Biography

Biography

Wayne Shorter was born on August 25th, 1933 in Newark, New Jersey. His musical introduction came through the clarinet at the age of 16. Shorter attended Arts High School and later graduated from New York University with a major in music education in 1956. It was while in New York that Shorter started to play the saxophone and gained exposure to some of Jazz's most influential artists. After a two year interruption in the military, Shorter kickstarted his professional career in 1958 with a band led by pianist Horace Silver. The band showcased Shorter's talents and led to his invitation to join the Maynard Ferguson band and later Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. After 4 years with Blakey, the Vee-Jay label endorsed Shorter as one of their lead artists and he released his first three solo albums (Second Genesis, Blues A La Carte, and Wayning Moments). In the 1960s, he continued to win attention from audiences and recorded another 9 albums with Blue Notes label (check album information links). In 1964, Miles Davis invited Wayne to play with his quintet composed of Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. The band was successful in shaping the direction of jazz music during a difficult social time. In 1970, Shorter started his own band, the Weather Report with Joe Zawinul and Miroslav Vitous. This band helped innovate jazz by integrating a rock, classical and jazz forms into a hybrid that would later be called fusion. During the Weather Report years, Shorter won the first of three career grammies. Shorter's influence has continued through the present day. Last year, at the age of 69, he toured the Wayne Shorter Quartet and showcased his first acoustic album, Footprints Live.

Wayne Shorter's contributions to the Jazz world have spanned his entire 45-year career. For 15 years from 1969 onward he won Downbeat poll for soprano saxophone, and in 1985 The New York Times referred to