmonious, thoughtful comping. Chambers is a reliable operator, as is Workman, a rhythm section that hold down the fort without too much meandering or overly complex passages, allowing Hancock and Shorter requisite breathing space. Footprints is truly a timeless classic and one of the definitive standards to have come from the Blue Note catalogue, since covered by countless artists.

 

El Gaucho is another album highlight, a track where the pulse of Samba drumming and Latin American influence are levelled up by Chambers—certainly a musical area of intrigue for the drummer which he would expand upon throughout his career. The track induces sensations of flux, possessing a natural danceability and Brazilian bossa register, while Shorter directs the melody through his tenor. Backed up by the inveterate skills of Hancock, whose soloing has a certain liquidity to it, the piece is light-footed and tonally sophisticated, showcasing masterful rhythmical dexterity and pensive melodic phrasing.

 

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