Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. 1964 was a momentous year in the musical life of Wayne Shorter. At the start of the year the saxophonist was still a member of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, appearing on classic Blue Note albums like Free for All and Indestructible. Shorter made his own auspicious label debut that spring with Night Dreamer and that summer he joined the Miles Davis Quintet cementing a line-up that would become one of the seminal bands in jazz history. When he returned to the studio for Blue Note in August it was in the company of three musicians with strong ties to John Coltrane: pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Elvin Jones. The resulting album JuJu is a marvel in Shorter's formidable discography which presents six of his evocative original compositions including the churning title track, the mesmerizing "House of Jade," and the brightly swinging "Yes Or No."

After Bess's departure, what becomes of Porgy? Having fallen in love with Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, the brilliant pianist and arranger Vyacheslav Gryaznov decided to answer this question by taking up the opera's themes. With Rhapsody in Black, a concerto for piano and orchestra, he picks up the story where the opera leaves off: Bess in New York, Porgy following in her footsteps. Neither a pastiche nor a simple arrangement, Rhapsody in Black reclaims Gershwin's legacy by blending electrifying improvisations, big-band sonorities, and poetic ballads. With this New York fresco, complemented by Rhapsody in Blue, Gryaznov creates an extraordinarily vibrant diptych, superbly brought to life by the Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien and Wayne Marshall, a leading specialist and outstanding interpreter of Gershwin.

PIANO CONCERTO #3: THE ROMANTIC

Wild Horses/Rock Steady (Cti Records 40T)

Track Listing
1. How Do You Keep the Music Playing?
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. Just the Way You Are
4. Through the Fire
5. What's New?
6. That's What Friends Are For
7. You've Got a Friend
8. With Every Breath I Take
9. Just the Two of Us
10. You Are So Beautiful
11. Saving All My Love for You

Personnel: John Basile, Wayne Krantz (guitar); Dick Oatts (flute, saxophone); Randy Brecker (trumpet, flugelhorn); Fred Hersch (piano, synthesizer); David Finck (electric bass); Dave Ratajczak (drums); Jim Saporito (percussion).

Liner Note Author: Mort Goode.

Recording information: Skyline Studios, New York, NY.

Arrangers: Fred Hersch; Brad Dechter; Byron Olson.

Double vinyl LP pressing. Wayne Shorter is arguably the greatest living jazz composer and a key participant in some of the most iconic jazz recordings of all time. Congratulations to Terri Lyne Carrington, who won the GRAMMY Award for Best Instrumental Jazz Album for her groundbreaking project, new STANDARDS Vol. 1. And congratulations to Wayne Shorter & Leo Genovese, who won Best Improvised Jazz Solo for "Endangered Species," from the Carrington-produced Live At The Detroit Jazz Festival, by the quartet of Shorter, Carrington, Genovese and esperanza spalding. Carrington, who produced and performed on both projects, entered the GRAMMY Awards with four nominations. New STANDARDS Vol. 1 and Live At The Detroit Jazz Festival, released on Candid Records, were each nominated in both the Best Jazz Instrumental Album and Best Improvised Jazz Solo category. It's been a tremendous year for Carrington, who is an NEA Jazz Master, virtuoso jazz drummer, composer, interdisciplinary artist, activist, educator, 7-time GRAMMY nominee, and now a 4-time winner. Carrington was also honored by the Recording Academy's Producers and Engineers Wing at their annual event.

Originally recorded in 1978 guitarist Chuck Wayne is joined by vibist Warren Chiasson, bassist Jay Leonhart and drummer Ronnie Bedford. 10 tracks including two alternate takes of The Summer Knows and When The Lights Are Low.

Double vinyl LP pressing. 2024 release. Celebration, Volume 1 is the first in a series of archival releases that the legendary saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter curated before he passed away in 2023. This thrilling 2014 live recording captured Shorter's acclaimed quartet with pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade at the Stockholm Jazz Festival in Sweden. The intrepid set includes some of the band's favorite vehicles of exploration including "Zero Gravity," "Smilin' Through," "Orbits," "Lotus," and "She Moves Through The Fair."

Wayne Shorter -"Footprints Live (Verve By Request Series)" / This live album (released on vinyl for the first time) is made up of 3 European dates in 2001 and introduced Shorter's "Footprint Quartet" - pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade. All are in top form, especially on challenging reimaginations of the title track and "Masquelero," both from his time with the 1960's Miles Davis Quintet. Verve By Request Series features transfers from the analog tapes remastered on 180-gram vinyl.

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing housed deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket. Wayne Shorter's 1967 album Schizophrenia found the legendary saxophonist at the pinnacle of post-bop with a sextet of like-minded musical explorers including James Spaulding, Curtis Fuller, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Joe Chambers performing Shorter originals like "Tom Thumb," "Go," and "Miyako." This stereo Blue Note Tone Poet Series was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog tapes.

Although he is originally from Great Britain, he has spent most of his life in the northeastern part of the United States. Born in London on February 23, 1975, Escoffery was only 11 when he left the U.K. with his mother and moved to New Haven, CT in 1986. That year, he joined the New Haven Trinity Boys Choir, and it was also in 1986 that he began studying the tenor sax with saxophone/clarinetist Malcolm Dickinson. Escoffery was still in his teens when he met the famous alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, who Escoffery has described as a mentor and a major inspiration in his life; Escoffery studied with McLean extensively at the Hartt School, a performing arts school in West Hartford. After that, he attended the New England Conservatory in Boston and graduated from that institution with a Masters in 1999 before moving to New York City the following year at the age of 25.