Super Nova

AlbumMar 01 / 19706 songs, 37m 53s
Avant-Garde Jazz Jazz Fusion Free Jazz
Noteable

1969\'s *Super Nova* was begun mere days after Shorter\'s participation in Miles Davis\' fusion masterpiece *Bitches Brew*, and it includes much of the same personnel. In fact, half the tracks are Shorter compositions that Miles had cut a few years earlier, though the Davis versions weren\'t released until 1976. What a difference two years make—on the Miles sessions, \"Sweet Pea,\" \"Capricorn,\" and \"Water Babies\" were framed as relatively straightforward bop (or at least post-bop) tunes, but on *Super Nova* they\'re turned inside out, creating sort of cubist versions of the earlier interpretations. Shorter\'s *Bitches Brew* bandmates John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, and Jack DeJohnette let their freak flags fly, contributing as much freewheeling, outward-bound playing as possible on the ostensibly \"composed\" tunes. Things move even further out on the other cuts, especially when six-string deconstructionist Sonny Sharrock chimes in on \"More Than Human\" and the most avant-garde setting for Antonio Carlos Jobim\'s bossa nova classic \"Dindi\" that you\'ve ever heard.

Super Nova is an important transitional album for tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter.