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Review 1
When Wayne Shorter recorded his second Blue Note release, JuJu, he was finishing his long stay with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and was just about to join the Miles Davis quintet. The album was a huge creative leap forward for Shorter, both as a saxophonist and a composer. While there is no doubting the quality and significance of Night Dreamer, his previous outing, JuJu stands out in the Shorter discography for its timeless and elegant melodies, formal innovations, and riveting improvisations.
JuJu confirms Shorter's status as an important heir to, but not imitator of, John Coltrane. Three musicians intimately associated with Coltrane - McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, and Reggie Workman - play on the record (as they did on Night Dreamer, along with trumpeter Lee Morgan). But while Shorter is clearly influenced by Coltrane's harmonic and rhythmic concepts, his melodic gift is sui generis. And several of his tenor solos here are among the most memorable in jazz history.
Subtle traces of African and Eastern music emerge on the title track, on "Mahjong," and on the haunting ballad "House of Jade." Shorter borrows from Coltrane's "Tunji" for the main vamp figure of "Deluge," but he modifies it, ingeniously, to resolve descending rather than ascending phrases. The album also features the uptempo classic "Yes and No" and closes with "Twelve More Bars to Go," an easygoing but harmonically edgy blues. The RVG Edition adds previously unreleased alternate takes of "JuJu" and "House of Jade."  |
Players
Elvin Jones: Drums
Wayne Shorter: Sax
McCoy Tyner: Piano
Reggie Workman: Bass
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Tracks
1. JuJu
2. Deluge
3. House of Jade
4. Mahjong
5. Yes or No
6. Twelve More Bars to Go
7. JuJu (alt tk)
8. House of Jade (alt tk) |
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