House of Jade is a jazz composition by Wayne Shorter, originally recorded for his 1965 Blue Note album JuJu. The session featured Shorter on tenor saxophone with McCoy Tyner on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. The piece is a lyrical ballad with a tempo that accommodates a walking bass line beneath its gentle groove, blending straight-ahead swing with sophisticated post-bop harmony. Its melody weaves intricate lines supported by chromatic voicings in the A sections, contrasted with a modal bridge where chords are sustained longer, creating a shift in harmonic rhythm that suggests the influence of early Stravinsky and contemporary classical music on Shorter's writing. The composition uses an ABAC form with irregular phrase lengths -- the first A and B sections spanning sixteen bars while the subsequent A and C sections together make thirteen -- producing the kind of asymmetrical structure that distinguishes much of Shorter's work. The tune was composed during a transitional period as Shorter moved from Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers to the Miles Davis Quintet, bridging his earlier hard bop sensibility with the modal and harmonic explorations he would bring to Davis's group. An alternate take was included on the 1996 remastered CD reissue. House of Jade has been covered by artists including Chet Baker and trombonist Steve Davis, and it is recognized as a stunning if somewhat underperformed entry in Shorter's catalog compared to standards like Footprints.
