Atlantis

After *Native Dancer* in 1975, Wayne Shorter devoted himself to Weather Report until its last gasp in the mid-’80s. *Atlantis*, with a cover painting by Billy Dee Williams, was the saxophonist’s long-awaited return as a solo artist, and some were bitterly disappointed. It was the height of the acoustic neo-bop revival, and here was perhaps the greatest tenor and soprano player after John Coltrane embracing synthesizers, funk, and pop like his former employer Miles Davis. Blinded by these elements and feeling somehow betrayed, detractors missed the harmonic richness, melodic integrity, and sheer originality that remained at the heart of Shorter’s writing. Bassist Larry Klein and drummer Alex Acuña keep the rhythms tight, and group vocals on tracks like “When You Dream” have a captivating, mystical quality. Decades later, “Endangered Species” and “The Three Marias” remained concert staples, even getting reverential treatment from Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on *The Music of Wayne Shorter*. People have caught up to the prescient Shorter, and old aesthetic/ideological debates have become less heated.

When it was released in 1985, this set (reissued on CD) was Wayne Shorter's first solo album in nine years and it disappointed listeners who hoped he would return to the style of his Blue Note years.