In pursuit of indestructible happiness…
Wayne Shorter is one of the musicians whose name we will definitely come across in any jazz history book. Whether or not the whole history of jazz is covered comprehensively, whether it is evaluated from a certain point of view or not, the talk will inevitably come to Wayne Shorter as well. It can even be qualified as an indicator; If Wayne Shorter hasn’t been mentioned, then there’s no need to read that book any further!
The reason for this claim is not only that he played in the group Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in the early years of his career, that he was one of the second Miles Davis quintet for six years, or that he had a fifteen-year Weather Report adventure; throughout his career, Wayne Shorter has come to the fore with his personality and compositions… Indeed, these features are particularly mentioned in quality jazz history books. “Shorter plays the way he composes,” writes Joachim Berendt, for example, “simple, precise, short; no note is too much”. According to Şevket Akıncı, it is like a dream and its melodies seem to be floating in the air. Technical details of Wayne Shorter’s playing style and stories of his compositions are also available from similar written sources; however, the inclusion of visuality gives it a whole new dimension. Just like the impact of director Dorsay Alavi’s Wayne Shorter documentary Zero Gravity. Maybe this documentary will not provide brand new information to those who follow Wayne Shorter closely, but it will definitely change the perspective of Wayne Shorter…
The documentary Zero Gravity was released on August 25, on Wayne Shorter’s 90th birthday, which he unfortunately didn’t see (Also available in the Turkish version of the Amazon Prime platform). Starting from his childhood until his last days, Zero Gravity tells the daily life and professional life of Wayne Shorter, or rather, the intertwined life stories of Wayne Shorter, in three episodes of approximately one hour each. Director Dorsay Alavi has followed Wayne Shorter closely since 1995; she was with him at his concerts, recording studios, interviews, and most importantly, at his home in California. The testimonies of important names who knew him, worked with him, play with him are also consulted; like his best friend Herbie Hancock or important names of jazz such as Carlos Santana, Sonny Rollins, Terence Blanchard, Dave Holland, John Patitucci, Esperanza Spalding, Marcus Miller are talking about him. On the other hand, childhood friends and family friends also talking…
The first part of the documentary deals with the years between 1933 and 1970; in other words, we are witnessing Wayne Shorter’s childhood years in Newark and the first steps of his professional career.
Since it was a period of political turmoil, the director gave us the opportunity to breathe in that political atmosphere in this first part of the documentary, Alavi, and also presents a history of jazz. From Newark to New York, the narrative begins to focus more on Wayne Shorter’s personal history as we move on to the second chapter, which now covers the years 1970-1999.
Wayne Shorter, who had a good childhood in a caring family, may not have a traumatic past (for some reason, it is always thought that such an effect is present in the childhood of personalities who oscillate between insanity and genius) however, it can be safely said that his life was full of “tragedies”.
Perhaps for this very reason, Wayne Shorter, who is always chasing indestructible happiness, can be found here, the reason for making music that will never end, as Danilo Perez put it.
With the third part of the documentary, we see much more clearly that Wayne Shorter establishes a universe in which there is no beginning or end; The trademark of that “zero gravity” reflected in the title of the documentary is here, because zero gravity brings the present time to the fore. It glorifies the only moment that can be dominated by the past and the future…
Joachim E. Berendt, Jazz, translated by Neşe Ozan, Ayrıntı Publishing, 2003, s. 293.
Şevket Akıncı, Öteki Caz, Pan Pablishing, 2021, s. 79.
