"Adam's Apple" is the title track of Wayne Shorter's 1966 Blue Note album, a slinky, groove-based composition that applies a boogaloo feel to a 24-bar blues form in A-flat. Shorter's four-chorus tenor saxophone solo at 174 BPM rides the funky rhythm with characteristic cool, his lines weaving between bluesy simplicity and harmonic sophistication. Herbie Hancock follows with two choruses of piano, his comping and solo work reflecting the same rhythmic sensibility that made him an ideal accompanist for both Shorter and Miles Davis. The boogaloo feel connects the recording to the soul-jazz movement of the mid-1960s while Shorter's compositional sophistication elevates it beyond genre conventions. The session features Hancock, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Joe Chambers, a lineup that combines members of the Miles Davis and John Coltrane circles. The album was recorded in February 1966, during Shorter's tenure as saxophonist and principal composer in Davis's Second Great Quintet, and the compositions reflect the same adventurous spirit that characterized that band's studio output. The 24-bar blues form doubles the conventional 12-bar structure, giving soloists more harmonic space to develop ideas.
