RECORDING: Backgrounder: Wayne Shorter’s JuJu

Wayne Shorter, a saxophonist and composer whose influence on post-war jazz and jazz musicians rivaled that of Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, died March 2. He was 89. My favorite Shorter album is JuJu. Recorded in 1964 for Blue Note and released in July 1965, the album featured all original songs by Shorter and included pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Elvin Jones—a rhythm section that had worked regularly with John Coltrane. The soul and power of Shorter’s crisp, biting tenor saxophone on JuJu, not to mention his roiling originals and the thunderous expressions of his sidemen, combined to create a moving, expressive work. In tribute to Shorter, here’s JuJu, without the interruption of ads… …