JuJu (Wayne Shorter album)

Infobox Album
Name = JuJu
Type = Studio album
Longtype =
Artist = Wayne Shorter


Released = 1964
Recorded = Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on August 3, 1964
Genre = Modal jazz
Hard bop
Post-bop
Length = 56:12
Label = Blue Note
Producer = Alfred Lion
Reviews = * Allmusic Rating|5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:4adovwzta9uk link]
Last album = "Night Dreamer"
(1964)
This album = JuJu
(1964)
Next album = "Speak No Evil"
(1965)

"JuJu" is an album by Wayne Shorter, recorded and released on Blue Note in 1964.

The album shows the strong influence of John Coltrane, with whom Shorter had studied as an undergraduate, and whose style is reflected here both in performance and composition. On "JuJu", Shorter's timbre is rather astringent, and his phrases are long and volatile; neither quality is typical of his later work. "Yes or No" is reminiscent harmonically of Coltrane's "Moment's Notice" from "Blue Train"; and "House of Jade", like later Shorter ballads (including "Infant Eyes" from "Speak No Evil") is similar in melody and structure to "Naima". The personnel also reflects Coltrane's influence, consisting essentially of a version of the latter's classic quartet, with McCoy Tyner on piano, Elvin Jones on drums, and Reggie Workman on bass (who is mixed very low on this album). The same rhythm section backed Coltrane on the 1961 album "Africa/Brass", the title track of which anticipates the title track of this album. By Shorter's next album, "Speak No Evil", recorded later in 1964, the leader's phrases became briefer, softer, and more rounded, under the influence of Sonny Rollins and Miles Davis, his employer at the time, and Tyner was replaced by Shorter's Davis bandmate, Herbie Hancock.

Interestingly, the original liner notes for "JuJu" (by Nat Hentoff) made no mention of Coltrane, nor of Shorter's apprenticeship with him; Bob Blumenthal, author of the liner notes for the new Rudy Van Gelder edition of the album, speculates that this was a deliberate omission.

Several of the compositions on "JuJu" feature a 4 to 16 bar A section in which the band vamps on one or two chords, followed by a B section consisting of more complex changes. (In the case of "House of Jade", the opposite is true.) This enabled Shorter to use only one or two scales on each piece, thereby obtaining the modal flavour of John Coltrane's contemporary work without sacrificing the customary harmonic complexity of his writing. For example, the distinctive harmonic flavor of the composition "JuJu" stems from the heavy use of a B augmented chord and Shorter's exploration of the related whole-tone scale. "Mahjong" features a memorable, tuneful solo by Shorter, in which he navigates through the changes primarily by means of a simple, A-flat pentatonic scale.

Track listing

#"JuJu" –8:30
#"Deluge" –6:49
#"House of Jade" –6:49
#"Mahjong" –7:39
#"Yes or No" –6.34
#"Twelve More Bars to Go" –5:26
#:"Alternative takes on reissue:"
#"JuJu" –7:48
#"House of Jade" –6:37"(All pieces written by Shorter)"

Personnel

*Wayne Shorter — tenor saxophone
*McCoy Tyner — piano
*Reggie Workman — bass
*Elvin Jones — drums

External links

* [http://www.bluenote.com/ArtistDiscography.aspx?ArtistId=906306&UPCCode=724349900523 "JuJu" (RVG edition)] — Blue Note site