JuJu cover
Released

Wayne Shorter’s second Blue Note album was recorded just four months after his first, and featured the same backing band: pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Elvin Jones. It’s a significantly more aggro date than Night Dreamer, though, possibly because he has no second horn to play off. The title piece is one of his most impassioned performances, driven by Jones’ thunderous drumming, and even gentler pieces like “Mahjong” and “House Of Jade” have an inner tension. The wittily titled blues “Twelve More Bars To Go” shows that Shorter could find a way to do something new within even the most traditional forms.

Phil Freeman

Recommended by

Suggestions
I've Known Rivers cover

I've Known Rivers

Anthony Davis, James Newton, Abdul Wadud
Matador cover

Matador

Grant Green
Stolen Moments cover

Stolen Moments

Lee Ritenour
The Centennial Trilogy cover

The Centennial Trilogy

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah
Inner Urge cover

Inner Urge

Joe Henderson
Decoy cover

Decoy

Miles Davis
Ask the Ages cover

Ask the Ages

Sonny Sharrock