E. Doctor Smith's Blog

In a legendary career spanning more than half a century, saxophonist Wayne Shorter just keeps getting better and bolder. Indeed, his longevity as a creative force isn’t as astounding as the fact that he’s spent the past decade leading his most prodigious and consequential band. At 80, Shorter often appears as the calm center of a roiling maelstrom, a mystical presence exulting in the improvisational lightning strikes emanating from pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade, all virtuosos and bandleaders in their own right. Of course, the quartet is fueled by music from jazz’s most influential composer after Thelonious Monk, still keen to venture into uncharted territory. Shorter’s new Blue Note album, Without a Net, is his first for the label in over four decades and is an astounding document of an artist reaching and exploring, still very much at the peak of his powers. The session netted Shorter 2013 DownBeat magazine Critics Poll wins for Jazz Album, Jazz

One of the world's best percussionists is the Englishman Simon Phillips; an ambidextrous drummer who follows in the footsteps of jazz greats Billy Cobham and Lenny White who helped to popularize that musical approach. Phillip's first came to this writer's attention via his work with Brian Eno and Phil Mazenera's group "801", and later, Peter Townsend and the Who. Phillips has continued to perform and record with a who's who of the musical world; he makes his return to the Bay area later this month, supporting Hiromi and Anthony Jackson in a sold out show at the SF Jazz Center of Franklin, before returning to Yoshi's in Oakland on April 1st with his own group, "Protocol II"- a sequel to his first solo group of the same name. Readers of my previous column will recall Hiromi 's spectacular show at the newly minted SF Jazz Center last year; her return on March with Jackson and Phillips shouldn't disappoint fans either. Fourteen years ago,