Wayne Shorter: Five Deep Cuts

It's never a bad time to pull together some deep cuts from saxophone legend Wayne Shorter, who at age 82 keeps producing and producing. Although Shorter started out working with two of the greatest bands in jazz (Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Miles Davis Quintet), his eclectic body of work (Milton Nascimento, Weather Report, Joni Mitchell, Santana, Imani Winds) defies genre. Let's just say everything he touches is of the finest quality – here's five that often fly under the radar.

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Shorter joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1959, later becoming musical director and principal composer before joining Miles Davis' Quintet in 1964. Shorter's "One By One" (Ugetsu, 1963) stands as one of greatest compositions in the Blakey book.

Through the mid-late 60s, many of Shorter's best-known compositions were recorded with Miles Davis' Second Great Quintet. Meanwhile, Shorter signed with Blue Note Records and released 11 albums over six years, including Et Cetera (1965).

Shorter's saxophone playing is integral to the revolutionary sound of In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew. The ballad "Sanctuary" (Bitches Brew, 1969) would be the final composition Shorter recorded with Miles Davis.

In the 70s, Shorter bridged the funky sounds and styles of Weather Report (of which Shorter was a founding member) with genius Brazilian singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento on Native Dancer (Columbia Records, 1974).

Before assembling his longstanding "Footprints Quartet" (Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade), Shorter teamed up with longtime collaborator Herbie Hancock for the introspective duet album 1+1 (Verve, 1997), with composition "Aung San Suu Kyi," named after the renowned Burmese activist.

• Wayne Shorter Quartet returns to SFJAZZ October 15-18, 2015. 
• For more Wayne Shorter deep cuts, follow the Wayne's World Playlist.

#ThankYouJoni Interviews: Brian Blade, Judith Hill, Joe Jackson & More

The SFJAZZ Gala 2015 honored the legacy of Joni Mitchell on Friday, May 8 with the SFJAZZ Lifetime Achievement Award. We grabbed a number of #ThankYouJoni interviews with artists who performed in the All-Star Concert, including co-director Brian Blade, singers Judith Hill and Joe Jackson, as well as Joni collaborators Tom Scott and Mark Isham. Watch them all on YouTube.

Eric Harland's Top 5 of 2014

SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director Eric Harland is hands down one of the most versatile and active drummers on the scene today. In the past year alone, we've caught him with Dave Holland's Prism and Sangam (w/ fellow Resident Artistic Director Zakir Hussain + 2014 NEA Jazz Master inductee Charles Lloyd). He held down the drum seat in the SFJAZZ Collective for eight years (2005-12). And today, Harland's carving his own path—notably dropping beats with The Loop Loft and leading his own project Voyager, who released their debut studio album Vipassana earlier this year.

Before his 2015 SFJAZZ Residency in January—featuring Snarky Puppy, Bay Area stars Taylor Eigsti, Julian Lage and Chris Turner, and even Madden 15 videogamers—Harland took a quick look back on 2014, sharing his Top 5!

Snarky Puppy We Like It Here

Walter Smith III Still Casual

Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band Landmarks

Flying Lotus You're Dead!

James Farm City Folk

Want more lists? Read SFJAZZ's Top 15 of 2014.

Top 15 Albums of 2014 (Part 2)

We're fortunate to experience so much new music year after year at SFJAZZ—2014 being no exception! We've compiled a list (in no particular order) of our Top 15 albums of 2014 that we've also experienced live. We posted the first five already. Below is the second. Third coming tomorrow. Again, the list isn't exhaustive—if you have any favorites from the year, comment below or give us a shout on social!

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Long-time member of the Wayne Shorter Quartet, founding member of the SFJAZZ Collective, and leader of The Fellowship Band, Brian Blade is everywhere! The Fellowship Band doubled up between Monterey Jazz Festival and SFJAZZ back in September, winning over any audience member not already hip to the project with beautiful new music off Landmarks (Blue Note), as well as pianist-cowriter Jon Cowherd's Mercy (Blue Note, Artist Share). 

Who better to fill Brian Blade's seat in the SFJAZZ Collective than drummer Eric Harland? Since leaving the Collective in 2012 to focus on his own projects, Harland has established himself as a go-to collaborator, and a leading voice on all things drum. He brings Voyager to SFJAZZ in January for his first residency as a 2014-15 SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director. Although we haven't experienced the group live yet, we can't get enough of Vipassana (GSI Records), and can't wait for the live debut!

Melissa Aldana blew up in 2014, a year after winning the 2013 Thelonious Monk Competition (for good reason!). Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio (Concord Music Group) is the young Chilean sax star's first definitive statement as an artist. The "strolling" (piano-less) trio tore it up in the Joe Henderson Lab back in September (sharing the weekend w/ Brian Blade).

Marc Ribot, Henry Grimes, and Chad Taylor pay tribute to the great Albert Ayler and John Coltrane. The trio's SFJAZZ performance back in May was pretty "out" (in a righteous way), and they definitely aren't holding back on the live recording, at one of the world's greatest jazz clubs. From the music itself, to the heavy dynamics within the trio, Live At The Village Vanguard (Pi Recordings) carries some serious weight.

Triveni also hasn't yet performed at SFJAZZ, but we're fortunate to hear trumpeter Avishai Cohen regularly with the SFJAZZ Collective. Dark Nights is something special. Triveni gets an eclectic, layered sound for a trio (plus special guests, including sister Anat Cohen). On Dark Nights (Anzic Records), Cohen takes his innovative use of electronics and effects up a notch, a sound that played a vital role in the Collective's award-winning Wonder (2012). 

Listen: SFJAZZ 2014-15 Season Playlist!

With so much head-bobbing, swinging, boundary-breaking, beautiful music coming through the SFJAZZ Center in the upcoming 2014-15 Season, here's our "highlights" playlist, for your enjoyment—the soundtrack to our biggest Season yet!

Stream recordings from all 2014-15 Season artists at sfjazz.org!