Suggestions needed for Shorter show.

[Pharaohrock]

I'm promoting a concert done in anticipation of the Wayne Shorter show here in April in which we're going to have some of the best local musicians doing a tribute to Wayne and playing some of his most classic tunes. They're going to play some of the obvious chestnuts like Footprints and Speak No Evil, but I wonder if any of you out there have any suggestions for undersung Shorter tunes that they might play....and that I can pass along to the bandleader. Also, I need suggestions for a catchphrase we can use to promote the show.

I thought of: Shorter Stories, Wayning Moments, 502 Blues at the 501 (a little abstract, but the 501 is the club where it's going down.)

[jazzypaul]

1) A couple of Messengers era Shorter classics would be great...Tell It Like It Is, Lester Left Town, or blow everyone out of their chairs with Free For All. Also on this tip -- the Vee-Jay Sessions that he did with Lee Morgan (and you could throw in a tribute to Daddie-O Daly, too. He had something to do with that label, I do believe).

2) As well, Wayne did do some nice things in the 70's. The first few Weather Report albums had some nice Wayne moments, and the album he did with Milton Nascimento is a classic for a reason.

3) His jazz treatments of Danse Cadabre and Valse Triste. People forget that Wayne was hip to classical music.

4) Witch Hunt. Everyone forgets about Witch Hunt. You play Witch Hunt, and I'll even come out there to be Elvin...lol.

[clifton]

Suggestions for Shorter tunes: Go, Fee Fi Fo Fum, Infant Eyes. Suggestions for concert titles: Footprints Lives, Footprints Redux, or Footprints Still Live. Pharoahrock: Good luck with this concert. I hope you have an SRO sell-out and great music. This is the kind of activity that can only help jazz.

[Pharaohrock]

Thanks Clif. As a promoter I'm always trying to bridge the gap between national and local activity...for example, whenever we've booked a national artist somewhere, we've made a POINT to have some local players sit in with them. We don't do this simply as a favor to local musicians or because we feel sorry for them, but because we genuinely believe both parties could benefit from the dialogue, AND- because that's the real tradition of jazz, not this air of exclusivity you get a lot of national act shows anymore.

When James Carney and his group played here, we had Christian Howes and Stan Smith sit in with his band, and they were all blown away. I dare say the locals may even have stolen the show on some level....so this Shorter show is a way of bridging this supposedly lofty, untouchable Wayne Shorter concert happening at an Arts complex to the local scene. And sure enough, the guys are psyched for it.

[clifton]

Pharoahrock: You're walking the walk, doing what jazz needs, and it's so much more urgent than our occaisional disagreements on this forum. The downside: my disability precludes me from sitting in. "Witch Hunt" anf "Fall" were in my old band's book.

[bombastic]

i always liked this track, which he did on "Native Dancer" on columbia, with milton nascimento.