When it was now (Shorter) Shorter's only composition on Weather Report. Like Mr. Gone, this album raised criticisms that Zawinul (and Pastorius) were squeezing the saxophonist out. George Varga put the issue to Shorter in a 1985 interview: Beginning in the late '70s, Shorter's role in Weather Report diminished considerably, as did his participation in musical activities outside the group. Some observers blamed Zawinul for Shorter's diminished group participation, contending that the domineering keyboardist had stolen the limelight from the saxophonist. Shorter, a thoughtful, eloquent man who is as soft-spoken as he is self-effacing, disagreed. "No, no," he insisted, at the start of a rare, in-depth interview last week. "There's a limelight of superficiality, and there's a deep kind of existence, like an infrared ray. For a long time in Weather Report, I abstained. I elected not to do things. At the same time I was cultivating many other aspects of my life. I was building inner resources that can't be seen. "You might say I was building an inconspicuous bank account of stairsteps to wisdom that can be used when the time comes. All the good things I can do inwardly allow me to forge ahead, as I am now, and be a strong and reliable example for younger people." In his Down Beat Weather Report retrospective, Josef Woodard wrote, "Shorter's tunes often came in as long scores destined for drastic editing." But of "When It Was Now," Erskine told him, "That tune had that feel when he brought it in. I think we borrowed a Linn drum machine for that, and I overdubbed percussion. We did that at Joe's house." |