Wayne Shorter & Imani Winds @ Carnegie Hall 12/2/08

That was awesome. I was surprised it was only about 45-55% full, but there was a lot going on that night. I'm so glad I finally got to see Wayne Shorter. The closest I came before this was that tribute night in Paris. I was especially excited he plays with John Patitucci and Brian Blade. I know they've been playing together a long time, but you never know. Also, Carnegie Hall, and almost anywhere else, is much better than Blue Note, which is where I think Wayne is playing next.

The show last night started with Imani Winds, which consists of a clarinet, bassoon, flute, oboe, and a french horn. Their relationship with Wayne started with a commissioned piece he wrote for them a few years ago. They first did one of the pieces they often do, before they met Wayne. It was nice and kept me engaged. Then they did Wayne's piece, which was also great. This was the its NY debut.

That was it for the opener. I think it went from about 8:10 - 8:30ish.

When Wayne Shorter came out, he got a standing ovation before any note was played. I felt the emotional energy in the room and it was beautiful.

Then they played and it was awesome. That first piece was about 40-45 min long. Then they did a shorter piece, maybe 2, I'm not quite sure. At about 9:15ish they brought back the Imani Winds. They all played an amazing piece called The Three Marias with Wayne on soprano. Now we saw that those winds could play jazz, too. It was awesome to hear all 9 of them together. It was my favorite piece of the night and quite long. They did another, shorter piece together. And that was it. Then there was a short encore with all of them.

The whole thing, start to finish was about 2 hours.

Wayne Shorter Quartet
·· Wayne Shorter, Saxophone
·· Danilo Perez, Piano
·· John Patitucci, Bass
·· Brian Blade, Drums
With Special Guest Imani Winds

Saxophone legend and NEA Jazz Master Wayne Shorter celebrates his 75th Birthday year with a very special evening featuring his new classic quartet, and the wind quintet Imani Winds in the New York premiere of Terra Incognita, Shorter's first-ever commission for classical artists.