''Odyssey of Iska'' is the fourteenth

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

by American jazz composer and saxophonist

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Dav ...

, released on Blue Note Records in 1971. Musicians include guitarist

Gene Bertoncini Gene J. Bertoncini (born 6 April 1937) is an American jazz guitarist. Biography Bertoncini was born in New York City, where he was raised in a musical family. His father, Mario Bertoncini (1901–1978), played guitar and harmonica. Gene began pl ...

, bassists Ron Carter and Cecil McBee and drummer Billy Hart, along with multiple percussionists.

History and concept

''Odyssey of Iska'' was the outcome of the second recording session with Shorter that was produced by Duke Pearson. (The first session, '' Moto Grosso Feio'' on April 3, 1970, was not issued until 1974.) With the exception of Ron Carter there was a completely different line-up, although with a similar instrumentation: Shorter's saxophone as the only horn, guitar instead of keyboards, two double bass players, and various percussion instruments including marimba and vibraphone. The same emphasis on percussion is also found on a recording date led by Joe Zawinul only some two weeks before, on August 10, where Wayne Shorter had a guest appearance on "Double Image" (released on '' Zawinul''). Wayne Shorter had just married Ana Maria Patricio, whom he had met four years earlier. The name "Iska" in the album title refers to their daughter. She was born around the time the record was made. One of the percussionists on ''Odyssey of Iska'', Frank Cuomo, is the father of rock group

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing ...

's frontman,

Rivers Cuomo Rivers Cuomo ( ; born June 13, 1970) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and songwriter of the rock band Weezer. Cuomo was raised in a number of Buddhist communities in the Northeast U.S. until the age of 10, wh ...

. The other drummers are Billy Hart and

Alphonse Mouzon Alphonse Lee Mouzon (November 21, 1948 – December 25, 2016) was an American jazz fusion drummer and the owner of Tenacious Records, a label that primarily released Mouzon's recordings. He was a composer, arranger, producer, and actor. He ga ...

Reception

The

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

review by Scott Yanow states "On the verge of joining

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian virtuoso keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer and voca ...

(referred to in the liner notes as "Weather Forecast"), it is not surprising that Shorter's originals include titles such as "Wind", "Storm", and "Calm". These moody works were never covered by other jazz players but they work quite well in this context, launching melancholy flights by Shorter."

Track listing

All compositions by Shorter, except "Depois do Amor, o Vazio" written by

Bobby Thomas Robert, Rob, Bob, or Bobby Thomas may refer to: Arts * Robert Thomas (director) (1927–1989), French writer, actor and director * Robert Thomas (sculptor) (1926–1999), Welsh sculptor * Robert Thomas Jr., American jazz percussionist and hand d ...

. #"Wind" – 8:00 #"Storm" – 8:22 #"Calm" – 3:25 #"Depois do Amor, o Vazio" (After Love, Emptiness) (

) – 11:40 #"Joy" – 9:00

Personnel

–

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

, soprano saxophone *

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

* Ron Carter, Cecil McBee – bass * Billy Hart,

– drums * Frank Cuomo – drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

* David Friedman –

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

References

External links

Wayne Shorter - ''Odyssey of Iska'' (rec. 1970, rel. 1971) album releases & credits
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

Wayne Shorter - ''Odyssey of Iska'' (rec. 1970, rel. 1971) album to be listened
on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

{{Authority control 1971 albums Wayne Shorter albums Blue Note Records albums Albums produced by Duke Pearson