Wayne Shorter: Speak No Evil (Blue Note Classic Vinyl series) [BLUE NOTE]

Why you'll love it

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl series edition was mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original analog tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl. The Penguin Guide to Jazz put it in its Core Collection, calling it by far Shorter's most satisfying record.

This edition

• Blue Note Classic Vinyl series
• Mastered from the original analog tapes
• 180g vinyl
• Stereo mix
• Pressed in Germany

About the album

In 1964 Wayne Shorter had just joined Miles Davis's quintet and was writing tunes faster than most people could learn them. Speak No Evil was one of several albums he cut for Blue Note that year, with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. Hancock and Carter were his bandmates with Miles, and Jones was busy powering John Coltrane's quartet.

Every tune is a Shorter original, and they mix hard bop muscle with a misty, modal mood that nobody else was writing. "Witch Hunt" opens with a fanfare and a sly swing, "Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum" and "Dance Cadaverous" keep the spooky theme going, and "Infant Eyes" is one of the most beautiful ballads in the jazz songbook, a slow, hushed piece that musicians still play everywhere. The woman beside Shorter on the cover is his first wife, Teruko Nakagami.

New York Times critic Ben Ratliff said just about everybody playing jazz born in the 1950s and after accepts it as a foundation. The witches and giants, we should add, are entirely musical; it's quite safe to play after dark.

Also at Kops: more Wayne Shorter on vinyl · browse Classic Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Blue Note (cat# 0744042), a reissue of the 1966 album.