Upcoming article on Alan Shorter by David Grundy

[bertrand]

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10103679267795010&id=36920573

 

[clifford_thornton]

he emailed me; it seemed like he had most of the bases covered already, though information about his work in the Bay Area in the late '70s/early '80s is scant. I passed him along to Kirk Heydt, but beyond that couldn't really think of much. Any other ideas?

[JSngry]

Eager to read this, but wondering how sad a tale it will be?

[bertrand]

It is now published:

http://www.pointofdeparture.org/PoD71/PoD71Shorter.html

[mjazzg]

Just read it and now listening to 'Tes Esat' for the first time in a long while

[Joe]

Thanks!

 

[Joe]

Some fine work done here. Sent me back to FOUR FOR TRANE, which I'd not listened to in many years. Alan sounds particularly fine on this date, IMO. What a shame he and Wayne only made one recording together. Though I can imagine their individual musical approaches might not have been super-compatible beyond a certain point. But to have Alan in place of Freddie Hubbard on SPEAK NO EVIL... there's an alternative universe I might like to portal over to!

Edited June 4, 2020 by Joe

[Late]

27 minutes ago, Joe said:

But to have Alan in place of Freddie Hubbard on SPEAK NO EVIL... there's an alternative universe I might like to portal over to!

That would be a trip.

I've always wondered what a Wayne Shorter album — playing the Alan Shorter Songbook, so to speak — would sound like. Wayne's playing on "Mephistopheles" on The All Seeing Eye is especially inspired.

[bertrand]

Wayne made some noises about digging up some Alan pieces, but it never happened.

The article says he took over for Miles at the Vanguard once, possibly the quintet with Wayne was in the bill. If only that had been recorded!

[Joe]

6 hours ago, Late said:

That would be a trip.

I've always wondered what a Wayne Shorter album — playing the Alan Shorter Songbook, so to speak — would sound like. Wayne's playing on "Mephistopheles" on The All Seeing Eye is especially inspired.

SPEAK NO EVIL is kind of already the most Alan-ish of Wayne's recordings. That is, the whole "Doc Strange" / "Mr. Weird" vibe is already strong on that date.

Grateful to have what little recorded evidence of Alan Shorter that we have.

[AllenLowe]

just to mention, in regard to the casual put-down of Nat Phipps in that article as being middle-class/stodgy. Phipps is an absolutely great pianist.  Really unusually good.

[bertrand]

Is he still living?

[JSngry]

23 hours ago, Joe said:

 But to have Alan in place of Freddie Hubbard on SPEAK NO EVIL... there's an alternative universe I might like to portal over to!

Here's an alternative alternative universe - that record, those tunes, but with a front line of Lee Konitz on Varitone alto, Warne Marsh on Warne Marsh, and Herbie on Rhodes.

 

[Late]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

Warne Marsh on Warne Marsh ...

I can almost hear what he'd sound like on "Dance Cadaverous."

18 hours ago, Joe said:

Grateful to have what little recorded evidence of Alan Shorter that we have.

+1 

[bertrand]

2 hours ago, Late said:

I can almost hear what he'd sound like on "Dance Cadaverous."

+1 

Orgasm and Four for Trane and Mephistopheles are probably the highlights of his discography, but there are some other outstanding moments. Not sure I would want to hear bootlegs of the crazy Paris concerts, even if they existed I am sure there are a couple of private recordings out there.

I need to track down the New York Art Quartet tracks, Pitchin' Can and Coral Rock. Sorry I passed on those limited America reissues.

I only have the Marion Brown ESP as a download. Is there a CD with all four pieces currently in print?

Edited June 5, 2020 by bertrand

[Joe]

4 hours ago, JSngry said:

Here's an alternative alternative universe - that record, those tunes, but with a front line of Lee Konitz on Varitone alto, Warne Marsh on Warne Marsh, and Herbie on Rhodes.

 

[clifford_thornton]

50 minutes ago, bertrand said:

Orgasm and Four for Trane and Mephistopheles are probably the highlights of his discography, but there are some other outstanding moments. Not sure I would want to hear bootlegs of the crazy Paris concerts, even if they existed I am sure there are a couple of private recordings out there.

I need to track down the New York Art Quartet tracks, Pitchin' Can and Coral Rock. Sorry I passed on those limited America reissues.

I only have the Marion Brown ESP as a download. Is there a CD with all four pieces currently in print?

not currently. 

the NYAQ tracks are pretty shambolic, I must say, though I'm glad they exist. Coral Rock and Pitchin' Can are awesome LPs.

[relyles]

How is Archie Shepp's Doodlin'? Shorter is listed as playing flugelhorn on that recording.

[bertrand]

13 minutes ago, relyles said:

How is Archie Shepp's Doodlin'? Shorter is listed as playing flugelhorn on that recording.

He plays on only one track, Worried About You.

[clifford_thornton]

It's a cool record, glad it exists, but yeah, Shorter is only on one cut.

I think it was probably cut at the same session as Coral Rock and (most of) Pitchin' Can.

[Dmitry]

On 6/3/2020 at 0:38 PM, bertrand said:

It is now published:

http://www.pointofdeparture.org/PoD71/PoD71Shorter.html

Thanks for the link!
While  biographical material the author put together was very informative, I didn't really enjoy wading through the shovelfuls of adjectives that Grundy throws on an innocent reader when describing what music sounds like. 

Questions that still remain for me: Did Alan Shorter suffer from increasingly aggressive mental illness, or not? Where was he for the last fifteen years of his life as an artist? It doesn’t appear that he was performing at all, which brings the question whether his brother Wayne  was supporting him financially, or he had a day job? What was his degree in from NYU, my alma mater?

Edited January 12, 2022 by Dmitry

[Holy Ghost]

On 6/4/2020 at 10:12 AM, Late said:

That would be a trip.

I've always wondered what a Wayne Shorter album — playing the Alan Shorter Songbook, so to speak — would sound like. Wayne's playing on "Mephistopheles" on The All Seeing Eye is especially inspired.

My favorite track on The All Seeing Eye.  A tremendous record (my favorite Wayne Shorter record overall) but more often than not,  I wind up starting with "Mephistopheles" first and then start the record with the first track after that.