The Soothsayer Explained

The Soothsayer
Type:studio
Artist:Wayne Shorter
Cover:The Soothsayer.jpg
Released:1979
Recorded:March 4, 1965
Studio:Van Gelder, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Genre:Post-bop
Length:50:21
Label:Blue Note
LT 988;
CDP 7 84443 2
Producer:Alfred Lion
Prev Title:Speak No Evil
Prev Year:1965
Next Title:Et Cetera
Next Year:1965

The Soothsayer is the seventh album by Wayne Shorter, recorded in 1965, but not released on Blue Note until 1979.[1] The album features five originals by Shorter and an arrangement of Jean Sibelius' "Valse Triste". The featured musicians are trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, alto saxophonist James Spaulding, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams.

Critical reception

Reviewing a 1990 reissue, the Chicago Tribune noted that "the result is hard-driving and as edgy as the time at which it was made."[2] The AllMusic review by Stacia Proefrock stated that "it ranks with the best of his works from this incredibly fertile period".[3]

Track listing

Original release (1979)

All compositions by Wayne Shorter except where noted.

A1. "Lost" – 7:12

A2. "Angola" – 4:48

A3. "The Big Push" – 8:18

B1. "The Soothsayer" – 9:35

B2. "Lady Day" – 5:31

B3. "Valse Triste" (Jean Sibelius) – 7:37

Bonus track on CD reissue (1990)

7. "Angola" [alternate take] – 7:35

Personnel

Notes and References

  1. http://www.jazzdisco.org/wayne-shorter/catalog/#blue-note-gxf-3054 Wayne Shorter discography
  2. News: Fuller . Jack . Hard-driving classics from Wayne Shorter . Chicago Tribune . 15 July 1990 . Arts . 20.
  3. Proefrock, S. AllMusic Review accessed August 3, 2011.