Speak No Evil

Artist: Wayne Shorter
Label: Blue Note Records
Category: Music

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Format: Original recording reissued
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 724349900127
EAN: 0724349900127
ASIN: B00000I8UH

Release Date: 1999-03-23

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Listmania:

A History of Jazz Music
GOOD MUSIC.
Top Jazz Albums Of All Time(partial list)
Best albums ever
Some real good sax!!!
My top 25 favourite jazz albums (in alphabetical order)
Old Skool and New Skool Jazz
Somethin' Else
My favourite jazz CDs
Artists In The Downbeat Jazz Hall Of Fame That I Dig Part 4

Tracks:

Witch Hunt
Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum
Dance Cadaverous
Speak No Evil
Infant Eyes
Wild Flower
Dance Cadaverous (Alternate Take)

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Customer Reviews:

What This Album Means To Me.......2007-01-13

This dynamic quintet marks one of the peaks in jazz creation and interplay in it's musical history. With an allstar cast of Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Elvin Jones, the music was destined to be nothing less than amazing from the start. But amazing players is not all it takes to make an album worth a spot on the jazz timeline. The day of recording it was obvious that everybody was on. Fueled by the lyrically sad and revolutionary compositions of Shorter, their creative drive was explosive. Being a drummer this album has taught me a huge chunk of what I know about the concepts of swing and interplay. This music has nothing to do with showing off or proving something to one's audience. The fantastic thing about Shorter is his ability to say exactly what he wants and yet the music comes across in a way that's "medicine for your ears" according to Herbie Hancock. Shorter was the only person to bring music to Miles that never had to be changed because it was perfect and this album shows exactly that; a solemn soul creating something far beyond music.
Witchhunt is a dynamic opening to the cd. The rhythmic explosion at the intro already tells the audience with in it's first few seconds of sound that the album's a classic. It's interesting to note how the intro is a great example of call and response, a somewhat foreshadowing of the interplay to come in the solos. Elvin's swing into the head is driving and powerful. All the tunes and solos on this cd are examples of Wayne's ability to use space. Witchhunt is no exception with a bouncy rhythm of 8th notes for two bars followed by space for two bars. The horns are somewhat behind the beat, defining their unique concept of swing. Wayne understood what the rhythm section was there for. It wasn't to make himself sound good, but to make the music sound good. The intense B section contrasts the mellow and bouncy A and is another great example of how Wayne incorporated call and response in ways beyond just leaving space after a phrase. The end of the B section then mellows down with some 8th note phrasing somewhat reminiscent of the A. Wayne's solo begins with an epic fill by Elvin and then the subtle interplay begins. If you're to tune out the rhythm section it almost sounds like Wayne is soloing over a ballad. His enigmatic way to keep his cool over a "medium up" song is incredible. His phrasing and style make his rests seem longer and spacier than they are which is also very masterfully accomplished by the rhythm section. They knew how to make two bars feel like an eternity, something that is hard to explain in simple music terminology. He has a subtle way of referencing the head into his solo without using it too much. Hubbard begins his solo with some high pitched dynamic phrasing. Freddie is a lot more ahead of the beat than Wayne, another interesting form of call and response that keeps your ear wanting more. Hancock's solo opens with a simple 3 note motif. His solo is not very related to the head but still is innovative and exciting, proving his inate ability to write music on the spot. Coming back into the head the drums are more intense than they were at the beginning. Freddie slips a little at the end, but is almost not even worth mentioning as the song is incredible.
Fee Fi Fo Fum opens with a syncopated and mysterious piano intro. The head itself is very spacey and mellow with the current of swing under it. One of the most amazing pieces of this album is Freddie's solo intro on this track. It's virtually indescribable along with the rest of his solo which built off his great topic sentence. The solo is fairly short, but still says so much. Shorter's solo is very behind the beat and very rarely has anything faster than quarter notes. Later in his solo he busts out some lines that are almost straight. These lead into some very bluesy licks and his climax into Herbie's solo. Herbie's solo plays off Wayne's blues motifs and incorporates his own style until he builds tension with a triplet line back into the head. The first note of the head is played in such a way that it seems like they used some kind of effect, but it's all simply in how well they played it. The ending is predictable and releaving.
Dance Cadaverous is a somewhat "up" waltz, but is more like a mysterious and haunting lullaby. The piano comping over the head is another one of my favorite parts of this cd. It's this amazingly awkward and muddy feeling that if heard by itself would simply be weird, but Herbie knew how to use his out of the box mind to add the spice to Shorter's music. The piano solo begins behind the beat and very beautiful. Herbie rapidly builds tension and releases it into a flurry of notes leading into the downbeat. The energy subtly increases into Shorter's solo in which he seems like he's grasping onto something. Shorter's uncanny ability to use his life experience to bring out the human and raw emotion in something as obscure as a complex waltz is truly stunning. His solo then builds back into the mysterious head where Herbie's comping is again exactly what the composition needed. The strong ending is great and a perfect end to a perfect song.
Speak No Evil, the title track, is a "medium up" swing song with such subtle things done during the head that it's hard to notice. The head itself is a simple 5 note motif that leads into the downbeat from the and of 3. The B section is a quick and large amount of tension that is quickly released. The solos are all over only the A section which makes it very cohesive and swingin'. Shorter's solo is my favorite on this cd. This is the only time he's on top of the beat in any way. This song has some of the most intense interplay i've heard in all my listening experience. Wayne's climax is practically orgasmic and after it happens you can hear one of the musicians say "yea," which is said in the best way possible. The crescendo into Hubbard's solo is strong and then mellows down to be built back up over the intense swing. Freddie has no problem consistently hitting notes that tug at the soul and uses them as a common tension builder throughout the cd. Hancock is also fairly on top of the beat but still maintains a very relaxed feel. He then busts into one of his polyrhythmic tension builders and leads back into the spacey head. The crescendos are so well done between Shorter and Hubbard that it's hard to tell that there are 2 horns. It ends with a fadeout which is appropriate even though I'm not ussually one for fadeouts.
Infant Eyes is the ballad of this cd. Shorter's intro is incredibly soulful and his sense of rubato glides the peace as opposed to making it feel like chunking quarter notes which can get very repetitive in ballads. This song is a perfect example of Wayne Shorter feeding off his painful life experiences to create something wonderful. "Bring It On" Shorter says when discussing life tragedies, "because I want to reep the benefits." With the loss of his wife, parents, and daughter, Wayne Shorter has embraced solitude and used it to breathe tragedy into his horn. This song has a level of authenticity that is far beyond chops, pitch, rhythm, but is simply directly about soul. He references the head in his solo and the discussion between the sax and the piano turn this from a ballad into a beautifully depressing conversation. The ending is very mysterious and poignant.
Wildflower is the final song of this cd with the exception of the alternate take of Dance Cadaverous. Though this song is an "up" waltz it really feels like a lullaby. I commonly find myself humming it while I'm walking around. Shorter begins his solo by quoting the head. He still uses his ability to stay behind the beat to show
the contrast he has with the rhythm section. Freddie's solo also quotes the head and uses his high pitch on ability to stay on top of the beat to portray his message. Hancock uses polyrhythms to lead into realeases on the downbeat, starting his phrases halfway through the measures. He and Elvin synch up on a dotted half note rhythm back into the head. The A section is soft and serene while the B section builds the tension into the ending.
This cd gave me so many new concepts as a musician, but as a listener too. This was one of the first jazz albums I really got into and it was a gateway drug of sorts because it really opened my mind to this world I had never explored. Shorter still remains one of my all time favorite musicians and composers. There's something about his playing that's not just wonderful. It's not just lyrical. It really tugs at your heart in an indescribable way. He understands that music isn't just music. That a rhythm isn't just a rhythm and a note isn't just a note. If you ever find yourself wondering why all the soul in music is gone these days it's because most of it's gone to Wayne. He has no intentions of quitting and neither does my ear, cuz it needs it's daily dose of the Shorter.

Sustained Beauty.......2006-08-24

In the early to mid-sixties, Wayne Shorter, both before and during his tenure with Miles Davis, created some of the most indelible compositions in the jazz lexicon. The genius of the composer, who created "Speak No Evil" "Night Dreamer," "Juju," and "Adam's Apple," all recorded during this time,is beyond description. Using many of the same personnel (usually Herbie Hancock in the piano chair, who was also central to the harmonic voicings of the ensemble playing-Reggie Workman or Ron Carter on bass, Elvin Jones or Joe Chambers on drums, Freddie Hubbard or Lee Morgan on trumpet) probably accounts for the "unity" of sound on these albums, but even more central are the songs written by Wayne Shorter-"Infant Eyes" from Speak No Evil," "Footprints" from "Adam's Apple," "House of Jade" from "Juju," the title track from "Night Dreamer" or "Oriental Folk Song" just for starters.

As another writer mentioned, this is "cool jazz," but much different form what came to be known as "West Coast cool." The tunes unfurl at an even pace, and the beauty of the music is such that it sometimes seems to stop momentarily, just so the beauty could be sustained a little longer. These are the records that (no disrespect to Coltrane, Hawkins, Webster, or any of the great tenor players) cement Wayne Shorter as my favorite tenor player, and one of the greatest musicians of the 20th (and now 21st) century.

Obviously, anyone who likes "Speak No Evil" should check out "Adam's Apple," "Juju," "Night Dreamer," or Miles" "Nefertiti," to which Shorter contributes another classic composition in the same vein as the others, "Fall."

Flawless.......2006-04-10

Exploiting simple melodies to gorgeous effect and engaging in brilliant harmonic interplay with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter crafted one classic LP after another on Blue Note in 1964, culminating in this Christmas Eve set, easily his strongest, with "JuJu" a close second. Every composition here shows tremendous growth and while the pieces are shorter than some of the more explorative works he would undertake later in the 70's with keyboardist Joe Zawinul (somebody please release "Odyssey Of Iska" on CD!!!!) the overall feel of this work is easy flowing and expansive, relaxed but not languid or slow and sprawling but not too drawn out. The 8 minute title cut is a standout for it's unforgettable melody and stellar soloing by all members of the quintet. Both mellow and lively, this entire set is essential for any fan of "real" jazz. Perfect.

Hear No Evil.......2006-03-13

It is easy to take for granted the insane talent so many of the jazz giants possessed in the past. With such a consistnency of high quality work, I am convinced many people simply are too afraid to open the can of worms that is great Jazz music, much like to this day being a die hard music junkie in all musical genres I am still barely scratching the surface when it comes to gaining perspective on Classical music..The problem (or lack thereof!) with these genres is that the quality of writing is so far superior to that of the majority of other songwriting formats, virtually every artist is a find in the music afficianoado's repetoire... regardless of taste, talent is almost always there in spades..Like so many musical giants of the time, Wayne Shorter paled in comparison to some of his role models, which only makes his celebration more important in retrospect..While his reach on the language of Jazz was not as profound as his colleages Davis and Coltrane, Shorter did help bridge the gap between the staunchy standards of old with the breathier improv laden possibilities that these giants were beginining to explore..This has been called quintesential Shorter, and from what I hear it is hard to argue..All the ingrediants for a classic are in place, the exalted trumpet lines, the breakthru title track, the heart wrenching ballads, and the unmistakable chemistry of several accomplished jazz musicians melding together into one foward motion.

one of the pilars of modern jazz.......2005-10-09

The Rudy van Gelder serie of Blue Note is well priced and of good quality. This serie gives good insight in the jazz scene of the late 50s an de the 60s. It's a good starting point to learn about this major jazz episode.

Wayne Shorter is one of the few major sax players. But it's the combination of playing and composing that makes him one of the greatest of all times. With 'Speak no evil' together with 'Adams apple' and 'Skizophrenia' you will get a perfect idea of Shorters early work and his huge talent. In my opion these albums are a must in understanding the evolution of jazz. And therefore a must in every jazzcollection!

'Speak no evil' is about composition. The five artists play in service of the compositions. It is about the carpet of sound and not the individual qualities. There's room for space and melodic poetry. This new approach is to be followed up for decades. It is the first solo album of Shorter without the coltraneband. This album puts him among Coltrane en Davis. This, ofcourse, was to be expected of the follower up of Coltrane in the Miles Davis Quintet.

The second album is Skizophrenia. The linernotes explanes the title as 'a retreat from reality'. Shorter finds new paths and that would make him a split-personnality in a time where people are used to stay on the same course. All the six players follow this new course and all find them selves more than capable. The music is soulfull and more important it is funky. Shorter playing is often compared with Coltrane, but on this album Shorter, in my opion, Shorter becomes one of the major players. His qualities shown here put him next to Coltrane, Rollins and Parker.

'Adam's apple' is the third great album of Wayne Shorter. With a lot of Miles Davis Quintet experience Shorter makes his best album. The compositions are (again) all beautifull, but it is the power in the playing that makes the album. It is full, sentimental, drama, spaceous and often surprising. And, mind you, this is only a quartet playing!

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