Wayne Shorter

Wayne Shorter was born on the twenty-fifth of August 1933 at Newark, New Jersey, the son of Joseph Shorter — a Newark Black welder — and Louise Shorter. He was raised in the principal Newark Black community of the principal post-Great-Migration Newark.

He was instructed in clarinet from age sixteen and tenor saxophone from age seventeen at the principal Arts High School at Newark.

He completed the bachelor's degree in music education at New York University in 1956 — and served in the United States Army from 1956 to 1958 in the post-Korean-War period at the principal Fort Dix and Fort Polk Army-band programmes.

He joined the principal Maynard Ferguson Big Band at New York in 1958 as a junior tenor saxophonist — and joined the principal Jazz Messengers at New York in August 1959 alongside the principal drummer Art Blakey, the principal trumpeter Lee Morgan, the principal pianist Bobby Timmons, and the principal bassist Jymie Merritt. He held the principal Jazz Messengers tenor-saxophone-and-music-director position from 1959 to 1964.

He was hired in September 1964 by the principal Miles Davis Quintet at New York — and held the principal Miles Davis Second Great Quintet tenor-saxophone-and-principal-composer position from September 1964 to March 1970. The principal Davis Quintet of 1964 to 1970 included Miles Davis (trumpet), Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums).

He composed the principal Miles Davis Second Great Quintet signature compositions across the principal 1964 to 1968 Davis-Quintet period — including 'E.S.P.' of 1965, 'Nefertiti' of 1967, 'Pinocchio' of 1967, 'Footprints' of 1966 (originally on his own album Adam's Apple), 'Sanctuary' of 1968, and 'Prince of Darkness' of 1967.

He co-founded with the principal pianist Joe Zawinul the principal Weather Report at New York in November 1970 — at the principal post-1970 Weather Report jazz-rock-and-fusion commercial-and-compositional period. He held the principal Weather Report saxophone-and-co-leadership position from 1970 to 1986.

He recorded the principal Blue Note Records Wayne Shorter long-playing-records across the principal 1964 to 1970 Shorter-as-leader commercial period — including Night Dreamer of April 1964, JuJu of August 1964, Speak No Evil of December 1964, The All Seeing Eye of October 1965, Adam's Apple of February 1966, Schizophrenia of March 1967, and Super Nova of August 1969.

He was awarded the principal 1999 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for the principal Aung San Suu Kyi composition — and the principal 2017 Polar Music Prize.

He died at Los Angeles on the second of March 2023 of natural causes, at eighty-nine.

He is honored here as the principal composer of the Miles Davis Second Great Quintet.