Alegria [Audio CD] Wayne Shorter - Very Good

Very Good - USED Very Good: A well-cared-for video game, CD or DVD that has been played, but remains in great condition. The film is complete, without interruption, and does not skip. The box or jewel case may show limited signs of wear, as may the cover art, liner notes and inclusions. Please note that included codes (if applicable) may not be guaranteed to work.BOOK : This book is in very good condition, showing minimal signs of wear. The pages are clean with no markings, and the cover may have only slight shelf wear. There are no creases on the spine, and the book appears well cared for. It is a solid copy that presents well. Please note that included codes (if applicable) may not be guaranteed to work.

Amazon.ca Alegría reunites saxophonist Wayne Shorter with the quartet that produced Footprints Live! in 2002--namely Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade. But it also adds Brad Mehldau, Terri Lyne Carrington and Alex Acuna, features substantial orchestral accompaniment and has Shorter overdubbing in places to produce interweaving soprano and tenor lines. As the line-up probably suggests, the format remains acoustic, and although there are some standards here--"Serenata", "Orbits", "Angola" and "Capricorn II"--there's greater emphasis on less obvious material, such as the unattributed "Vendiendo Alegría " and "12th Century Carol". Also, where Footprints Live! made a point of deconstructing its material, Alegría takes a more focused approach, putting form and composition to the fore. With its strong Latin inflections and yearning lyricism the album reminds often of Shorter's 1974 Native Dancer. The crucial difference is that there's nothing electric here and no real concession to popular taste. This is a jazz group at work, although it should be noted that Shorter's distinguished sidemen have more of an ensemble role than on Footprints Live!. Saxophone is clearly front stage here. Admirers of Shorter's virtually flawless run of albums for Blue Note in the 1960s might find more affinity with this music than they did with Footprints Live!. Shorter may not reproduce the perfect architecture of the solos collected recently on The Classic Blue Note Recordings, but Alegría suggests he's got something to say: contrast the expansive playing here with the terse, punctuated style that characterised his work in Weather Report and elsewhere over the past three decades. It's heartening that in his senior years Shorter is still able to make a mark in straightahead jazz, the environment in which he produced his most brilliant and influential work. --Mark Gilbert

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