Miles. Wayne Shorter. Herbie Hancock. Ron Carter. Tony Williams*.

This is the supergroup Wayne Shorter joined when he left Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. He was the last man to join Miles’ Second Great Quintet. Herbie later remarked, “The master writer to me, in that group, was Wayne Shorter. He still is a master. Wayne was one of the few people who brought music to Miles that didn't get changed.”

Wayne wrote & first recorded “Footprints” for his own album, Adam’s Apple, with Herbie on the keys, Reggie Workman on bass, and Joe Chambers on the kit. However, that album wasn’t released until eight months after Miles Smiles, where it closed out Side 1.

* Tony Williams is 21 here, and he’d been playing with Miles for four years already. Miles was twice his age. Neither made it to the turn of the century; Miles’ hard living caught up with him in 1991 at age 65, while Tony Williams was claimed by a heart attack in 1997; he was just 51. One hopes we are blessed to enjoy Ron Carter & Herbie Hancock a fair bit longer.

(2 votes, average: 9.00 out of 10)
You must be a WGOM Citizen to rate WGOM Videos.

Loading...