Wayne Shorter – Introducing Wayne Shorter

Introducing the writer as well as the player

Wayne Shorter’s debut presents more than a new tenor saxophonist. Five of its six selections are his own compositions. Recorded in New York on 9 and 10 November 1959 and released by Vee-Jay in 1960, Introducing Wayne Shorter finds the 26-year-old musician shortly after he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.

“Blues a la Carte”, “Harry’s Last Stand”, “Down in the Depths”, “Pug Nose” and “Black Diamond” form that early set of originals. “Mack the Knife” is the only outside composition. From the outset, the programme gives Shorter’s writing a central place. It serves as both an introduction to an instrumental voice and a collection of pieces created for others to play with him.

A connection to Miles before joining Miles

Wynton Kelly plays piano, Paul Chambers bass and Jimmy Cobb drums: the rhythm section associated with Miles Davis at the time. Shorter would not join Davis’ own band until 1964. Keeping the dates separate makes the connection more interesting, placing this session within its own circumstances rather than reading it solely through the later quintet.

Lee Morgan adds trumpet, bringing a fellow musician from Blakey’s group into the line-up. Sid McCoy produced the recording. These credits reveal how a first album can bring together players with established working relationships while giving a new leader room to introduce his own material.

Start with the themes

Before concentrating on individual solos, follow the themes. How do tenor and trumpet relate to one another? What kind of figure introduces each composition, and how does it return after the improvised passages? With five originals, the album gives you several opportunities to explore Shorter’s early writing rather than treating every track as another solo vehicle.

“Mack the Knife” supplies a familiar reference point alongside those originals, carrying music associated with Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht into the quintet’s repertoire. The original Vee-Jay release also belongs to the history of the label founded by Vivian Carter and James Bracken. Its inclusion in the renewed Original Jazz Classics Series opens a route into that catalogue within the wider reissue programme.

The Craft OJC pressing

This 180-gram LP plays at 33⅓ RPM and is pressed at RTI. Craft specifies all-analogue mastering from the original tapes at Cohearent Audio, with Kevin Gray identified in the corresponding series announcement. Packaging is a Stoughton tip-on jacket with obi. The shop’s number ACONC 72226 and Craft’s CR00858 refer here to the same OJC edition, using the distributor’s and publisher’s respective numbering systems.

Michael 45 keeps the record in Germany and dispatches it from Hilden, so customers need not organise a personal US import or wait for customs clearance.

Musicians

Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.