The Wayne Shorter Quartet performs at NJPAC April 23 at 7 p.m., as part of four days of Shorter-related programming.
It’s Wayne Shorter Weekend — a long weekend, actually, stretching from Thursday through Sunday — at NJPAC in Newark, with five stellar jazz concerts, three of which directly address the work of the legendary, Newark-born saxophonist and composer.
The weekend culminates April 23 at 7 p.m. with a performance by the 83-year-old Shorter and his quartet (also featuring Danilo Perez on piano, John Patitucci on bass and Brian Blade on drums) with special guest Herbie Hancock at NJPAC’s Prudential Hall. Singer Gretchen Parlato opens this show.
Also, the Wallace Roney Orchestra — featuring bassist Buster Williams, pianist Patrice Rushen and drummer Lenny White — will perform “Universe,” a Shorter composition originally created for Miles Davis but never previously played publicly, April 20 at 7:30 p.m. at NJPAC’s Victoria Theater.
And April 22 at 8 p.m. at the Victoria Theater, two former members of Shorter’s groundbreaking fusion group Weather Report (drummer Omar Hakim and percussionist Manolo Badrena) will be joined by saxophonists Joe Lovano and Steve Wilson, keyboardist Rachel Z and bassist Christian McBride or a concert titled “Wayne Shorter: Weather Report and Beyond Reimagined.”
Rounding out the weekend, singer Cécile McLorin Salvant performs with pianist Sullivan Fortner at the Victoria Theater, April 21 at 7:30 p.m. (the Emmet Cohen Trio opens), and McBride and singer-bassist Esperanza Spalding — who considers Shorter one of her main influences — team up for a show in NJPAC’s “One on One” music and conversation series at the Victoria Theater, April 23 at 3 p.m.
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