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

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