Tag Archives: Michel Petrucciani

Wayne Shorter

On March 2, 2023, Wayne Shorter died aged 89. He was musician (saxophone) and composer. He was member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and  Miles Davis’s Second Great Quintet, and then co-founded the band Weather Report. Many of the Shorter’s compositions have become jazz standards and his work earned critical praise worldwide. In 1970, he won “Down Beat’s” annual poll-winner, winning the critics’ poll for 10 consecutive years and the readers’ poll for 18 consecutive years. Shorter recorded and performed with Donald Byrd, Billy Childs, Pino Daniele, Lou Donaldson, Benny Golson, Gil Evans, Toninho Horta, Norah Jones, J. J. Johnson, Don Henley, Wynton Kelly, Michael Landau, Lionel Loueke, Grachan Moncur III, Milton Nascimento, Michel Petrucciani, The Rolling Stones, Masahiko Satoh, John Scofield, Esperanza Spalding, Steely Dan, Bobby Timmons, Kazumi Watanabe, Buster Williams, Herbie Hacock, Tony Williams, Joe Zawinul, Freddie Hubbard, Joni Mitchell, Lee Morgan, Jaco Pastorius, Carlos Santana and McCoy Tyner. In 2008, “The New York Times” described Shorter as “probably jazz’s greatest living small-group composer and a contender for greatest living improviser”. In 2017, he was awarded the “Polar Music Prize”. As leader, Shorter released 28 albums.

Tony Williams

On February 23, 1997, Anthony Tillmon “Tony” Williams died aged 51. He was  musician (drums), regarded as one of the most important and influential jazz drummers ever. In his career he has performed and recorded with some of the biggest names in the jazz history, including: Miles Davis, Geri Allen, Arcana, Chet Baker, George Cables, Ron Carter, Stanley Clarke, Eric Dolphy, Kenny Dorham, Gil Evans, Tommy Flanagan, Hal Galper, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Wallace Roney, Jonas Hellborg, Joe Henderson, Andrew Hill, Terumasa Hino, Allan Holdsworth, Hank Jones, Charles Lloyd, Michael Mantler, Ray Manzarek, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, John McLaughlin, Jackie McLean, Marcus Miller, Mulgrew Miller, Grachan Moncur III, Jaco Pastorius, Michel Petrucciani, Pop Workshop, Public Image Limited, Don Pullen, Sam Rivers, Sonny Rollins, Wallace Roney, Travis Shook, McCoy Tyner, Sadao Watanabe and Weather Report. In 1969, Tony Williams formed a trio, the Tony Williams Lifetime, with John McLaughlin on guitar and Larry Young on organ.