I first heard of Wayne Shorter as sax player in Weather Report, when a schoolfriend lent me Heavy Weather. It was only much later that I realised he had a whole jazz pedigree, including playing with Art Blakey and Miles Davis.
This looks like I bought it new, probably in a sale. It opens up with Witch Hunt, an energetic sax blast, which moves into some Herbie Hancock piano noodling. Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum and Dance Cadaverous slow the pace down a little, the former being more structured. The title track is a lovely, familiar tune, with a catchy sax motif, and once again some fine piano from Hancock. Then once more, we slow down on Infant Eyes, before a full on romp to the end of the album with Wild Flower. Shorter’s most well known album doesn’t disappoint.
4* - not experimental nor groundbreaking, just nice tunes beautifully and imaginatively played by a superb ensemble.
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