Tenor Saxophonist Wayne Shorter was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz messengers, Miles Davis' second great quintet, and a co founding member of the jazz fusion super group Weather Report.His influence on modern saxophonists is immeasurable, he was out of the Coltrane tradition, but Wayne developed his own style and has contributed many Jazz standards.
Speak No Evil, a Blue Note Records release from 1965 is one of the best ever recorded from the label, and one of Wayne's most Influential. To generations of jazz musicians, Speak No Evil is a classic recording. I know have enjoyed Dozens of times.
By this time, Wayne's tone had very little John Coltrane influence left to my ears, All the tunes on Speak No Evil have a Contemporary feel as well , with the Modal bass walking, the Gorgeous melodies, keeping the music from stretching to far into avant guard territory, But that doesn't mean that there aren't any fiery solo's, Shorter and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard have more than a few.
Speak No Evil is about well composed music, this is not a typical "blowing session". One thing that I have learned about this recording that was ground breaking, is the use of perfect 4ths, with the quarter note being emphasized on the title track, McCoy Tyner had been doing this slightly earlier with John Coltrane.
Herbie Hancock plays some very tasteful piano on the album, ultimately Speak No Evil deserves its classic status.
The Title track and "Which Hunt" are stone jazz classics, and "Infant Eyes" is a ballad of impeccable taste.
Original Blue Note NY USA vinyl pressings are fetching upwards of $200 in VG+ condition, even generic 20th Century reissues are fetching $20 bucks a copy.
Speak No Evil
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