Wayne Shorter’s ‘Schizophrenia’

Wayne Shorter is one of those cats that sounds and feels as if his music is coming from an entirely different place from any of his contemporaries. There’s an intellectual quality to the music that not even Miles Davis ever achieved. Davis reached both celebrity and more listeners with Kind Of Blue, laying claim to the moniker “the king of cool”. Or maybe I’m making that up. It’s hard to keep things straight in your head the older you get.

My point is, Wayne Shorter is the musician’s musician. Despite his friends and collaborators branching out to new musical horizons, Shorter stayed true to his sound. His work elevated you as you listened. The first Wayne Shorter album I ever bought was Speak No Evil. It had an air about it. It was late night vibes with a touch of melancholy. It’s the kind of music that is too good for just background noise. You plug into it for the duration and take the ride. In fact, his run of albums starting with Night Dreamer, then Juju, and then finally Speak No Evil to me is the holy grail of modal and post-bop jazz. It’s the thinking man’s jazz. Shorter brings that vibe to whomever he’s playing with, whether is Miles, Jazz Messengers, Weather Report, or even that one mind-blowing performance on Steely Dan’s “Aja”.

Of course pigeonholing myself to just a three album run from one of the greatest jazz musicians/composers is pretty knuckleheaded. There’s so many great albums before and after his early 60s run. When I first bought my 2008 Honda Accord back in 2021 I bought a couple 5 CD collections, one from Herbie Hancock and another from Wayne Shorter. The car had a 6-CD changer and I hadn’t had a car that had a working CD player in it for a very long time, so I felt it was time to enjoy these little modern luxuries. Besides Night Dreamer, all of the Shorter LPs were new to me. They included Etcetera, The Soothsayer, Adam’s Apple, and Schizophrenia. All of the albums were eye-opening, engaging, and enlightening. Adam’s Apple was especially a joy, but the one that stuck out the most for me was Schizophrenia.

Previous Wayne Shorter records felt sparser in the band department. They were tight ensembles that interpreted Shorter’s compositions perfectly. Right off the bat Schizophrenia feels different. It feels and sounds bigger and for good reason, his typical quartet had grown to a sextet. The band included Shorter on tenor, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Herbie Hancock on piano, James Spaulding on flute and alto saxophone, Ron Carter on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums. It was a very rich sound these guys created. Album opener “Tom Thumb” sounded instantly recognizable and upbeat. I know I’ve heard a different version of this song somewhere, but where I don’t know. There’s a playfulness to it that is infectious. It’s probably the bluesiest track Shorter had done up to this point.

Elsewhere “Go” sounds like a preview of things to come once Shorter started Weather Report with Joe Zawinul. It’s a well constructed track and feels like a late night out on the town in the Windy City. Title track “Schizophrenia” starts out like distant notes with Ron Carter laying some tasteful bass over the proceedings. Soon enough the track explodes in a landslide of blasting horns and some busy percussion courtesy of Joe Chambers.

The only track not composed by Wayne Shorter is the groovy “Kryptonite” which was written by James Spaulding. Spaulding’s busy flute is featured prominently, bringing to mind the great Eric Dolphy. “Miyako” is a gorgeous piece written for Shorter’s daughter Miyako, whom he had with wife Teruko (Irene) Nakagami. It’s a smokey, bluesy stunner. “Playground” makes good use of the sextet assembled here, almost teetering into big band territory. But there’s just enough skronk in the horns give the proceedings a touch of the avante garde.

A couple months back I bought Schizophrenia on vinyl. It was part of Blue Note Records’ ‘Tone Poet’ series of releases. 180 gram vinyl, new glossy gatefold album sleeve, and a gorgeous remastering to boot. This album sounds absolutely stunning and if you’re a fan and you buy jazz on vinyl then this is a must own. If you don’t buy vinyl but dig Mr. Shorter then grab a nice remastered CD copy. Sounds great in the car or on the hi-fi.

Wayne Shorter is one of the absolute greats in the world of jazz. He was the idea guy in Miles’ second great quintet, having composed a good chunk of songs with Davis during the mid to late 60s. Nefertiti might be the pinnacle of his power with Davis, giving us some truly remarkable compositions that are now considered jazz standards. Schizophrenia feels like a period at the end of a very definitive musical sentence. It was the end of one era, but the beginning of another. His next few albums saw his sound expanding even more, bringing in more musicians and bigger ideas. This led to Weather Report and worldwide fame and a whole new generation discovering the genius of Wayne Shorter.

Schizophrenia is the kind of album that makes your ears perk up and opens your brain to new musical experiences. It’s the sound of a master conducting a kind of musical magic. Wayne never got lost in the scene itself; the partying, the drugs, and getting lost in his own ego. From the very start he was about the work and performance. He was about collaboration and locking into a group and losing yourself on the stage. And as a band leader he was one of the absolute greats. His death in 2023 still resonates, but we have albums like Schizophrenia to bring his spirit back. At least for a couple album sides, that is.