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."
|
English 
Deutsch 
Italiano 
Español 
Russian 
