JUJU

JuJu presents a selection of cutting edge esoteric modal jazz cuts that establish Wayne Shorter as, like Miles Davis and John Coltrane, a key thinker in the intense conversations taking place in the jazz avant-garde prior to the late 1960s emergence of fusion. With an able collection of sidemen - McCoy Tyner on piano is, as always, a real treat - it's a solid release which actually has a somewhat sunnier and more upbeat atmosphere than you might expect from the mystical title, but there are sufficient twists and turns on offer to remind you that all is not quite as it seems on the surface.