Masterclass on improvisation, courtesy of the Wayne Shorter Quartet

Today's masterclass features saxophonist Wayne Shorter and his quartet performing his composition "Footprints" at the 2003 Montreal jazz Festival.

Wayne first recorded Footprints on his 1966 album "Adam's Apple". The song has become a standard jazz tune, one that is well known and often played by both professional and student musicians.

What I really enjoyed about this video is the manner in which the quartet move away from the traditional performance style of a jazz standard. In a typical jazz quartet performance the lead player would state the melody reasonably close to how it was originally conceived while the drums and bass would share responsibility for the rhythmic pulse while getting into a consistent tempo and groove for the duration of the song.

For example, here is Wayne's 1966 recording of Footprints;

 

And now, below, in astonishingly sharp contrast, is Wayne's masterful modern performance from the 2003 Montreal jazz festival. Here the pulse or groove of the song is anchored by bassist John Patitucci, allowing drummer Brian Blade to play almost like another lead instrument. The group freely changes rhythmic styles, tempos and harmonies based on the suggestions made in the moment by the ensemble's members. 

You can feel them listening to each other!

Wayne Shorter allows himself to explore his melody, to rhythmically displace it, add or subtract notes from it and repeat sections where they wouldn't normally be repeated.

Pianist Danilo Perez does a wonderful job of both re-harmonizing the composition and constantly suggesting new rhythmic directions, giving Shorter a generous supply of ideas and directions for his solo.

Wayne's sense of humor and playfulness is evident in the melodic quotes that he infuses into both the melody and his improvisation;

@ 00:34 he plays the nursery rhyme 'Rock -a-bye baby' which seems to fit nicely within the melodic structure of the tune.

@ 04:04 during his improvisation he quotes the Sonny Rollins composition 'Oleo', Brian Blade responds by changing to a swing feel for a while. Here is a nice example of the original Oleo.

@ 04:45 Wayne shows us how important it is to listen to as many different musical styles and sources as you can when he quotes 'If I Loved You' a beautiful show tune from the 1945 Rogers and Hammerstein musical carousel, (my mum used to play it on Piano, - thanks mum!).

After an inspired and inspiring drum solo from Brian Blade, Shorter states the melody and once again much to Danilo's suprise and pleasure, twists it, displacing it in time at 06:54. The 'Rock a bye baby' reference returns at 7:37. Wayne and Danilo conclude the piece by putting it through a classical melodic and harmonic filter.
I hope this is interesting and inspiring for all students and fans of improvisation out there - check out the rest of Wayne Shorter's incredible contributions to music.

Phew! what a performance! - time to go practice some more :)