{"id":10388,"date":"2018-10-14T17:47:32","date_gmt":"2018-10-15T00:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=10388"},"modified":"2018-10-14T17:47:32","modified_gmt":"2018-10-15T00:47:32","slug":"man-vs-computer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2018\/10\/man-vs-computer\/","title":{"rendered":"Man Vs. Computer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The latest problem with the Rifftides<\/em> computer does not involve explosions, but it is serious enough to interfere with posting. The technical staff is working on a solution. Please bear with them. In the meantime, let’s dive into the archive for something to tide us over. This choice seems appropriate because of timing. When the computer virus, flu, cancer, plague\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhatever it is\u00e2\u20ac\u201dstruck, I was listening and taking notes in preparation for a post about Wayne Shorter’s new three-CD release. This piece from five years ago brought to mind one of his quartet’s earlier triumphs.<\/p>\n

From Rifftides<\/em>, August 23, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wayne Shorter<\/strong>, Without A Net<\/em><\/a> (Blue Note)<\/p>\n

\"shorter<\/a>About seven minutes into Shorter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first soprano saxophone solo on the monumental \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pegasus,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d someone in the band says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh, my God!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The interjection stands as reaction not only to that track by Shorter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quartet and a polished chamber group but also to his quartet throughout the album. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pegasus,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d commissioned by the Imani Winds, is the piece de resistance<\/em> of this collection of performances recorded in concert on a 2011 tour. Weaving together the quartet improvising and the wind ensemble reading his demanding score, Shorter achieves intense energy and a successful synthesis of two genres that is rare enough to be noteworthy. It is the centerpiece of the album, but he and the rhythm section are stunning in the eight tracks without the Imani.<\/p>\n

The abiding impression is that the Shorter quartet has found a degree of consistent unity few working bands achieve even occasionally. In their decade or so together, Shorter, pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade have reached the blessed state reflected in the title of one of the\"Wayne<\/a> CD\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tunes, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153S.S. Golden Mean.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d However, they depart from the classic description of the golden mean as a happy medium, a state of balance. They allow extremes, surprises, explosions of the unexpected. The four seem wide open to anything, eager to capitalize on the next chance one of them takes. The ability to land on their feet is better insurance than a net. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Zero Gravity to the 10th Power\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153(The Notes) Unidentified Flying Objects\u00e2\u20ac\u009d find Shorter on tenor sax reacting to and developing ideas generated by the rhythm section. In \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Orbits,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Plaza Real,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the old movie song \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Flying Down to Rio,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d indeed throughout, the collective improvisation frequently creates edge-of-the-seat anticipation that Shorter, Perez, Patitucci and Blade satisfy even after repeated hearings.<\/p>\n

On the eve of his 80th birthday, August 25, Shorter has made his mark many times over. This album is not about making a new one, except in the sense that it finds him and his remarkable quartet at a level of togetherness verging on ESP.<\/p>\n

From even earlier, 2007, here are Shorter, Danilo Perez, piano; John Patitucci, bass; and Brian Blade, drums, in Cologne,”\u00a0Germany.<\/p>\n

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