Speak No Evil

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		List Price: $8.94		From: Blue Note Records From: Blue Note Records Salesrank: 4255 Released: 1999-03-23
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Track Titles:
1 Witch Hunt
2 Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum
3 Dance Cadaverous
4 Speak No Evil
5 Infant Eyes
6 Wild Flower
7 Dance Cadaverous [Alternate Take][#][*]

Speak No Evil Editorial Review:
24 bit digitally remastered Japanese reissue of classic Blue Note album in a miniaturized LP sleeve limited to the initial pressing only, and with the original artwork intact. Contains all six tracks from the original 1964 issue. 1999 release.

Customer Reviews:
The strange and the beautiful
In retrospect, Speak No Evil sounds a lot like the older, cooler, agnostic brother of A Love Supreme. That probably has a lot to do with the presence of Elvin Jones, whose drumming here sounds as organic, oceanic, and spectral as it did on Coletrane's masterpiece. Jones' genius lay in his ability to evoke calm and chaos simultaneously, to be at once both the storm and its eye. On A Love Supreme, that unique ability served to temper the music's gushing catharsis, to give it a steady (but still intensely emotional) framework. Here, it lends an undercurrent of urgent and oddly dreamlike menace to a set of otherwise languid and pristine post-bop melodies. The other performances on the album seem to flow from Jones' ethereal bedrock (although the opposite may very well be true); Herbie Hancock's piano lines walk a particularly fine line between spiky free jazz angularity and lush bop traditionalism. His solo on "Dance Cadaverous" is quietly astonishing, full of delicacy and chiaroscuro. The horn section, consisting of Shorter on tenor sax and Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, balances bright sweetness and deep blue turbulence. Hubbard's yelping exhortations offset Shorter's moody cool, lending "Wild Flower" and the title track an air of stormy tension. The overall feel of the album is balmy, buoyant, and ghostly, with little emotive nuances buried under layers of shade and sunshine. It's a classic Blue Note LP, with all its understated cool and technical virtuosity. Does music get any better?

Speak No Evil
This is classic jazz, the type of jazz I grew up with. You can't have a jazz collection without this selection.

One of the Greatest Jazz Composers
I knew that Wayne Shorter was a good saxophonist from his work on albums by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and Lee Morgan that I had already heard. But it was only when I purchased "JuJu" and "Speak No Evil" that I realized what a great jazz composer he is. Shorter had written some good tunes on some of the Blakey and Morgan albums, but they didn't necessarily stand out as any better or worse than the other tunes. But hearing the dozen highly original and distinctive compositions on these two great albums from 1964 allowed me to grasp his true talent. Perhaps Shorter had been prevented from reaching his full potential as a composer when he had to write tunes to satisfy someone other than himself.

Every tune on "Speak No Evil" is musically interesting and communicates deep-felt emotion; however, what makes Shorter so great is that these tunes exhibit rich melodies and harmonies. "Witch Hunt" is full of fierce energy. "Fee-Fo-Fo-Fum" is surprisingly lyrical given its title while "Dance Cadaverous" is a haunting waltz. The intense title track gets a lot of play on Sirius Pure Jazz and was what prompted me to buy both "JuJu" and this album; it starts out with a good riff but offers much more. "Infant Eyes" is full of love and tenderness; it is one of Shorter's most beautiful compositions. Finally, "Wild Flower" is a sensuous and passionate ode, making me suspect the wild flower was a very alluring woman.

Of course, Shorter and his band mates all play these compositions with great finesse and imagination. The solos of Shorter, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, and pianist Herbie Hancock are inventive from beginning to end. Having listened to "JuJu" and this album again in order to review them and having re-read the liner notes and other reviews on Amazon, I realize that I really need to get Shorter's first Blue Note album, "Night Dreamer" which featured my favorite trumpeter, Lee Morgan. While that album does not get nearly as many reviews as this one, the 5 people who have reviewed it all gave it 5 stars.

The Wayne Shorter Quintet
|The Wayne Shorter Quintet|
|The Quintet|
Wayne Shorter-tenor
Freddie Hubbard-trumpet
Herbie Hancock-piano
Ron Carter-bass
Elvin Jones-drums

[Tune Listings]
'Witch Hunt'(Wayne Shorter)
'Fee-Fi-Foo-Fum'(Wayne Shorter)'
'Dance Cadaverous'(Wayne Shorter)
'Speak No Evil'(W.Shorter)
'Infant Eyes'(W.Shorter)
'Wild Flower'(W.Shorter)
'Dance Cadaverous'(W.Shorter)|Alt.Take|

On Christmas Eve 1964 Wayne Shorter arrived at Blue Note studios with some
fresh material for this recording.All the tunes on the session are from his own pen.The Quintet is a great one.Freddie,Wayne,and Herbie contribute some brilliant solos throughout the session.The rhythm section is a real classic.Herbie on piano,Ron Carter(bass)and Elvin Jones(drums).Jones really added something to this recording,with his unigue conception of time(metre),and his overall flexible approach to the drums.Of all the albums Wayne produced as a leader during his tenure at Blue Note Records from 1964-1970,and there are some superb ones,I believe this recording represents his greatest talents as a composer and a player in the same setting,with the right players at the right time.As everything is timing and luck in life.A very original thinker,and one of the great tenor players in jazz history.This album is prime cut.My approach to this review was to leave as much space for the listener,and provide them freedom to interpret the music as they wish.I truly believe it allows one to come to one's own conclusions based on the powers of volition.Too much detail sometimes 'clouds' the issue at hand.Hope that made some sense.Enjoy!

I'm not a Jazz scholar, but I know what I like
I've spent a lot of time lately listening to Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage...it's the music that fits my current mood like a glove. My Jazz collection consists primarily of most of the Miles CDs between 'Round About Midnight and Star People, plus Coltrane's classic Atlantic CDs, The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings, and COLTRANE The Classic Quartet: Complete Impulse! Studio Recordings.

If I've even remotely touched upon what you look for in Jazz with that list, Wayne Shorter's "Speak No Evil" is an essential album for you.

There are times when I look for the combative, dogfight, cacophonous, free-form "cutting contest" style of improvisational Jazz, but January 2009 isn't one of those times. Despite that, I still wanted something with muscle and melody, some attitude, and classic cool...not modern-day "quiet storm" poseur cool. Real, moody, undefinable cool...the kind of cool where you know when it IS, and you most certainly know when it is NOT..."a certain je ne sais quoi."

For my tastes, "Maiden Voyage" and "Speak No Evil" fill that craving perfectly.

"Speak No Evil" is beautifully recorded...each instrument is warm, vibrant, crystal clear in the mix. The up-tempo stuff is highway music. It's Highway 1 on California's coast, between Santa Cruz and Pacifica on a sunny day with the windows rolled down. It's Martin Milner and George Maharis in that 'vette in "Route 66." The ballads are contemplative without being catatonic. This album was made in the days before 2000 bright-eyed, bushy-tailed music students decided that they were going to go out in the world and "be" Wayne Shorter...there was only one, and the supporting players (Freddie Hubbard, Elvin Jones, Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter) are at the peak of their powers.

5 very well-deserved stars for this album.

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