Alan Shorter

Alan Shorter (May 29, 1932 – April 5, 1988)^[1] was an American free jazztrumpet and flugelhorn player, and the older brother of composer and saxophone player Wayne Shorter.^[2]

Shorter was born in the Ironbound District in Newark, New Jersey. He started on alto saxophone, but switched to trumpet after graduating from high school. He attended Howard University but soon rebelled against the ultra-conservative atmosphere and dropped out. He later graduated from New York University.

He played his first professional gigs with a local bebopbig band called the Jackie Bland Band (other members included his brother Wayne, trombonist Grachan Moncur III, and pianist Walter Davis, Jr.).In his early years, he focused on bebop before shifting to free jazz, a style he maintained throughout his career apart from a six-month period in a U.S. Army Band.

Shorter recorded two albums as a leader: Orgasm (1968) and Tes Esat (1971). Both were out of print for many years until re-issued by Verve Records in 2004 and 2005, respectively. He also recorded five albums with saxophonist Archie Shepp (1964–1970), including the classic Four for Trane (1964), two albums with Marion Brown (1965–1966), one album with Alan Silva (1970), and made an appearance on one of his brother's albums (The All Seeing Eye [1965]). Several of these albums feature his unusual compositions, his most famous being "Mephistopheles".

في منتصف الستينيات، انتقل شورتر إلى أوروبا، حيث قدم عروضه التجريبية في جنيف وباريس . كان أسلوبه في موسيقى الجاز الحر أحيانًا غريبًا جدًا على الجمهور الأوروبي (يتذكر شقيقه أن حفلات شورتر في أوروبا كانت غالبًا ما تنتهي بردّه على استهجان الجمهور بالصراخ: "أنتم لستم مستعدين لي بعد!"). لكنه وجد عمومًا أن الجمهور الأوروبي أكثر تقبلاً من الجمهور الأمريكي. في النهاية، عاد إلى الولايات المتحدة، حيث درّس لفترة وجيزة في كلية بينينغتون ، ثم اختفى عن الأنظار. توفي إثر تمزق في الشريان الأورطي في لوس أنجلوس، كاليفورنيا عام ١٩٨٨، عن عمر يناهز ٥٥ عامًا، بعد فترة وجيزة من خطوبته لروث آن هانكوك، ابنة عم هيربي هانكوك .

يُشبه أداء شورتر أداء دون شيري ، لكن بطابع أكثر عدوانية وفوضوية. تُظهر ألبوماته فرقته الموسيقية كوحدة متكاملة، بدلاً من التركيز على براعته الفردية. ويُقال إن أسلوب شورتر الموسيقي كان يُشبه شخصيته: عميقًا وفكريًا، وربما غريبًا عمدًا في بعض الأحيان (كان لقبه في طفولته "دكتور سترينج").

• ‘allan [sic] shorter et le monstre magnétique’ [‘Alan Shorter and The Magnetic Monster’], Jazz Hot, June 1967: 24-5. [‘Interviewed with tape recorder by Daniel Berger and Alain Corneau, 18th May 1966, New York’.] [French language]
• Alan Shorter, [Liner Notes] Orgasm. c.1968.
• Alan Shorter, ‘Distension.’ Actuel, May 1969: 36–38. [French language]
• Val Wilmer, [Liner Notes] Tes Esat, 1970.
• Richard Williams, [Liner Notes] Parabolic. c.1969.
• Interview by Richard Williams. Melody Maker, May 1, 1971: 18.
• Elisabeth Chandet, ‘Jazz En Direct: Les Nuits du Vézelay’, Jazz Magazine, April 1971: 10-11. [French language]
• Philippe Carles, ‘Jazz En Direct: Alan Shorter Tes Esat’, Jazz Magazine, January 1973: 8-9. [French language]
• Ron Welburn, ‘Alan Shorter’. [Rev. of Parabolic and Tes Esat] Black World, October 1973: 48, 67.
• Alan Shorter, ‘Vivre la New Musique’, Jazz Magazine, February 1974: 11. [French language]
• J.R. Taylor, ‘Album Briefs’ [Rev. of Parabolic], Jazz Digest, Vol. 3, no. 1 (January 1974): 19
• Alan Shorter, [Letter], Cadence, Vol. 2, no. 1 (November 1976): 8
• Philippe Carles, [Liner notes], Tes Esat CD re-issue, 2004.
• Amiri Baraka, ‘Reissuing Orgasm’ [December, 1997], ‘Wayne Shorter on his brother, Alan (from interview with Amiri Baraka)’. Orgasm CD re-issue, 1998. Both texts reprinted in Baraka, Digging: The Afro-American Soul of American Classical Music (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2009). CD booklet also contains ‘A Word from Rashied Ali’.
• Philippe Robert, ‘Schizophonia’. [French language] In Philippe Robert and Guillaume Belhomme, Free Fight: This Is Our (New) Thing (Rosières-en-Haye, France: Camion Blanc, 2012)
• ‘vorgarten’, ‘for me it’s NEW music! – alan shorter (1932-1987)’. [German language]. Online, Rolling Stone Forum, 2012: http://forum.rollingstone.de/foren/topic/alan-shorter/
• David Grundy, 'Why?' The Parabolic New Music of Alan Shorter'. Point of Departure, Issue 71, June 2020.

• 'Why?' The Parabolic New Music of Alan Shorter
• Alan Shorter Complete Discography
• Review of Orgasm
• Review of Tes Esat
• Notes From Underground