Joy Ryder - Wayne Shorter

Mar

13

Joy Ryder - Wayne Shorter

≡ Category: 1980s, Fusion, Recommended, Reviews |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

JAZZBO NOTE RECOMMENDED RECORDING

Rating:

There are three main things wrong with Joy Ryder — keyboardists Patrice Rushen and Geri Allen, and drummer Terri Lynne Carrington.

First off, Patrice Rushen and Terri Lyne Carrington don’t even belong in the same room with Wayne Shorter. They may not be terrible musicians, but Shorter is easily in the top five saxophonists of all time. Most of the time, it’s possible to ignore Carrington, except when she uses those ghastly sounding synth drums. On the other hand, Patrice Rushen is a lightweight — there’s no other way to say it. Her solos are jejune, and her keyboard textures are cheesy. Geri Allen is more troubling. I don’t much like her acoustic piano style — it’s too soft and blurry for my taste, but she is a competent instrumentalist on acoustic piano. The same cannot be said of her synthesizer playing. Again, the synthesizer textures she comes up with suck eggs. More surprisingly, her solos lack imagination and force.

That leaves only one soloist worth listening to — Wayne Shorter. Fortunately, Shorter is in great form on Joy Ryder. His sound and approach on soprano are unmistakeable and instantly recognizable. He allows himself much more space to blow than he did on the undersung and misunderstood classic Phantom Navigator, and he takes full advantage of it. That’s probably why most jazz critics vastly prefer Joy Ryder to Phantom Navigator.

To see how much of a difference it makes to this material to play it with great musicians, check out how Shorter, drummer Brian Blade, bassist John Patitucci, and pianist Danilo Perez tear up Joy Ryder on this YouTube video, which blows away anything you’ll hear on this album.

But how about the compositions? I prefer the compositions on Phantom Navigator, but Joy Ryder is still crammed with those unique Shorter tunes and arrangements. This was the last time Shorter would compose in this style, which is a pity.

I’m listening to Joy Ryder as I type this review, and it’s just infuriating to listen to the substandard musicians Shorter enlisted for this recording ruin his compositions. However awful Patrice Rushen is, the blame for hiring her and the other musicians falls squarely on Wayne’s shoulders. What the hell was he thinking? Maybe he just personally liked these young ladies and wanted to give their careers a boost. I dunno.

So, Joy Ryder is a mixed bag to say the least. Do I think you should own it? Yes, I do. Shorter only did three dates in this style. It’s not like we’re wallowing in an excess of great Wayne Shorter fusion records. Enjoy the compositions, the arrangements, and Shorter at the height of his improvisational powers. Try to ignore his wretched sidemen.