Wayne Shorter
Tenor Sax Solo on
Speak No Evil

About

Wayne Shorter leads off the solos with two choruses on tenor sax, the first of three improvisations on the recording. Taken at a medium-up swing tempo of 142 BPM over the 50-bar AABA in C, the improvisation unfolds with comfortable, easygoing swing. Shorter delivers two commanding choruses on tenor saxophone, his angular, economical phrasing revealing the compositional thinking that would later make him one of jazz's most important composers. Recorded for the album Speak No Evil in 1964, the performance captures Wayne Shorter at 30 to 31 years old. The composition itself, with its moody theme and sophisticated chord movement, exemplifies the aesthetic Shorter was developing during his tenure with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and Miles Davis's Second Great Quintet.

Wayne Shorter was 30 to 31 years old at the time.