Alegría is a studio album by saxophonist Wayne Shorter, released on Verve Records in 2003. It is the second album to feature the 'Footprints Quartet' of Shorter, pianist Danilo Pérez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade. The piece "Orbits" is a complete and quasi-orchestral re-imagining of the song of the same name, originally recorded by the Second Miles Davis Quintet and released on the album Miles Smiles in 1967. "Capricorn 2" revisits another Shorter composition first recorded by Davis in 1967 (though not released until 1976 on the primarily Shorter-composed Water Babies), while "Angola" dates from Shorter's own 1965 album, The Soothsayer.

Reception

The AllMusic review by Richard S. Ginell stated that "this disc seemed to confirm a long-awaited creative Indian summer for Wayne Shorter." Similarly, contemporaneous reviews by Ben Ratliff of The New York Times and CMJ New Music Report's Tad Hendrickson happily noted Shorter's return to form. Los Angeles Times critic Don Heckman commended both the album's "startling diversity" and the "imaginative, high-flying freedom [that characterizes] Shorter's playing," adding that Alegria offered "convincing testimony to Shorter's undiminished creativity." In February 2004, Shorter's efforts resulted in two Grammy Awards: Best Jazz Instrumental Album and Best Instrumental Composition (for "Sacajawea").

Track listing

All compositions by Wayne Shorter except where noted.

Personnel

Footprints Quartet Note: The 'Footprints Quartet' appear intact on tracks 1, 7 & 10. Others

Production

Studios