Wayne Shorter—Alegrķa

(Verve 314 543 558-2)

It certainly gives one pause when you realize that this is the year tenor titan Wayne Shorter turns 70. Yet after seven decades, three-quarters spent innovating with the likes of the Miles Quintet and Weather Report, Shorter is still "scrambling them eggs." On Alegría, Shorter's approach is more classical, compositional and structured. He enlists some powerhouse keyboard support from Danilo Perez and Brad Mehldau. The opening "Sacajawea" (named after the Indian princess who did everything American explorers Lewis & Clark did while toting a babe in arms) is a stunner. Besides Shorter, the Alegria sessions' only other constant is bassist John Patitucci, who provides an anchor of bass bedrock. Shorter isn't timid about overdubbing a barrage of reeds. Nor is he afraid to thicken his sound with orchestration. Thus the role of the bass is a vital one. Alegría's strengths lay in the fact that it's not afraid to expand and contract from the lushness of "Vendiendo Alegria" to the beginning and ending quartet work of Shorter, Patitucci, Perez, and Brian Blade. The inclusion of Villa-Lobo's "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5" raises Alegría to cinematic greatness. The cello ensemble alone is nothing short of powerful.