Wayne Shorter Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Wayne Shorter is an American instrumentalist and a composer.

Early Life

Wayne Shorter was born in Newark, New Jersey. His father took an interest in training Shorter in instrumental music. Shorter was born on August 25, 1933.

Shorter ’s nickname was Mr.Gone

Education

Wayne Shorter studied in Newark Arts High School and graduated in 1952. He obtained a degree in music education from New York University in 1956. He got the Honorary Doctorate of Music by the Berklee College of Music

Career

Wayne Shorter loved music from his childhood and was encouraged by his father. During school education, Shorter performed with Nat Phipps Band in Newark, NJ.

He spent two years with the US Army. Even in the army, he performed with Horace Silver.

He was very much influenced by the works of Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Coleman Hawkins. In 1959, he joined Jazz Messengers and toured the US, Japan, and Europe as its musical director. He stayed with them for four years and recorded many collections and composed for the band.

Wayne Shorter received many accolades as a saxophonist and came to limelight internationally.

He joined the Second Great Quintet of Davis. He composed many albums for Davis, such as ‘Prince of Darkness,’ ‘E.S.P,’ and many more. The reviews were excellent.

From 1968 to 1970, Shorter played tenor saxophone solely, and after that, he performed soprano also He announced many collections for Blue Note Records highlighting his works, such as Freddie Hubbard. He recorded 11 albums from 1964 to 1970.

Wayne Shorter founded the Weather Report with Joe Zawinul. He was with them until 1985. He announced collections as a bandleader, Native Dancer presenting Hancock and Milton Nascimento, Brazilian composer and musician.

From 1977 to 2002, he featured on 10 Joni Mitchell collections. In 2009, he participated in the Gnaoua World Music Festival.

In 2000, he founded an audio group along with Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, and Brian Blade. He played his masterpieces. Three recordings were made. His composition, Beyond the Sound Barrier, was awarded the 2006 Grammy Award for the Best Instrumental Jazz Album. He achieved the Lifetime Achievement Award from Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, in 2013.

In 2015, a documentary on the life of Wayne Shorter entitled Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity was made.

In 2016, he along with Carlos Santana and Herbie Hancock announced their travel under the name Mega Nova. Their debut performance was on August 24, 2016, at the Hollywood Bowl.

Wayne Shorter has announced many albums during his career.

Awards

Wayne Shorter has achieved many awards to his credit: Down Beat Poll Winner New Star Saxophonist (1962), Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance for Weather Reports (1979), Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition (1987),(1994),(1996),(1997),(1999)(2003)(2005)(2014), Miles Davis Award, (1996), NEA Jazz Masters (1998),Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Award (2006),Polar Music Prize (2017)

Personal Life

Wayne Shorter married Teruko (Irene) Nakagami and had a daughter Miyako. He patented some of his compositions as Miyako Music and devoted to his daughter. They separated in 1964.

He met Ana Maria Patricio in 1966 and married her in 1970. In 1985, their daughter, Iska died at the age of 14. Ana Maria and Dalila, the niece, died in an air accident in July 1996.

In 1999, he married Carolina Dos Santos, a close friend of Ana Maria. He is a member of Soka Gakkai International.

He lost his cousin, Rick Shorter, composer, and producer, in Sept.2017.