LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — Wayne Shorter, the influential jazz musician and composer who helped to shape the sound of modern jazz, died on Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 89.
His publicist, Alisse Kingsley, confirmed to the New York Times that Shorter died at a Los Angeles hospital, but a cause of death was not provided.
With a career that spans more than half a century, he first made a name for himself with the tenor sax and as a composer for iconic jazz ensembles such as the Miles Davis Quintet and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.
In 1970, Shorter partnered with Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul and Czech bassist Miroslav Vitous to form Weather Report. The group would go on to play a foundational role in defining the sound of jazz fusion and would win the DownBeat “best album award” five times in a row.
After stepping away from the Weather Report in 1986, Shorter continued to focus on fusion and continued to tour and collaborate with other artists such as Santana in 1988 and Herbie Hancock, who he won the Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition with in 1997.
In 2000, Shorter formed the Wayne Shorter Quarter with Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade and released multiple live albums to critical acclaim.
During his career, Shorter accumulated an immense collection of ten Grammy Awards and in 2017, along with Sting, Shorter was announced as the joint winner of the prestigious Polar Music Prize.
In 2018, Shorter received the Kennedy Center Honors Award from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for his lifetime of contributions to the arts.
