Wayne Shorter Quartet - Pier 84 New York City - June 29, 1986

Wayne Shorter was an innovator his whole musical life. So hard to believe he is no longer with us. This performance was with one of his first bands after Weather Report called it quits. It was a crack team of fiery youngsters, but Wayne brought the real heat. His performance here is so full of energy it's hard to believe how sustained it was throughout the performance. You can hear the crowd going nuts at times. This set consists mostly of tunes from his 1985 album "Atlantis", with medley of an old Shorter standard (Footprints) and a Weather Report tune (Real Plaza) thrown in for good measure. I got this tape in the summer of '86 from a tape-trading bud who recorded it. I have listened to this tape many times; it was a favorite from day one, though I hadn't listened to it in 25+ years before digitizing it to upload here.
Pier 84 was the successor to the old Schaefer summer music festival in Central Park. It was a Summer concert series literally held on a giant pier in midtown Manhattan.
Wayne Shorter - saxophones
Mitchell Forman - keyboards
Gary Willis - bass
Tom Brechtlein - drums
00:00 Who Goes There!
9:35 Plaza Real
15:16 Footprints
21:45 band intros
22:16 The Three Marias
29:57 Endangered Species
Uploaded solely for educational purposes and historical interest. Enjoy.

[@steverickenbacher7110]

Nice! From his early years in The Jazz Messengers with Lee Morgan and right through to the end of his life, this man was truly a master. What he has played on displays such an astonishing array of greatness that he has to be considered one of the giants in all of music history. I couldn't even begin to name favorite recordings with him in the band. Mingus wrote a tune called M.D.M. which appeared on his Candid masterpiece "Mingus". He was declaring Monk, Duke and himself to be the greatest jazz composers of all time. It's hard to argue with that, but I would have to include Wayne as one of the top five. Many of his compositions are now part of the jazz standard book.

[@StephenBuckingham]

Many great eras to choose from, but for me his 60s Blue Notes are the tops.

[@steverickenbacher7110]

@@StephenBuckingham Sure, but his playing with Miles makes that quintet arguably the best ever. His playing on the Plugged Nickels alone is game changing.

[@StephenBuckingham]

@@steverickenbacher7110 I was referring to his solo work. That classic Miles band is in a category of its own.

[@RonCarterBassist]

👏🏾👏🏾