Fulfilling the potential promised on his Blue Note debut, Night Dreamer, Wayne Shorter's JuJu was the first great showcase for both his performance and compositional gifts.
Early in his career as a leader, Shorter was criticized as a mere acolyte of John Coltrane, and his use of Coltrane's rhythm section on his first two Blue Note albums only bolstered that criticism.
The truth is, though, that Elvin Jones, Reggie Workman, and McCoy Tyner were the perfect musicians to back Shorter.
Jones' playing at the time was almost otherworldly.
He seemed to channel the music through him when improvising and emit the perfect structure to hold it together.
Workman too seemed to almost instinctively understand how to embellish Shorter's compositions.
McCoy Tyner's role as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time was played here as well, and his light touch and beautiful, joyful improvisations would make him a much better match for Shorter than Herbie Hancock would later prove to be.
What really shines on JuJu is the songwriting.
From the African-influenced title track (with its short, hypnotic, repetitive phrases) to the mesmerizing interplay between Tyner and Shorter on "Mahjong," the album (which is all originals) blooms with ideas, pulling in a world of influences and releasing them again as a series of stunning, complete visions.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JuJuWayne Shorter | Wayne Shorter | Play | 08:30 | 19 MB | 91 MB |
| 2 | DelugeWayne Shorter | Wayne Shorter | Play | 06:51 | 15 MB | 71 MB |
| 3 | House of JadeWayne Shorter | Wayne Shorter | Play | 06:58 | 15 MB | 63 MB |
| 4 | MahjongWayne Shorter | Wayne Shorter | Play | 07:41 | 17 MB | 75 MB |
| 5 | Yes or NoWayne Shorter | Wayne Shorter | Play | 06:37 | 15 MB | 71 MB |
| 6 | Twelve More Bars to GoWayne Shorter | Wayne Shorter | Play | 05:28 | 12 MB | 57 MB |
| 42 mins | 96 MB | |||||
| 42 mins | 430 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nat Hentoff | Liner Notes |
| 2 | Elvin Jones | Drums |
| 3 | Reid Miles | Cover Photo, Design |
| 4 | Wayne Shorter | Composer, Primary Artist, Sax (Tenor) |
| 5 | McCoy Tyner | Piano |
| 6 | Rudy Van Gelder | Digital Remastering, Engineer |
| 7 | Reggie Workman | Bass |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |