SPEAK NO EVIL

Wayne Shorter is loved on these Archives for his work on "In A Silent Way" and with Weather Report. Other than that, however, his only solo output that gets any attention here is his modal/post-bop era and style "Speak No Evil". This is, after all, the solo work of his considered the finest by jazz aficionados, and comparable in quality and position to Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage". Speaking of which, Herbie lays down some of his piano magic on this record. In the end, while not even as prog related as "Time Out" and "Time Further Out" from Brubeck and friends, or "Maiden Voyage" in its special sense, "Speak No Evil" is a masterpiece, and I will review it as such. So Shorter, ever the great composer, leads his backing band well, as he plays his tenor sax with smooth majesty. Herbie lays down some beautiful piano, as is his MO, rounding out the sound; think of an even better take on the interplay between McCoy Tyner's piano and Trane's saxes on "My Favorite Things". The rhythm section is just wonderful at backing this mix of soloists. The whole album is a relaxing trip that makes you forget about evil, forget about everything ill and stressful. Highly recommended to jazz fans, and an interesting listen for any other interested listeners.

An upbeat post-bop album with Shorter backed by a fine range of sidemen, including Herbie Hancock. The sessions for this album took place on Christmas Eve, 1964, which seems to have put the participants in a positive and happy mood, because the album is decidedly uplifting in flavour. The combination of the album title and the cover shot of Wayne and his first wife Teruko Nakagami - the duo having split up prior to the album sessions - suggests some sort of resentful hidden message here, but thankfully that doesn't come out in the playing and perhaps when Wayne called it "Speak No Evil" he meant it, celebrating the happy memories rather than lingering on the bad.

I really dig this album. With the exception of the second song, "Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum" I consider each one of these songs to be supreme examples of the sublime, melodic jazz that bridged jazz's Kind of Blue and My Favorite Things era with the melodic beauty of albums like Bill Evans' Conversations with Myself and Vince Guaradli's A Charlie Brown Christmas (all for being very important, seminal albums for me). Also, I don't really know why, but I've never heard MIles Davis' trumpet as an engaging sound-maker, but I've always had an easy and very positive connection with the playing of Freddie Hubbard. Though I've had a lifelong love-hate relationship with Ron Carter's styles of bass playing, I've always respected it. Same for Herbie: his journey deep into the realms of electronic sounds and effects were never as engaging or alluring for me as his exquisite piano playing. And Elvin Jones is among the very best to every sit behind a kit. The most surprising thing about this album is how much I love the compositions: especially Wayne's amazing "touch" with creating long, drawn-out, BEAUTIFUL melodies. (Like Miles' trumpet play, Wayne's sax play within the Weather Report discography have never impressed or engaged me.) This combo makes for such a great unit, it's no wonder that three-fifths of them transferred so easily (so telepathically) into Miles' "Second Great Quintet" (right after the recording of this album!)

While this might not be deserving of a five star rating for its contributions to progressive rock music, it is undeniably a masterpiece of incredible music.