The story behind puzzle No. 55
Wayne Shorter · Speak No Evil · Blue Note · 1964 (released 1966)
Wayne Shorter's title track sounds like a mystery novel: dark, elegant and a little unsettling.
Shorter recorded Speak No Evil on December 24, 1964, at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Blue Note released the album in June 1966.
The band is Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. The woman on the cover is Shorter's first wife, Teruko (Irene) Nakagami.
The Penguin Guide to Jazz includes the album in its Core Collection and calls it by far Shorter's most satisfying record.
Critic Ben Ratliff put it among the 100 most important jazz recordings, describing Shorter's writing as a style that would haunt jazz forevermore.
The melody moves in unexpected directions, never quite resolving where you think it will.
Listen to Elvin Jones underneath, pushing the time forward with rolling cymbals while the horns stay cool on top.
Who's on it
Keep listening
Revisit Footprints (puzzle No. 31) for more of Shorter's writing, and Red Clay (puzzle No. 50) for Hubbard.
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