The composer and saxophonist died on March 2, at the age of 89. From the 1950s to the present day, he has been one of the essential links in the history of jazz, of which he was perhaps the last adventurer.
To the point of becoming the conductor of the Messengers, before attempting a formidable adventure with the quintet of Miles Davis (1964-68), with whom he will assume the same role. It is even he who will introduce Coltrane to the trumpeter, before opening a new chapter, always at the forefront of the time, by creating the incredible group Weather Report with keyboardist Joe Zawinul. A group that will be his laboratory for fifteen years, experimenting in all directions (funk grooves, rnb, borrowing from traditional music, synthetic madness, collective improvisation) crossing the sax with immense talents such as the group’s bassist Jaco Pastorius, the percussionist Mino Cinelu and so many others…
Shorter also pursues his personal projects, and records, among a slew of discs still just as free, the magnificent album “Native Dancer” (1975) with the Brazilian composer, singer and guitarist Milton Nascimento who notably signs the famous title “Ponta de Areia “. When Weather Report broke up in 1986, the saxophonist continued on his path punctuated with awards – like this Grammy ten years later won for his duet album with Herbie Hancock. And although life imposes terrible trials on him (he loses his daughter, then his wife dies in an attack), he opens a new chapter in his life at the dawn of the 2000s, by forming a new quartet – acoustic – with Brian Blade (drums), Danilo Perez (piano), and John Patitucci on bass. Until the end, or almost, he will have composed, returning following 15 years of absence in the studio for a concept album, Emanon (2018), which accompanies a science fiction graphic novel, like a return to one of his first loves, comics (he had drawn one in his early youth). A way of closing the loop, and taking part in the eternal renewal.
He who in the evening of his life meditated on our very human ability to scuttle humanity, and on our place in the universe, confided to Jacques Denis (in the newspaper Liberation): ” The real mission, in my view, is what Mark Twain described as: “The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why. ». Something to take a step back from death, which has just won.
