The news of the passing of composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter left the music world sad and in mourning. As the numerous obituaries pointed out correctly, his influence on modern jazz over the last 60 years has been tremendous. I had the pleasure to first meet Wayne personally in 1995, when he released his first album on Verve and I worked the global marketing for this release. I knew who he was, knew his music as a leader or sideman, but had never before met him. From that first meeting on, we would run into each other at festivals or gigs and always found a bit of time to chat. Wayne for me, beside the genius musician he was, was first of all a wonderful and deep human being, someone who felt people differently, who understood humans on a very emotional level, reading their ‘vibes’ like no other person I knew. Here are a few stories about Wayne, taken from my book ‘A Life In Music’, explaining the person behind the artist:
Herbie Hancock and Wayne were the sole protagonists on one of our main releases for 1997, the incredible duo recording ‘1 + 1’, which they toured extensively. I think I must have seen the two guys performing together about ten times that year, but the concert in London and one in Italy remain in my mind for their sheer musical beauty and deepness. The concert in Italy was to be held outdoors and the piano tuner came in the afternoon for the soundcheck to tune the piano, but as temperatures changed before the show started, he should have come back before the gig to check the piano again. Which he didn’t and Herbie immediately got problems as some keys were out of tune. They tried to find and call the tuner, but couldn’t locate him, so Herbie had to play on the discordant piano, which seemed to had sharpen his instincts, as he simplified his playing to tremendous effect and Wayne often checked on him with a smile. The concert lasted less than an hour and the piano was basically unplayable at that point. After the show Herbie, Wayne, our label guy in Italy, Pietro Paravella, the promoter of the show and myself went to have dinner in a local taberna, which was excellent. The wine was great too and so was the conversation. We spoke about religions and as Wayne and Herbie both are Buddhists, Wayne told a few stories about his belief. Like when one day Ike and Tina Turner had a major argument and Tina fled their home and came to Wayne’s house to hide. But they expected Ike to figure out in the end where she would have gone and come to get her. Wayne suggested to sit down and meditate, pray and chant, and while they were doing so, outside a very thick fog settled over the neighbourhood. Ike, who was on the way to Wayne’s house, got lost in the fog and never made it there. Wayne truly believed that their prayers helped. He had more stories like that, truly amazing. For me Wayne was a guy who had a true believe in the spiritual power of humans, who had a deeper understanding and feeling for human beings than anyone else I ever met. It is as if he could read people’s emotions and feelings directly, connecting with them on a different level.
After the death of my father in 2008, I went to the North Sea Jazz Festival, as I couldn’t just sit at home and think about what happened. I was looking forward to see my family in a weeks’ time and celebrate my father’s life, but I needed to go out and be distracted. We had a lot of artists playing there and no-one knew about the passing of my father, as I usually keep these private things to myself. It was at a late stage during the festival, that I went backstage to say “Hello” to Wayne Shorter, who, before I could say anything, asked me: “Why are you so sad?”. I was surprised and relieved at the same time, as I now could tell someone and Wayne, who had felt me dealing with the loss of my father, listened. He was just sitting there and let me speak, unload my mourning, knowing that alone would help me.
When I left his little room in the backstage area, I was still in a kind of shock of what just happened and came across Danilo Perez, Wayne’s pianist and a good friend of mine and I told him the story. “Oh”, he replied, “Wayne is doing this all the time. When I was told by my wife that we were expecting our first child, I went to Wayne to tell him and share my happiness, but before I started talking, he already had said ‘Congratulations’. He is so deep, man”. Indeed, he was deep and kind and always thinking before answering a question, coming up with some incredible and challenging thoughts and statements.
My thoughts are with his family and friends. Wayne’s music will stand the test of times to come and so he will not be forgotten, but he will be missed deeply. R.I.P.
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