About

— The Analog Vault // Essential Listening —

After his apprenticeship with Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, but just before he joined Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet, Wayne Shorter came into his own with his maiden run as a bandleader. The finest of the American jazz saxophonist’s earlier works is indubitably his 1964 Blue Note debut, Night Dreamer. With his assembled quintet of trumpeter Lee Morgan, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Elvin Jon - Shorter crafted a bravura record that showcased his move away from hard bop into modal and post-bop territory.

His five original compositions, plus an adaptation of "Oriental Folk Song," are subliminally elegant - exploring unpredictable melodic lines and unhurried soundscapes that are rooted in minor simplicity, but often elevated through improvised spontaneity. A beautifully composed and meditative album well-suited to accompany those nocturnal blues. — The Analog Vault

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Night Dreamer comprises a six-pack of Shorter compositions beginning with the title track, where the tenor blows with urgent brio over Elvin’s ¾ time drum drive. Arranged from an old Chinese tune, “Oriental Folk Song” features Shorter and Morgan sketching the theme before the improvisations swing into action, and Shorter offers lyrical melancholy on “Virgo” (his astrological sign). The buoyant “Black Nile” has a flow akin to a river with plenty of splashes from Elvin’s drums bash, “Charcoal Blues” grooves as a smooth, bluesy swinger, and the pensive end piece “Armageddon” catches a groove that the rhythm team pushes ahead with McCoy’s sparkling runs, Elvin’s muscular and tumbling drums, and Reggie’s solid pulse. It makes for a dramatic close to an arresting album. — (via Label)

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Label: Blue Note, UMe
Series: Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo, 180 gram
Reissued: 2023 / Original Release: 1964
Genre: Jazz
Style: Hard Bop, Post Bop

File under: TAV Essential Listening
File under: Jazz // Blue Note Records
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