American jazzman Wayne Shorter, saxophonist considered one of the greatest jazz composers in the United States, died Thursday in Los Angeles at the age of 89.
His agent Alisse Kingsley confirmed it in a written message, but without revealing the cause of death of this musician born August 25, 1933 in Newark, near New York, and whose influence on jazz lasted more than a year. half century.
The one whom the New York Times describes in its obituary as a musician “innovative”, “intrepid” et “enigmatic” played with the greatest, including Miles Davis, and excelled on both soprano and tenor saxophone, notably with his group Weather Report.
Legend
He was one of the last living legends of jazz, a musical genre he had embraced in the 1950s, after a youth as a clarinettist.
With his brother Alan Shorter (1932-1988), they played bebop and called each other « Mr Weird » (“Mr Weird”) and « Doc Strange » (“Doctor Strange”), wearing dark glasses in the darkness of jazz clubs.