On September 3, 2017, attendees at the Detroit Jazz Festival witnessed a very special one-time-only event: an historic set by a multi-generational jazz supergroup composed of Wayne Shorter, Terri Lyne Carrington, Esperanza Spalding, and Leo Genovese.
Some five years later, we finally have the opportunity to experience this magnificent performance with the Candid Records release of Live At The Detroit Jazz Festival. The recording is being released on high quality vinyl and all digital formats, with the double vinyl LP including an exclusive bonus track.
In a testament to the level of trust and respect shared between these great artists, Shorter, Carrington, Genovese and spalding had a mere outline of how the music might evolve when they took the stage, choosing instead to leave space for spontaneous expression. Terri Lyne Carrington remembers, “We rehearsed some themes earlier that day, but the preparation was really from our lives and profound experiences with each other.” Four lifetimes in music - spread across generations - made these performances possible, erasing the boundaries between composition and improvisation, ensembles and solos in the process.
Whether it is the Shorter and spalding composition “Endangered Species” (a landmark of mood-shifting free-form exploration), Milton Nascimento’s thoughtful ballad “Encontros e Despedidas,” Geri Allen’s “Drummers Song,” or Shorter’s haunting “Midnight In Carlotta’s Hair,” the quartet’s interplay is spontaneous, assured, magical.